Directional wireless messaging

Abstract

A directional wireless messaging method includes wirelessly receiving, at a wireless communication device, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and transmitting a message from the wireless communication device to a second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals in accordance with the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application No. 17 / 890,830, filed on August 18, 2022, entitled “DIRECTIONAL WIRELESS MESSAGE TRANSMISSION,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved over several 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, fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth generation (5G) service, etc. 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), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile access (GSM) TDMA variants, etc.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard requires higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with a data rate of 1 gigabit per second provided to dozens of workers on an office floor. In order to support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the invention

[0005] An example method for sending a directional wireless message includes: wirelessly receiving, at a wireless communication device, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and sending a message from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals, in response to the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0006] An example wireless communication device includes: a memory; a transceiver including a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna; and a processor, the processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver and configured to: receive one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device via the first directional antenna; and send a message toward a second area relative to the wireless communication device via the second directional antenna based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle, wherein the processor is configured to send the message based on the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0007] Another example wireless communication device includes: a component for wirelessly receiving one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and a component for sending a message from the wireless communication device to a second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle, in accordance with the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0008] An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that cause a processor of a wireless communication device to perform the following operations: wirelessly receive one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle not being able to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device, send a message from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system.

[0010] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of components of an example user equipment is shown.

[0011] Figure 3 is a block diagram of the components of an example send / receive point.

[0012] Figure 4 is a block diagram of the components of a server, various examples of which are shown in Figure 1 Shown in.

[0013] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication device.

[0014] Figure 6 is an illustration of an example wireless communication environment.

[0015] Figure 7 is a process and signal flow diagram for message transmission between wireless communication devices.

[0016] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 An example of an inbound communication signal is shown.

[0017] Fig. 9 yes Figure 7 An example of an outbound communication signal is shown.

[0018] Fig.10 yes Figure 7 Another example of an outbound communication signal is shown.

[0019] Fig.11 is an illustration of another example wireless communication environment that includes a mobile edge computing device.

[0020] Fig.12 It is a processing and signal flow diagram for real-time feed information transmission.

[0021] Fig.13 is a flow chart of an example directed wireless messaging method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] This article discusses techniques for sending information about a first area to a second area in a directional manner, the second area being at least partially in a NLOS relationship with the first area. For example, a wireless communication device (e.g., a roadside unit, a mobile edge computing device, a vehicle, etc.) may obtain information about a first area (e.g., a portion of a first road near a road intersection) and send the information to a second area (e.g., another portion of another road near the intersection). The information may be safety data provided by one or more vehicles in the first area, or one or more images of the first area captured (e.g., by a wireless communication device or another device that provides images to the wireless communication device). The wireless communication device may provide information to the second area via directional communication, and may provide the information in one or more real-time feeds of information, each corresponding to a corresponding area. The vehicle may send the information to the second area, and may abandon doing so if the information was previously sent (e.g., by another vehicle), and may transfer the responsibility for sending the information (e.g., if the vehicle cannot or will soon be unable to effectively send the information to the second area and / or effectively collect the information from the first area). However, other configurations may be used.

[0023] The items and / or technologies described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. A first vehicle that is in non-line-of-sight with respect to a second vehicle may receive information about the second vehicle that may be used to prevent a collision or otherwise affect the movement of the first vehicle. Vehicle safety may be improved. Autonomous vehicle driving may be improved (e.g., making it safer, enabling vehicles to move through intersections more efficiently, etc.). Information about a first geographic area, about a second geographic area (e.g., object movement within the second geographic area) may be better provided, wherein the first area and the second area are in a non-line-of-sight relationship with each other. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every specific implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any of the capabilities discussed, let alone all of the capabilities.

[0024] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be used for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family members, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and ground-based radio sources such as base stations and access points in wireless networks. It is expected that standardization for 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods, which can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations for positioning determination in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS).

[0025] The present specification may refer to a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. Each action described herein can be performed by a dedicated circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. The sequence of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be implemented in a number of different forms, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0026] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. Generally speaking, such UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate through a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", "mobile device" or their variants. In general, the UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (eg, based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.), and the like.

[0027] Depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, the base station may operate according to one of several RATs when communicating with a UE. Examples of base stations include access points (APs), network nodes, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), or general NodeBs (gNodeBs, gNBs). Additionally, in some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control functions and / or network management functions.

[0028] The UE may be implemented by any of several types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link through which the UE can transmit signals to the RAN is referred to as an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN can transmit signals to the UE is referred to as a downlink 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.

[0029] As used herein, depending on the context, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of the multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)). In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0030] refer to Figure 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes UE 105, UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) (here, fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135), a 5G core network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. UE 105 and / or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a ship, etc.), or another device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is being conducted in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may follow current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, for example, a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to UE 105 to transmit and / or receive signals to and / or from similar other entities in system 100, but for simplicity of the drawing, the UE 106 is not shown in FIG. Figure 1105. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on UE 105. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a satellite positioning system (SPS), such as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), Galileo, or BeiDou or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0031] like Figure 1 As shown, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeB (gNB) 110a, 110b and next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a session management function (SMF) 117, a location management function (LMF) 120, and a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. The gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each configured to perform bidirectional wireless communication with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and configured to perform bidirectional communication with the AMF. The gNB 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as a base station (BS). The AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to the external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station) or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station) or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate with a short-range technology (e.g., WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.) for communication). One or more base stations (e.g., one or more of gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) may be configured to communicate with UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic area (e.g., a cell). Each cell may be divided into multiple sectors according to the base station antenna.

[0032] Figure 1 A generalized illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, gNBs 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted, depending on the desired functionality.

[0033] Although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is illustrated, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (which are for 5G technologies and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to send (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other location servers), and / or calculate the position of UE 105 at a device with positioning capabilities (such as UE 105, gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or LMF 120) based on measurement parameters received at UE 105 for such directional transmitted signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, location management function (LMF) 120, access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functionalities and / or base station functionalities, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0034] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication because the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using wireless connections), directly or indirectly, for example, via gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 and / or 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other transceiver base stations). For indirect communication, the communication can be modified during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change header information of a data packet, change the format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly as well as via a wired connection. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are merely examples, as the UE 105 need not be any of these configurations, and other configurations of the UE may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or head-mounted devices, etc.). Other UEs may also be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNBs 114, 5GCs 140, and / or external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 (e.g., via the GMLC 125) to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105.

[0035] The UE 105 or other device may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communication, multi-frequency Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle to Vehicle, e.g., V2P (vehicle to pedestrian), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure), V2V (vehicle to vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). V2X communications can be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Connection)). System 100 can support operations on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can simultaneously send modulated signals on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal can be transmitted on a different carrier and can carry pilots, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105, 106 may communicate with each other via UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink (SL) channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). Direct wireless device-to-wireless device communication (not through a network) may generally be referred to as sidelink communication without limiting the communication to a particular protocol.

[0036] UE 105 may include and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not required, UE 105 may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to support wireless communications, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. UE 105 may use a wireless local area network (WLAN) to support wireless communications, which may be connected to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Using one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 (e.g., via elements ( Figure 1 125), or possibly via GMLC 125) to communicate with external client 130 and / or allow external client 130 to receive location information about UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125).

[0037] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where users may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, thereby providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be represented as a municipal location (e.g., a postal address or a designation of a point or small area in a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may be represented as an area or volume (geographically or municipally defined) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location, including, for example, a distance and direction relative to a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to a certain origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in municipal form, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "location" may include any of these variants unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local x, y, and (possibly) z coordinates are typically solved, and then (if necessary) the local coordinates are converted into absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0038] UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. UE 105 may be configured to be indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Etc. One or more UEs in the group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be located within the geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station for other reasons. The group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more UEs in the group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be located within the geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station for other reasons. The group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving TRP.

[0039] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown include NR Node Bs (referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b). Each pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. Figure 1 , it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may serve as the serving gNB if UE 105 moves to another location, or may serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0040] Figure 1The base stations (BSs) in the illustrated NG-RAN 135 may include an ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0041] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include a TRP, but multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., sharing a processor but having separate antennas). The system 100 may include only a macro TRP, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as a macro TRP, a pico TRP, and / or a femto TRP, among others. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in a home).

