Techniques for status indication delivery in positioning of user equipment

Abstract

In some implementations, a user equipment (UE) may determine a non-positioning state of the UE, where the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE separate from capabilities of the UE and is independent of positioning of the UE. During a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity (e.g., another UE, a group of UEs, or a location server) to enable the positioning of the UE, the UE may transmit an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages. The at least one entity may then take action based on the non-positioning state to improve the positioning of the UE, such as using certain positioning methods or modifying other positioning operations.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application No. 18 / 366,472, filed on August 7, 2023, entitled “SIDELINK POSITIONING PROTOCOL (SLPP) PROCEDURES,” which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 63 / 377,530, filed on September 28, 2022, entitled “SIDELINK POSITIONING PROTOCOL (SLPP) PROCEDURES,” all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0003] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and devices that support positioning.

[0004] 2. Related technologies

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, positioning, and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems).

[0006] In some examples, a wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple base stations, each base station simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices (also referred to as user equipment (UE)). A base station may communicate with a set of UEs on a downlink channel (e.g., for transmissions from the base station to the UE) and an uplink channel (e.g., for transmissions from the UE to the base station). Additionally, the UEs may communicate directly with each other using sidelink channels.

[0007] The location of a UE may be useful or essential for a variety of applications including emergency calls, navigation, direction finding, asset tracking, and Internet services. In a cellular network, for example, a base station may transmit a downlink reference signal by which the UE obtains positioning measurements and / or a UE may transmit an uplink reference signal by which the base station obtains positioning measurements. The UE may use positioning measurements in UE-based positioning to calculate an estimate of its own position or may transmit positioning measurements to a network entity (e.g., a location server), which may calculate the UE position based on positioning measurements in UE-assisted positioning. The location of a UE may also be obtained using sidelink positioning, in which a pair of UEs or a group of UEs exchange messages and signals on a sidelink channel to perform positioning. Summary of the invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, an example method of locating a user equipment (UE) performed by the UE may include determining a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is unrelated to the positioning of the UE. The method may also include, during a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve positioning of the UE, transmitting an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages.

[0009] According to the present disclosure, an example method for locating a user equipment (UE) performed by an entity may include, during a positioning procedure in which the entity exchanges messages with the UE to achieve positioning of the UE, receiving from the UE in one of the messages an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE separate from the capabilities of the UE and unrelated to the positioning of the UE. The method may also include, in response to receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, performing one or more operations based on the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

[0010] An example user equipment (UE) includes: one or more transceivers, one or more memories. One or more processors may also be configured as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is independent of the positioning of the UE. The one or more processors may also be configured to transmit an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages via the one or more transceivers during a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve positioning of the UE.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, an example device for positioning