[0042] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110b includes a RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113 divide the functionality of the gNB 110b. Although the gNB 110b is shown as having a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, the gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. The interface between the CU 113 and the DU 112 is referred to as the F1 interface. The RU 111 is configured to perform digital front end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmission / reception) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 111 may perform DFE using massive multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110b. DU 112 hosts the radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical layers of gNB 110b. One DU may support one or more cells, and each cell is supported by a single DU. The operation of DU 112 is controlled by CU 113. CU 113 is configured to perform functions for delivering user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are only assigned to DU 112. CU 113 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 110b. UE 105 can communicate with CU 113 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, communicate with DU 112 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and communicate with RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0043] As mentioned, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols (such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol) may also be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may include base stations including evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to Figure 1 The NG-RAN 135 in the figure and the EPC correspond to the 5GC 140 in the figure.

[0044] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115; for positioning functionality, the AMF communicates with the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections with the UE 105 and (possibly) data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, for example, via wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, and may support various positioning procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process a location service request for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value-Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE 105 for signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b and / or ng-eNB 114), and / or auxiliary data provided to UE 105 by LMF 120, for example). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for processing signaling between UE 105 and 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (quality of service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support the mobility of UE 105 (including cell changes and handovers), and may participate in supporting signaling connections with UE 105.

[0045] The server 150 (e.g., a cloud server) is configured to obtain a location estimate for the UE 105 and provide it to the external client 130. The server 150 may, for example, be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains a location estimate for the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, obtain a location estimate from (e.g., by transmitting a location request) the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push the location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0046] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150, and may forward the location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate of the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, but may not be connected to either the AMF 115 or the LMF 120 in some implementations.

[0047] like Figure 1 As further illustrated, LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are communicated between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120, and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1By way of further example, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may additionally or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or serving ng-eNB 114 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using the 5G Location Service Application Protocol (LCS AP), and may be transmitted between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using the 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (e.g., in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b, or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS or PRS transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0048] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 may obtain location measurements and transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN APs. The location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and / or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

[0049] Using the UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain position measurements (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurements of the UE-assisted positioning method), and the position of UE 105 can be calculated (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF120) or broadcast by gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs).

[0050] Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals sent by UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105. One or more base stations or APs may transmit the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0051] The information provided to LMF 120 by gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmission and location coordinates. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.

[0052] The LPP or NPP message transmitted from LMF 120 to UE 105 may instruct UE 105 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement parameters (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station, such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may transmit these measurement parameters back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0053] As noted, while the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc.) that are used to support and interact with mobile devices (such as UE 105) (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionality). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may use the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, Figure 1 114) is connected to the WLAN. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) replacing the AMF 115, an E-SMLC replacing the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to transmit location information to and receive location information from the eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, with the difference that the functions and procedures described herein for gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may in some cases be applied alternatively to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0054] As noted, in some embodiments, positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS or PRS beams transmitted by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) that are located at the UE (e.g., Figure 1 In some instances, the UE may use directional SS beams or directional PRS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.) to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0055] Also refer to Figure 2UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106, and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (the transceiver includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 can be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 220 (the bus can be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or one or more sensors in the sensor 213, etc.) can be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230 to 234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include, for example, a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (wherein one or more (cellular) wireless signals and reflections transmitted are used to identify, map and / or track objects) and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by a terminal user of the UE 200 to obtain connectivity. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, an optical disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured to cause processor 210 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed. This specification may refer to processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other specific implementations, such as specific implementations in which processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of processors 230 to 234 performing the function.This description may refer to UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing that function. Processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0056] Figure 2 The configuration of UE 200 shown is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure (including claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of UE includes one or more processors of processors 230 to 234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more processors of processors 230 to 234 in processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver, and one or more of the following: sensor 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver.

[0057] UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by transceiver 215 and / or SPS receiver 217. Modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be up-converted for transmission by transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by general / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0058] UE 200 may include sensors 213, which may include, for example, one or more sensors of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscopes). Sensors 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometers) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes (e.g., to support one or more compass applications). Environmental sensors may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more air pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. Sensor 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or general / application processor 230 to support one or more applications (such as, for example, applications involving positioning and / or navigation operations).

[0059] The sensor 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the sensor 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor 213 may be used to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or moving and / or whether to report certain useful information related to the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning implemented by the sensor 213, or sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of another device relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0060] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used for relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200, respectively. The linear acceleration measurements and rotational speed measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and displacement may be integrated to track the position of the UE 200. For example, a reference position of the UE 200 at a certain moment may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other components), and measurements obtained from the accelerometers and gyroscopes after that moment may be used for dead reckoning to determine the current position of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0061] The magnetometer may determine magnetic field strengths in different directions, which may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide a component for sensing a magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0062] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog-to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate with a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with a TRP and / or one or more other devices). The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or frequencies below 6 GHz. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to transmit communications to the NG-RAN 135 and receive communications from the NG-RAN. The wired transmitter 252 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include a plurality of receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, via an optical connection and / or an electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244 and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for transmitting and / or receiving appropriate signals, respectively.

[0063] The user interface 216 may include one or more of several devices (such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc.). The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 in response to actions from the user to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general / application processor 230. Similarly, an application hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (I / O) device, which includes, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a digital-to-analog circuit, an analog-to-digital circuit, an amplifier, and / or a gain control circuit (including more than one of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure on, for example, a keyboard and / or a touch screen of the user interface 216 .

[0064] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signal 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signal 260 from a wireless signal to a wired signal (e.g., an electrical signal or an optical signal), and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signal 260 in whole or in part to estimate the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by performing trilateration using the SPS signal 260. The general / application processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217 to process the acquired SPS signal in whole or in part, and / or calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals obtained from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special-purpose processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0065] UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. Camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuits, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing captured images may be performed by general / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231. Additionally or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing captured images. Video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown) (e.g., of user interface 216).

[0066] Positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200, the movement of UE 200, and / or the relative location of UE 200, and / or time. For example, PD 219 may communicate with SPS receiver 217 and / or include part or all of the SPS receiver. PD 219 may work appropriately with processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may only refer to PD 219 being configured to perform or performing according to the positioning method according to the positioning method. PD 219 may be additionally or alternatively configured to: use ground-based signals (e.g., at least some wireless signals 248) for trilateration, assist in obtaining and use SPS signals 260, or both to determine the location of UE 200. PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 based on the cell of the serving base station (e.g., cell center) and / or another technology (such as E-CID). The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks (such as mountains) and / or artificial landmarks (such as buildings, bridges, streets), etc.). The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and ground positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.), which may sense the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200 and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement, and the processor 210 (e.g., general / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement of the UE 200 (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector). PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of PD 219 may be provided in various ways and / or configurations, such as by general / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0067] Also refer to Figure 3, an example of a TRP 300 for a gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to one another via a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 310). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, optical disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed.

[0068] The specification may refer to processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other specific implementations, such as a specific implementation in which processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The specification may refer to processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 310 performing the function. The specification may refer to TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., processor 310 and memory 311) of TRP 300 (and therefore one of gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) performing the function. Processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 311. The functionality of processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0069] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate with a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to transmit communications to, for example, the LMF 120 and / or one or more other network entities and receive communications therefrom. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0070] Figure 3 The configuration of the TRP 300 shown is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure (including the claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 is configured to perform several functions or that the TRP performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0071] Also refer to Figure 4 , the server 400 (LMF 120 is an example of the server) includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (the bus may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 410). Memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, optical disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 411 stores software 412, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 412 may not be directly executable by processor 410, but may be configured to cause processor 410 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed. This specification may refer to processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other specific implementations, such as specific implementations of processor 410 executing software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to processor 410 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 410 performing the function. This specification may refer to server 400 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 performing the function. Processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions as a supplement and / or alternative to memory 411. The functionality of processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0072] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate with a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to transmit communications to, for example, the TRP 300 and / or one or more other network entities and receive communications therefrom. The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0073] This specification may refer to processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 410 executes software (stored in memory 411) and / or firmware. This specification may refer to server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 (e.g., processor 410 and memory 411) performing that function.

[0074] Figure 4The configuration of the server 400 shown is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure (including the claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Additionally or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform several functions or that the server performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0075] refer to Figure 5 , the wireless communication device 500 includes a processor 510, a transceiver 520, a memory 530, and (optionally) one or more sensors 540, which are communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 550. The transceiver 520 includes directional antennas 521, 522. The directional antennas 521, 522 are configured to have antenna beams with limited fields of view (i.e., non-omnidirectional). The directional antennas 521, 522 can each send more power to one or more directions and / or receive more power from one or more directions compared to one or more other directions. This can help the directional antennas 521, 522 provide higher performance with less interference than omnidirectional antennas. The device 500 may include Figure 5 Components shown, and may include one or more other components. For example, transceiver 520 may include a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver configured for wireless communication with one or more other devices (such as UE) via antennas 521, 522. Device 500 may be any of a variety of devices or a part of any of a variety of devices, such as an RSU (roadside unit), a vehicle, etc. As part of an RSU, device 500 may lack components for connecting to a core network. Device 500 may be similar to TRP 300, and may include components for connecting to a core network, for example, when device 500 is a mobile edge computing (MEC) device. Transceiver 520 may be configured to send one or more communication signals, for example, a V2V signal, a V2X signal (e.g., a C-V2X signal).

[0076] exist Figure 5 In the example shown, the transceiver 520 includes two directional antennas 521, 522, wherein the antennas 521, 522 have respective visual axes that are orthogonal to each other. This configuration is an example, and other configurations of the transceiver 520 may be used. For example, more than two antennas may be used. As another example, the antennas may point in different relative directions (e.g., opposite directions, i.e., 180° from each other). The transceiver 520 (including one or more antennas) may be configured to transmit and receive various communication signals, such as V2X signals via a PC5 interface, signals via a Uu interface, etc.

[0077] This specification may refer to the processor 510 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as an implementation in which the processor 510 executes software (stored in the memory 530) and / or firmware. This specification may refer to the device 500 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the device 500 (e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530) performing that function. The processor 510 (possibly in combination with the memory 530 and, where appropriate, the transceiver 520) may include a signal transmission unit 560. The signal transmission unit 560 is discussed further below, and this specification may refer to the processor 510 generally, or the device 500 generally, as performing any of the functions of the signal transmission unit 560, where the device 500 is configured to perform those functions.

[0078] Also refer to Figure 6, the wireless communication environment 600 includes a plurality of mobile wireless communication devices (here, vehicles 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606) and a wireless communication device 610. The wireless communication device 610 is an example of the wireless communication device 500, and in this example is an RSU. The device 610 is arranged at a position visible to a plurality of regions relative to the device 610, wherein the plurality of regions are in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) relationship with each other. In the example shown, the device 610 is configured to send signals to and receive signals from a first region 620 and a second region 630, the first region and the second region corresponding to respective directional antennas of the device 610. The device 610 may send signals in beams 621, 631 aligned with (e.g., directed to) the regions 620, 630, respectively. The region 640 may be occupied by buildings and / or other structures and / or one or more other (natural or man-made) objects that obstruct the line of sight between the regions 620, 630. Therefore, a vehicle (e.g., vehicle 602) approaching intersection 650 may not be able to hear (e.g., receive and adequately process signals from) one or more other vehicles (e.g., vehicles 601, 604) near intersection 650. Vehicle 602 may not be able to receive and process V2X signals (e.g., Basic Safety Messages (BSM) or Common Perception Messages (CPM) or Sensor Data Sharing Messages (SDSM)) from vehicles 601, 604 via direct UE-to-UE communication (e.g., via the PC5 interface) until vehicles 601, 602, 604 are very close to intersection 650, which may be too late to effectively use the information in the V2X signals. Placing the wireless communication device 610 in a certain location and appropriately steering one or more beams to communicate with wireless communication devices that cannot communicate directly with each other can help the wireless communication device 610 enable and / or facilitate communication between the vehicle 602 and the vehicles 601, 604 before the vehicles 601, 602, 604 reach the intersection 650.

[0079] refer to Figure 7 , and further reference Figures 1 to 6 , signaling and process flow 700 for message transmission (particularly V2X signal relay) includes the stages shown. Process 700 is an example of interaction between vehicle 601, vehicle 602, wireless communication device 705, and (possibly) vehicle 604. Process 700 is an example and can be modified. For example, stages can be added to process 700, rearranged, and / or removed.

[0080] At stage 710, the wireless communication device 705 obtains information about an area of ​​the environment that contains the device 705. In this example, the device 705 uses one or more directional devices to obtain one or more sensor measurements made by the vehicle 601, may obtain one or more sensor measurements made by the vehicle 604, and may use one or more directional sensors of the device 705 to obtain one or more sensor measurements. Each directional device (e.g., a directional antenna, a directional sensor (e.g., a camera)) is configured to collect information from a limited field of view about the device 705 (e.g., receive communication signals, make radar measurements, capture images, etc.). For example, the vehicle 601 and (possibly) the vehicle 604 may send signals (such as communication signals 711, 712), and the device 705 uses corresponding directional antennas to receive these signals. In this case, the communication signals 711, 712 are vehicle sensor messages that each indicate one or more sensor measurements that can provide information related to traffic management (e.g., collision avoidance). The communication signals 711, 712 can be any of a variety of signals. For example, also refer to Figure 8 , the inbound communication signal 800 is an example of each of the communication signals 711, 712. In this example, the inbound communication signal 800 includes a basic safety message (BSM) including information such as time, vehicle position, vehicle position accuracy, vehicle motion (speed, heading, acceleration, and / or yaw rate), steering wheel angle, transmission status, brake system status, vehicle dimensions (length, width, weight), vehicle path history, predicted vehicle path, one or more event notifications (e.g., emergency braking, traction control, etc.), and / or exterior light status.

[0081] At sub-stage 715, device 705 may obtain one or more sensor measurements. For example, one or more sensors 540 of device 705 may perform one or more corresponding measurements. For example, one or more cameras may each capture one or more images of a corresponding area visible from device 705 (e.g., by receiving and processing a visible light signal corresponding to an object such as a vehicle (e.g., reflected by the object)). As another example, device 705 may perform one or more radar, lidar, and / or ultrasonic measurements. For example, the measurement may reveal the presence of an object and (possibly) the movement of an object. The measurement may be analyzed to determine, for example, the presence and location of a vehicle (e.g., which lane the vehicle is in), the movement of the vehicle, and / or the predicted presence of the vehicle (e.g., the time span in which the vehicle will be located at the intersection 650 and the path that the vehicle can take through the intersection).

[0082] At stage 720, the wireless communication device 705 transmits a communication signal 726 to an area that is in NLOS relationship with the area from which the information was obtained at stage 710 based on the information obtained at stage 710. In this example, the device 705 transmits the communication signal 726 to the vehicle 602. The vehicle from which the communication signal originates (here, the vehicle 601) may be referred to as the source vehicle, and the vehicle that receives the communication signal 726 from the device 705 (here, the vehicle 602) may be referred to as the target vehicle. The device 705 may transmit the communication signal 726 based on one or more factors discussed below with respect to sub-stage 722 and / or sub-stage 724.

[0083] At optional sub-stage 722, the device 705 may determine that a vehicle (e.g., vehicle 602) cannot receive a communication signal from another vehicle (e.g., communication signal 711 from vehicle 601). For example, the processor 510 may evaluate information about the environment 600, such as camera images, the geometry of the environment 600 (e.g., characteristics of objects in area 640 (e.g., RF penetration of buildings, trees, etc.), the location of the source vehicle, and the location of the target vehicle, and calculate the path loss between the source vehicle and the target vehicle. If the path loss is above a threshold that will produce a received power below the threshold for accurate signal reception and decoding at the target vehicle, the device 705 may infer that the vehicle 602 cannot receive the signal 711 from the vehicle 601 and consider the vehicles 601, 602 to be in a NLOS relationship. Additionally or alternatively, the device 705 may evaluate historical data about vehicle locations and signal reception. The device 705 may obtain (e.g., construct or receive) historical data such as a heat map of the transmission and reception locations and the signal reception quality.

[0084] At optional sub-stage 724, device 705 may determine whether to send and in which directions to send a communication signal 726 based on communication signal 712 (and / or one or more other received communication signals and / or other information (e.g., one or more sensor measurements, one or more processed sensor measurements (e.g., one or more images), etc.). For example, determining to send communication signal 712 may be determining that vehicle 602 cannot receive communication signal 712. Alternatively, in addition to or in lieu of determining that vehicle 602 cannot receive communication signal 712, one or more factors may be evaluated to determine whether to send communication signal 726. Such factors may include V2X vehicle density, the dynamics of one or more approaching vehicles, RF characteristics of the environment 600, and / or message lifecycle. For example, the higher the density of V2X-enabled vehicles in the environment 600, the less likely the processor 510 will be able to send the communication signal 726 (e.g., to help reduce and / or avoid over-the-air (OTA) congestion). As another example, the processor 510 can evaluate the relative speed and distance of vehicles (e.g., vehicles 601, 602) to determine the risk posed by one vehicle to another vehicle or the risk posed by the vehicles to each other. The processor 510 can support the transmission of the signal 726 based on the risk being above a threshold risk. Processing Processor 510 may, for example, use one or more cameras to determine the lane in which vehicle 601 is positioned, determine the expected path of vehicle 601 (e.g., the entry lane of vehicle 601 when vehicle 601 is expected to enter intersection 650 and / or the exit lane of vehicle 601 when vehicle 601 is expected to leave intersection 650), and use this information and (possibly) similar information for vehicle 602 to assess the risk of collision of vehicles 601, 602. Processor 510 may additionally or alternatively assess RF characteristics of environment 600, such as the geometry of intersection 650, the extent to which objects in environment 600 block the environment 601, and / or the extent to which objects in environment 600 block the environment 601. LOS between vehicles on the crossroads, and / or the presence of out-of-band emissions (OOBE) (such as Wi-Fi signals) that may interfere with desired signals (e.g., V2X signals such as C-V2X signals). If the propagation loss between vehicles on the crossroads is above a threshold (or will result in less than a threshold power at the target vehicle) and / or the OOBE is above a threshold level (indicating a desired signal that is impaired due to interference), the processor 510 may support the transmission of the signal 726. The processor 510 also additionally or alternatively evaluates whether the information (e.g., in the communication signal 711) from the source vehicle is useful or will still be useful to the target vehicle.For example, the processor 510 may determine whether more than a threshold amount of time will remain in the lifecycle of the content of the communication signal 711 before the time when the communication signal 726 will arrive at the target vehicle (here, vehicle 602), taking into account the OTA transmission time, the processing time in the device 705, etc. A communication signal such as a BSM may have a lifecycle of approximately 100ms to 200ms, and if the current remaining lifecycle minus the OTA transmission time minus the processing time in the device 705 will leave less than a threshold amount of lifecycle (e.g., so that a new BSM will be available before the current BSM can be processed by the target vehicle), then the device 705 may determine not to send the communication signal 726 (e.g., not to relay the signal 711). The device 705 may determine in which directions to send the communication signal 726, for example, based on which directions the receiver may not adequately receive the communication signal 711 and / or based on which directions the vehicle may be at risk of more than a threshold from the vehicle 601 and / or pose more than a threshold risk to the vehicle 601.

[0085] Device 705 may generate communication signal 726 having various contents in various ways. For example, device 705 may relay the contents of communication signal 711 without analyzing (eg, decoding) communication signal 711. Fig. 9 , the outbound communication signal 900 is an example of the communication signal 726 and includes the first vehicle content 910. In this example, the first vehicle content 910 is vehicle sensor measurement information indicating one or more sensor measurements performed by a vehicle (e.g., vehicle 601) and received by the wireless communication device 705 in the message 711. The device 705 (e.g., the signal transmission unit 560) may relay the communication signal 711 received from the vehicle 601 and may include WCD content 920 (wireless communication device content). The relay may be a layer 2 relay, in which the device 705 (e.g., RSU) removes the layer 2 address in the signal 711 and includes the layer 2 address of the device 705 in the communication signal 726 as part of the WCD content 920. The WCD content 920 may include a layer 2 hop count field indicating a hop count from the original source of the first vehicle content 910. Device 705 may relay any communication signal, for example, without evaluating whether to relay a received signal, or at least without evaluating some of the factors discussed above (eg, the dynamics of an approaching vehicle and / or the message life cycle).

[0086] As another example of a device 705 that generates a communication signal 726, the wireless communication device 705 may perform application layer relaying of the content of the communication signal 711 and (possibly) the content of one or more other communication signals. For example, the device 705 (e.g., the signal transmission unit 560) may include vehicle information (e.g., address) of the source vehicle (e.g., vehicle 601) and information of the device 705 (e.g., device address) in the communication signal 726. The device 705 (e.g., the signal transmission unit 560) may decode the communication signal 711 and determine whether to send the communication signal 726 based on the content of the communication signal 711 (e.g., one or more of the factors discussed above) and / or other information. The device 705 may determine one or more directions to send the communication signal 726, for example to help ensure that the vehicle associated with the content of the communication signal 726 receives the communication signal 726 while limiting OTA congestion. Device 705 may aggregate multiple communication signals (e.g., the contents of signals 711, 712) into communication signal 726 (e.g., where signal 900 includes first vehicle content 910 and vehicle 4 content 930 derived from communication signal 712 from vehicle 604). This may help reduce OTA congestion (e.g., compared to device 705 sending separate communication signals corresponding to signal 711 and signal 712).

[0087] By analyzing the content of the communication signal 711, the wireless communication device may be able to make intelligent decisions about whether to send and in which direction to send the communication signal 726. The device 705 may determine to send the communication signal 726 to the relevant vehicle and / or in the relevant direction, and not to send the communication signal 726 in the irrelevant direction. For example, the device 705 may determine that the vehicle 601 is in the left turn lane, and therefore determine to send the communication signal 726 toward the area 630 (which is in the expected travel path of the vehicle 601) and not toward the area to the right of the expected travel path of the vehicle 601. For another example, if the vehicle 601 is traveling fast, so that the reception time is very important, the device 705 may send the communication signal 726 in all directions or at least in all directions with an area that is an NLOS relationship with the vehicle 601. For another example, if the source vehicle and the target vehicle will not approach the intersection 650 concurrently, the device 705 may not send the communication signal 726 (at least not toward the target vehicle). For another example, if the device 705 determines that there is no vehicle in the relevant area (e.g., area 630), the device 705 may not send the communication signal 726 to the area, which helps save processing power and limit OTA congestion. The signal transmission unit 560 can determine the content of the communication signal 726, such as not including information that is not related to the target vehicle.

[0088] As another example of device 705 generating communication signal 726, device 705 may treat the source vehicle as a non-V2X vehicle. For example, in response to determining at substage 722 that vehicle 602 (target vehicle) cannot receive communication signal 711 from vehicle 601 (source vehicle), device 705 may treat vehicle 601 as a non-V2X vehicle and report sensor information for vehicle 601 in a sensor sharing message (e.g., SDSM (sensor data sharing message) or CPM (common perception message)), and indicate whether vehicle 601 is a V2X-enabled vehicle. For example, referring to Fig.10 , the outbound communication signal 1000 is an example of the communication signal 726, and includes a vehicle sensor content field 1010, a vehicle ID field 1020, an enable V2X field 1030, and a WCD content field 1040. For each entry in the outbound communication signal 1000 (here, entries 1051, 1052), the vehicle sensor content field 1010 includes sensor measurement data from a corresponding vehicle, the identity of which is indicated in the vehicle ID field of the corresponding entry 1051, 1052. The enable V2X field 1030 provides an indication of whether the corresponding vehicle is V2X enabled. For example, the enable V2X field 1030 can be a binary field, where "0" indicates that the corresponding vehicle is not V2X enabled, and "1" indicates that the corresponding vehicle is V2X enabled. In this example, vehicle A is V2X enabled, and vehicle B is not enabled. In the current specification of SDSM, V2X-enabled objects are not reported in SDSM. When a V2X-enabled vehicle becomes LOS with a target vehicle, the target vehicle can utilize the knowledge that the vehicle is a V2X-enabled vehicle by combining the information provided in the outbound communication signal 1000 of the V2X-enabled vehicle with other information from the V2X-enabled vehicle (e.g., information from the BSM). This can improve tracking of vehicles with V2X enabled, such as reducing the likelihood of collision with a V2X-enabled vehicle. The WCD content field 1040 may include content provided by the wireless communication device 705. For example, the WCD content field 1040 may include information about which lane the corresponding vehicle is currently occupying. The target vehicle (e.g., vehicle 602) can use the lane-level information, map information, and vehicle sensor content data to determine whether the source vehicle is worthy of attention (e.g., may pose a collision risk to the target vehicle).

[0089] The wireless communication device 705 may be another vehicle (or part of a vehicle) and may determine whether to send the communication signal 726 by considering one or more factors that a fixed device may not consider. For example, if the device 705 is a vehicle, the device 705 may consider the heading of the device 705 (e.g., relative to the target vehicle) at the sub-stage 724 to determine whether to send the signal 726. For example, the device 705 (e.g., the vehicle 603) may consider whether the device 705 can send the signal 726 in the desired direction with meaningful energy for sufficient signal reception by the target vehicle. For example, if the device 705 is the vehicle 603, the device 705 may determine that the device 705 can sufficiently send the signal 726 toward the vehicle 602 or the vehicle 606, or that the device 705 can sufficiently send the signal 726 toward the vehicle 602 but cannot sufficiently send the signal 726 toward the vehicle 606, and so on. This may be due to, for example, asymmetric transmission capabilities from vehicle 603, for example due to different transmission capabilities from the port and starboard sides of vehicle 603, for example due to different antennas of device 705 and / or due to the position of device 705 within vehicle 603 affecting signal transmission from vehicle 603 in different ways in different directions (e.g. due to asymmetric path loss and / or interference).

[0090] The wireless communication device 705 may generate the communication signal 726 in different ways based on whether the device 705 is facilitating information transfer between NLOS devices. For example, the device 705 as the vehicle 603 may include information about V2X-enabled vehicles (e.g., C-V2X-enabled vehicles) in the SDSM message sent by the device 705 based on the device 705 being located in the intersection 650. Similar to the outbound communication signal 1000, such an SDSM signal may include a field indicating whether the information corresponds to a V2X-enabled vehicle or a non-V2X-enabled vehicle.

[0091] There may be multiple vehicles that may send communication signals 726 (e.g., relay signal 711 or at least its content) to facilitate information transfer between NLOS vehicles. For example, vehicle 603 and vehicle 605 may act as device 705 and send communication signals 726. If there are multiple possible devices to send communication signals, redundancy mitigation techniques may be used to help prevent multiple transmissions of the same information (and therefore help prevent redundant air traffic). For example, multiple devices may implement an algorithm to determine whether the content of signal 711 has been sent by another device, and if so, abandon sending communication signals 726 with the content of signal 711. Therefore, for example, if vehicle 603 determines that vehicle 605 has sent the content of signal 711 in signal 726, vehicle 603 may abandon sending another signal 726 including the content of signal 711 (although vehicle 603 may send another signal 726 with other content).

[0092] In the case of multiple vehicles that may transmit communication signals 726 to facilitate information transfer between NLOS vehicles, one or more signal managers may be determined (e.g., selected) and made the vehicles responsible for transmitting communication signals 726, while other potential vehicles forgo transmitting communication signals 726 (e.g., relaying the contents of signal 711). This may help avoid OTA congestion, interference, and / or information transfer failures due to excessive transmission of signals 726 (e.g., excessive relaying of the contents of signal 711). For example, a single vehicle located in intersection 650 may be selected to relay the contents of signal 711. As another example, multiple vehicles may be selected for transmission of signal 726, e.g., different vehicles are selected for different receiving and / or transmitting directions. Signal managers may be selected based on one or more factors, such as vehicle heading (relative to the environment, e.g., intersection 650), antenna capabilities (relative to the environment, e.g., intersection 650), processing capabilities, etc. The signal manager may transfer responsibility for sending communication signals 726, for example, based on the signal manager being unable (or expected to be unable) to effectively receive signals 711 from vehicle 602 and / or effectively send signals 726 to vehicle 601 (e.g., having lost LOS with one or more vehicles or expected to lose LOS with one or more vehicles (e.g., leaving intersection 650, or about to leave intersection 650)).

[0093] Also refer to Fig.11, the wireless communication environment 1100 includes a plurality of mobile wireless communication devices (here, vehicles 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104), an RSU 1110, and an MEC 1120 (mobile edge computing device). The RSU 1110 and the MEC 1120 are examples, and another type of wireless computing device may be used instead of the RSU 1110 and / or the MEC 1120. Although the RSU 1110 is not connected to the core network (and communicates directly with the vehicles 1101 to 1104, for example, via a PC5 interface), the MEC 1120 is connected to the network core. The MEC 1120 has processing capabilities and is connected to the core network (e.g., a cellular network), and has fronthaul and backhaul communication capabilities. The RSU 1110 may be set at a position visible to a plurality of areas relative to the RSU 1110, wherein the plurality of areas are in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) relationship with each other. The RSU 1110 may be arranged based on the geometry of the environment 1100, for example, based on the physical characteristics of the environment 1100 and the configuration of the RSU 1110 (e.g., the mounting location of the camera, the directivity of the antenna, etc.), so that the RSU 1110 can collect data (e.g., receive signals, make measurements, capture images, etc.) from the desired area and send signals to the desired area. The MEC 1120 has a directional antenna (e.g., a millimeter wave antenna) that may have a beam directed based on the environment 1100 (e.g., the intersection 1150 and the roads connected to the intersection 1150). The RSU 1110 and the MEC 1120 may or may not be co-located ( Fig.11 110 and MEC 1120 may be provided in a single physical device.

[0094] The RSU 1110 and (possibly) the MEC 1120 are configured to obtain information about the environment 1100 and provide a real-time feed of the information via a network to mobile device interface (e.g., a Uu interface). The RSU 1110 is configured to obtain data from regions 1161, 1162, 1163. To obtain the data, the RSU 1110 may receive one or more communication signals and / or make one or more sensor measurements (e.g., capture one or more images) from one or more of the regions 1161 to 1163 via one or more fields of view 1171, 1172, 1173 corresponding to directional antennas and / or directional sensors. The RSU 1110 may obtain data from one or more other regions, but regions 1161 to 1163 are shown as example illustrations because these regions may be associated with the vehicle 1101, and at least regions 1161 and 1163 may not be visible to the vehicle 1101. MEC 1120 may obtain information about areas 1161 to 1163 from RSU 1110 and / or using one or more antennas and / or one or more sensors of MEC 1120 .

[0095] The RSU 1110 and MEC 1120 are configured to announce and provide a real-time feed of information collected about the environment 1100. The RSU 1110 is configured to announce a link / URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a real-time feed of information for areas 1161 to 1163. The RSU 1110 may send the link / URL directly to the vehicle, for example, via a PC5 interface, along with an indication of which area and / or direction each of the links / URLs corresponds to (e.g., "For information west of intersection 1150, use link (or URL) ABC"). Each of the links / URLs may correspond to one of the areas 1161 to 1163 and may correspond to a specific type of information for the area (e.g., image data, vehicle safety data such as BSM data, sensor measurements, etc.). Links of different resolutions for any of the areas 1161 to 1163 and / or links corresponding to resolutions finer than the entire road (e.g., individual lanes of a road) may be provided. A geo-fence 1180 may be established (e.g., around RSU 1110) such that a recipient (e.g., a vehicle) may receive a real-time feed (e.g., obtain or use a link for the real-time feed) only when the recipient (e.g., a vehicle) is within the geo-fence 1180. The MEC 1120 transmits beams 1191, 1192, 1193 with real-time feeds of information corresponding to the collected information corresponding to regions 1161 to 1163, respectively. A receiving device (e.g., vehicle 1101) may use one or more links / URLs to obtain the collected information of one or more regions of interest. The collected information provided in beams 1191 to 1193 may include various types of information, such as safety data and / or images. The information in beams 1191 to 1193 may be sent at a reduced resolution, which may save processing power and / or help limit OTA congestion. For example, a detailed image of a vehicle may be replaced with a simple box corresponding to each portion of the image occupied by the vehicle. As another example, the object may not even be shown as a reduced resolution image, but rather may be data indicating, for example, an area or volume occupied by the object. A vehicle receiving data about the object may indicate the occupied area or volume as, for example, an angular span relative to the vehicle and possibly a distance from the vehicle. Information about the reduced resolution object may be provided to distinguish between different types of objects, for example, a box in an image may be identified as a car or a truck.

[0096] The vehicle 1101 (or other recipient of the collected information) may combine information from one or more of the live feeds and / or may combine information (e.g., one or more images, safety information, etc.) from one or more antennas and / or one or more sensors (e.g., cameras) of the vehicle 1101 with information from one or more of the live feeds to provide an enhanced field of view for the vehicle 1101. For example, an ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) engine may determine whether to combine such information, for example, based on the distance to the intersection 1150, the expected path trajectory, etc. The vehicle 1101 may generate a field of view (e.g., a 180° field of view, a 360° field of view, or other field of view) including the combined information, such as images of other vehicles and / or reduced-resolution objects representing other vehicles (e.g., boxes or polygons of a size similar to the vehicle image replaced by boxes or polygons), vehicle data (e.g., direction, speed, distance from the vehicle 1101, etc.). The field of view may be graphical (which may help the user see potential objects of interest) and / or textual (e.g., numbers representing speed and distance, an indication of the object's heading, the angular span occupied by another vehicle in the field of view and the distance to the other vehicle, etc.). The text-only field of view may be used by the ADAS of the vehicle 1101, for example, for collision avoidance (e.g., automatic braking, speed and / or heading adjustments, etc.) and / or one or more other functions.

[0097] refer to Fig.12 , and further reference Figure 5 and Fig.11 , the signaling and process flow 1200 for real-time feed information transmission and use includes the stages shown. Process 1200 is an example of interaction between vehicle 1101, vehicle 1102, RSU 1110, and MEC 1120. Process 1200 is an example and can be modified. For example, stages can be added to process 1200, rearranged, and / or removed.

[0098] At stage 1210, MEC 1120 collects data to be sent in one or more real-time feeds. MEC 1120 may obtain data from one or more signals received by MEC 1120 (e.g., by one or more sensors (such as one or more receivers and / or one or more cameras) of MEC 1120). MEC 1120 (e.g., one or more antennas of MEC 1120 and / or a wired receiver from MEC 1120) may receive one or more signals from RSU 1110 and / or vehicle 1102 (and / or other vehicles). The one or more signals may include information such as safety information, image data, one or more visible light signals from which one or more images may be determined, and the like.

[0099] At stage 1220, the RSU 1110 sends one or more links and / or one or more URLs to the vehicle 1101 for receiving one or more real-time feeds of the data collected at stage 1210. The vehicle 1101 may send an information request 1222 to the RSU 1110 for the link and / or URL. The information request 1222 may, for example, request to receive and / or request access to vehicle information for one or more areas (e.g., one or more directions relative to the intersection 1150 and related to the vehicle 1101 (e.g., in the expected path of the vehicle 1101)). The RSU 1110 (e.g., in response to the information request 1222, or regardless of receiving the information request 1222) sends an access message 1224 of one or more links and / or one or more URLs (and / or one or more other mechanisms) for accessing the real-time feed of information collected by the MEC 1120. The access message 1224 may include a link / URL corresponding to the information request 1222, or may include one or more further links and / or URLs (e.g., the complete set of all available links / URLs, or the complete set minus any links / URLs corresponding to the area to which the access message 1224 is sent), or may include fewer links / URLs than requested by the information request 1222, or another set of mechanisms for accessing one or more real-time feeds of collected data.

[0100] At stage 1230, MEC 1120 provides a real-time feed of the collected data for the corresponding area. The vehicle 1101 may send an access selection 1232 of one or more links and / or one or more URLs (and / or one or more other mechanisms for accessing one or more real-time feeds) to MEC 1120. In response to the access selection 1232, MEC 1120 may send one or more real-time feeds 1234 to the vehicle 1101 (e.g., to the area containing the vehicle 1101) based on the access selection 1232. Additionally or alternatively, MEC 1120 may send a real-time feed 1234 to an area, wherein the real-time feed 1234 is for an area other than the area to which the real-time feed is sent, and the vehicle 1101 may access one or more of the feeds by selecting one or more corresponding links and / or URLs. One or more of the real-time feeds 1234 may indicate that one or more objects in the real-time feed are capable of V2X communication.

[0101] At stage 1240, the vehicle 1101 processes the real-time feed 1234. For example, the vehicle 1101 may provide data from the real-time feed to a user of the vehicle 1101 and / or to one or more components (e.g., ADAS) of the vehicle 1101. The vehicle 1101 may combine the real-time feed data with other data obtained by the vehicle (e.g., one or more images from one or more cameras of the vehicle 1101).

[0102] refer to Fig.13 , and further reference Figures 1 to 12 , the directional wireless message transmission method 1300 includes the stages shown. However, the method 1300 is an example and not a limitation. The method 1300 can be modified, for example, by adding one or more stages and / or removing one or more stages and / or rearranging, combining and / or performing the stages concurrently and / or splitting one or more single stages into multiple stages.

[0103] At stage 1310, method 1300 includes: wirelessly receiving, at a wireless communication device, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device. For example, at stage 710, wireless communication device 705 may receive communication signal 711 from vehicle 601. As another example, MEC 1120 may receive signals measured by one or more sensors performed by vehicle 1102 (directly or indirectly) from vehicle 1102 as part of data collection at stage 1210. As another example, wireless communication device 705 or MEC 1120 may receive visible light signals reflected by vehicle 601 or vehicle 1102, respectively. Processor 510, which may be combined with memory 530, may be combined with transceiver 520 (e.g., one or more directional antennas of directional antennas 521, 522, and a wireless receiver such as wireless receiver 344 or wireless receiver 244), or may be combined with sensor 540 (e.g., one or more cameras), may include components for receiving the one or more signals.

[0104] At stage 1320, method 1300 includes: based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle not being received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device, sending a message from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals. For example, at stage 720, the wireless communication device 705 may send a communication signal 726 toward the vehicle 602. The communication signal 726 may include a relayed BSM from the vehicle 601 and / or one or more indications of the location of the vehicle 601 (e.g., a simplified image). For another example, at stage 1230, the MEC 1120 may send a real-time feed 1234 containing sensor measurement information from the vehicle 1102 toward the vehicle 1101. For another example, the MEC 1120 may send image information and / or other information received from the wireless communication device 705. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, and with the transceiver 520 (e.g., one or more of the directional antennas 521, 522, and a wireless transmitter such as the wireless transmitter 342 or the wireless transmitter 242) may include components for transmitting a second vehicle sensor message.

[0105] A specific implementation of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle. For example, the one or more signals may include a BSM, and the message may include a relayed BSM. In a further example implementation, the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication. For example, the communication signal 726 may indicate whether the vehicle corresponding to the sensor measurement information in the signal 726 is capable of V2X communication, for example, similar to the outbound communication signal 1000. For another example, the real-time feed 1234 may indicate whether the vehicle corresponding to the information in the real-time feed 1234 is V2X enabled. In another further example implementation, the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and sending the second vehicle sensor message is performed based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle. For example, the wireless communication device 705 is the vehicle 603 (or a portion thereof), and the device 705 sends the communication signal 726 having the content based on the content of the signal 711 from the vehicle 601 not previously being sent by another device (e.g., the vehicle 605). In another further example implementation, the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and the directional wireless message sending method further includes handing over the responsibility of sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle at least previously being disposed in the second area relative to the wireless communication device. For example, wireless communication device 705 is vehicle 603 (or a portion thereof) and transfers responsibility for transmitting the content of signal 711 from vehicle 601 based on vehicle 603 losing LOS with vehicle 602 (eg, losing LOS with area 630).

[0106] Additionally or alternatively, a specific implementation of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, method 1300 includes determining by the wireless communication device that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the wireless communication device sends the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals. For example, the wireless communication device 705 may send a communication signal 726 in response to determining at substage 722 that the vehicle 602 cannot receive the communication signal 711 from the vehicle 601 (e.g., predicted to be unable to accurately decode the signal 711 (e.g., to receive the signal with sufficient (e.g., above a threshold) power and sufficient (e.g., above a threshold) SNR (signal-to-noise ratio)). For another example, the device 705 may send a communication signal 726 to the vehicle 602 in response to the visible light signal reflected by the vehicle 601 and measured at substage 715 not being (sufficiently) received by the vehicle 602. As another example, the MEC 1120 and / or the RSU 1110 may send a message (e.g., an SDSM or CPM or a URL or a real-time feed link) in response to the visible light signal reflected by the vehicle 1101 not being able to be (sufficiently) received by the vehicle 1102. The processor 510, which may be combined with the memory 520, may include a component for determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the first vehicle sensor message from the first vehicle. In another example implementation, the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and sending the message is further based on the heading of the third vehicle. For example, at sub-stage 724, the wireless communication device 705 may determine whether to send a communication signal 726 (e.g., as discussed above) based on the heading of the wireless communication device. In another example implementation, method 1300 includes: wirelessly receiving, at the wireless communication device, a third vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the fourth vehicle from a fourth vehicle in the first area relative to the wireless communication device, wherein the second vehicle sensor message further indicates the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the fourth vehicle. For example, wireless communication device 705 receives communication signal 712 from vehicle 604, aggregates content of signal 712 with information from signal 711, and transmits communication signal 726 having vehicle sensor measurement content (e.g., content 910 and content 930) from both signals 711 and 712.

[0107] Additionally or alternatively, a specific implementation of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, sending the message is further based on the following: the density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or the current movement of the first vehicle; or the expected movement of the first vehicle; or the signaling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is set; or the remaining portion of the life cycle of the first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or a combination of two or more of them. For example, at substage 724, the wireless communication device 705 determines whether to send the communication signal 726 based on any one of these factors (e.g., based on the value of the factor relative to the threshold of the factor) or based on any combination of two or more of these factors (e.g., based on the value of the threshold of these factors relative to these factors, where if only one of these factors is considered, either threshold or both thresholds are different from the threshold).

[0108] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, method 1300 includes transmitting, via a mobile device to terrestrial radio access network interface, from the wireless communication device at least one operational feed of vehicular activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device. For example, MEC 1120 (using one or more directional antennas) transmits one or more of beams 1191 to 1193 to an area (such as area 1161) having one or more corresponding real-time feeds of collected data regarding vehicular activity (if any) in area 1161. Fig.11 As shown, including vehicle 1101). The processor 510, which may be combined with the memory 530 and the transceiver 520 (e.g., one or more of the directional antennas 521, 522, and a wireless transmitter such as the wireless transmitter 342), may include components for sending the at least one operational feed of vehicle activity. In another example implementation, the one or more signals include visible light signals, and the message includes lane-level information about the location of the first vehicle. For example, the device 705 (or RSU 1110 or MEC 1120) may capture one or more images of the vehicle 601 (or vehicle 1102) and send a signal 726 (or another signal) to the vehicle 602 (or vehicle 1101) indicating the lane occupied by the vehicle 601 (or vehicle 1102).

[0109] Specific implementation examples

[0110] Specific implementation examples are provided in the following numbered clauses.

[0111] Clause 1. A method for sending a directional wireless message, the method comprising:

[0112] wirelessly receiving, at a wireless communication device, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and

[0113] In accordance with the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device, a message is transmitted from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals.

[0114] Clause 2. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to Clause 1, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0115] Clause 3. The method of directed wireless messaging of Clause 2, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

[0116] Clause 4. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to Clause 2, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and sending the second vehicle sensor message is performed based on the failure to receive a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0117] Clause 5. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to Clause 2, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the method for sending a directional wireless message also includes transferring the responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing sight of at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously set in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0118] Clause 6. According to the method for sending a directional wireless message as described in Clause 1, the method for sending a directional wireless message also includes the wireless communication device determining that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the wireless communication device sends the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

[0119] Clause 7. The method of directional wireless messaging of Clause 1, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein sending the message is further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

[0120] Clause 8. The method of sending a directed wireless message according to clause 1, wherein sending the message is further based on:

[0121] a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or

[0122] the current movement of the first vehicle; or

[0123] the expected movement of the first vehicle; or

[0124] the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or

[0125] a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or

[0126] A combination of two or more of them.

[0127] Clause 9. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to clause 1, further comprising sending at least one operational feed of vehicle activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via a mobile device to ground radio access network interface.

[0128] Clause 10. The method of directional wireless messaging of Clause 1, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane-level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

[0129] Clause 11. A wireless communication device, the wireless communication device comprising:

[0130] Memory;

[0131] a transceiver comprising a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna; and

[0132] a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver and

[0133] Configured as:

[0134] receiving, via the first directional antenna, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and

[0135] A message is sent via the second directional antenna toward a second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle, wherein the processor is configured to send the message based on the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0136] Clause 12. A wireless communication device according to Clause 11, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0137] Clause 13. The wireless communication device of Clause 12, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

[0138] Clause 14. A wireless communication device according to clause 12, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a vehicle and the processor is configured to send the second vehicle sensor message based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0139] Clause 15. A wireless communication device according to clause 12, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the processor is configured to transfer responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously disposed in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0140] Clause 16. A wireless communication device according to Clause 11, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, and wherein the processor is configured to send the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

[0141] Clause 17. The wireless communication device of Clause 11, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein the processor is configured to send the message further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

[0142] Clause 18. The wireless communication device of clause 11, wherein the processor is configured to send the message further based on:

[0143] a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or

[0144] the current movement of the first vehicle; or

[0145] the expected movement of the first vehicle; or

[0146] the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or

[0147] a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or

[0148] A combination of two or more of them.

[0149] Clause 19. A wireless communication device according to clause 11, wherein the processor is configured to transmit at least one operational feed of vehicular activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via the second directional antenna through a mobile device to a terrestrial radio access network interface.

[0150] Clause 20. The wireless communication device of Clause 11, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane-level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

[0151] Clause 21. A wireless communication device, the wireless communication device comprising:

[0152] means for wirelessly receiving one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and

[0153] Means for transmitting a message from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle in accordance with the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0154] Clause 22. A wireless communication device according to Clause 21, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0155] Clause 23. The wireless communication device of Clause 22, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

[0156] Clause 24. A wireless communication device according to clause 22, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the component for sending the second vehicle sensor message includes a component for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0157] Clause 25. A wireless communication device according to clause 22, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the wireless communication device also includes a component for transferring responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously disposed in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0158] Clause 26. A wireless communication device according to Clause 21, wherein the wireless communication device also includes a component for determining that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the component for sending the message includes a component for sending the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

[0159] Clause 27. The wireless communication device of Clause 21, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein the means for sending the message comprises means for sending the message further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

[0160] Clause 28. The wireless communication device of clause 21, wherein the means for sending the message comprises means for sending the message further based on:

[0161] a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or

[0162] the current movement of the first vehicle; or

[0163] the expected movement of the first vehicle; or

[0164] the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or

[0165] a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or

[0166] A combination of two or more of them.

[0167] Clause 29. A wireless communication device according to clause 21, wherein the wireless communication device also includes a component for sending at least one operational feed of vehicle activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via a mobile device to a terrestrial radio access network interface.

[0168] Clause 30. The wireless communication device of Clause 21, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane-level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

[0169] Clause 31. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions that cause a processor of a wireless communication device to:

[0170] wirelessly receiving one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and

[0171] In accordance with the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device, a message is transmitted from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals.

[0172] Clause 32. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium as described in clause 31, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

[0173] Clause 33. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of Clause 32, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0174] Clause 34. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium as described in clause 32, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the second vehicle sensor message include processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the second vehicle sensor message based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating measurements performed by the one or more vehicle sensors of the first vehicle.

[0175] Clause 35. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to clause 32, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the wireless communication device also includes processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to transfer responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously disposed in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

[0176] Clause 36. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to Clause 31, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium also includes processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to determine that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the message include processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

[0177] Clause 37. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to clause 31, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein the processor-readable instructions causing the processor to send the message comprise processor-readable instructions causing the processor to further send the message based on a heading of the third vehicle.

[0178] Clause 38. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 32, wherein the processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the message include processor-readable instructions that cause the processor to send the message further based on:

[0179] a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or

[0180] the current movement of the first vehicle; or

[0181] the expected movement of the first vehicle; or

[0182] the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or

[0183] a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or

[0184] A combination of two or more of them.

[0185] Clause 39. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to clause 31, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium also includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to send at least one operational feed of vehicle activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via a mobile device to a terrestrial radio access network interface.

[0186] Clause 40. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of Clause 31, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane-level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

[0187] Other considerations

[0188] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the above functions can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions can also be physically located at different locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0189] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "include", "comprising", and "include" specify the presence of the recited features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0190] Likewise, as used herein, “or” used in a list of items (possibly followed by “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C,” or a list of “A or B or C” means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B means that the item may be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform functions with respect to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which of A and B to measure or both). Similarly, a statement about a component for measuring at least one of A or B includes: a component for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or a component for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or a component for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which of A and B to measure or both). As another example, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform at least one of function X or to perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure).

[0191] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the stated item or condition.

[0192] Substantial changes may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, in software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or in both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Unless otherwise indicated, components (functional or otherwise) shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, these components may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication between them.

[0193] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may appropriately omit, replace, or add various procedures or components. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of a configuration may be combined in a similar manner. In addition, technology is constantly evolving, and therefore many elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure or claims.

[0194] A wireless communication system is a system in which communications are transmitted wirelessly between wireless communication equipment (also called wireless communication equipment), that is, by propagation of electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves through the air space rather than by wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication system (also called a wireless communication system, a wireless communication network or a wireless communication network) may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but may be configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. In addition, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the functionality of the device be used exclusively or even primarily for communication, does not require that communications using the wireless communication device be exclusively or even primarily wireless, nor does it require that the device be a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), for example, including at least one radio component (each radio component is part of a transmitter, receiver or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0195] Specific details are given in this specification to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including specific implementations). However, configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing these configurations. This specification provides example configurations without limiting the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. On the contrary, the previous description of the configuration provides a description for implementing the described technology. Various changes can be made to the function and arrangement of the elements.

[0196] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / codes to a processor for execution, and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes (e.g., as signals). In many specific implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0197] After describing several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, in which other rules may take precedence over the application of the present disclosure or otherwise modify the application of the present disclosure. In addition, several operations may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0198] Unless otherwise indicated, "approximately" and / or "about" as used herein in reference to a measurable value (such as an amount, a duration of time, etc.) encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other specific implementations described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, "substantially" as used herein in reference to a measurable value (such as an amount, a duration of time, a physical property (such as frequency), etc.) also encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other specific implementations described herein.

[0199] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly less than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system.

Claims

1. A method for sending a directional wireless message, the method comprising: wirelessly receiving, at a wireless communication device, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; as well as In accordance with the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device, a message is transmitted from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals.

2. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to claim 1, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle. 3 . The method of directed wireless messaging of claim 2 , wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

4. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication device includes a part of a third vehicle, and sending the second vehicle sensor message is performed based on the fact that a third vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle is not received from another wireless communication device.

5. A method for sending a directional wireless message according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication device includes a part of a third vehicle, and the method for sending a directional wireless message also includes handing over the responsibility of sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing sight of at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously set in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

6. The method for sending a directional wireless message according to claim 1 further comprises the wireless communication device determining that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the wireless communication device sends the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

7. The method of directional wireless messaging of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein sending the message is further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the message is further based on: a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or the current movement of the first vehicle; or the expected movement of the first vehicle; or the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or A combination of two or more of them.

9. The method for sending a directional wireless message according to claim 1, further comprising sending at least one operation feed of vehicle activities in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via a mobile device to ground radio access network interface.

10. The method of directional wireless messaging of claim 1, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

11. A wireless communication device, comprising: Memory; a transceiver comprising a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver and configured to: receiving, via the first directional antenna, one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; as well as A message is sent via the second directional antenna toward a second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle, wherein the processor is configured to send the message based on the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

12. A wireless communication device according to claim 11, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

14. A wireless communication device according to claim 12, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a vehicle, and the processor is configured to send the second vehicle sensor message based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle from another wireless communication device.

15. A wireless communication device according to claim 12, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the processor is configured to transfer responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously disposed in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

16. A wireless communication device according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that a second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, and wherein the processor is configured to send the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein the processor is configured to send the message further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to send the message further based on: a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or the current movement of the first vehicle; or the expected movement of the first vehicle; or the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or A combination of two or more of them.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to transmit at least one operational feed of vehicular activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via the second directional antenna through a mobile device to terrestrial radio access network interface.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the one or more signals include visible light signals and the message includes lane-level information regarding the location of the first vehicle.

21. A wireless communication device, comprising: means for wirelessly receiving one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and Means for transmitting a message from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle in accordance with the one or more signals being unable to be received in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

22. A wireless communication device according to claim 21, wherein the one or more signals include a first vehicle sensor message indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle, and the message includes a second vehicle sensor message indicating the one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the second vehicle sensor message includes an indication that the first vehicle is capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

24. A wireless communication device according to claim 22, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the component for sending the second vehicle sensor message includes a component for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on not receiving a third vehicle sensor message from another wireless communication device indicating one or more vehicle sensor measurements performed by the first vehicle.

25. A wireless communication device according to claim 22, wherein the wireless communication device includes a portion of a third vehicle, and the wireless communication device also includes a component for transferring responsibility for sending the second vehicle sensor message based on the third vehicle losing line of sight with at least one of the first vehicle or a second vehicle, the second vehicle being at least previously set in the second area relative to the wireless communication device.

26. A wireless communication device according to claim 21, wherein the wireless communication device also includes a component for determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals, wherein the component for sending the message includes a component for sending the message in response to determining that the second vehicle in the second area cannot receive the one or more signals.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 21, wherein the wireless communication device comprises a portion of a third vehicle, and wherein the means for transmitting the message comprises means for transmitting the message further based on a heading of the third vehicle.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 21, wherein the means for sending the message comprises means for sending the message further based on: a density of vehicles in the first area capable of at least vehicle-to-vehicle communication; or the current movement of the first vehicle; or the expected movement of the first vehicle; or the signalling characteristics of the environment in which the wireless communication device is arranged; or a remainder of a lifecycle of a first vehicle sensor message in the one or more signals; or A combination of two or more of them.

29. The wireless communication device of claim 21, further comprising a component for sending at least one operational feed of vehicular activity in the first area relative to the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device via a mobile device to terrestrial radio access network interface.

30. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions that cause a processor of a wireless communication device to: wirelessly receiving one or more signals corresponding to a first vehicle from a first area relative to the wireless communication device; and In accordance with the one or more signals corresponding to the first vehicle being unable to be received in a second area relative to the wireless communication device, a message is transmitted from the wireless communication device to the second area relative to the wireless communication device based on the one or more signals.

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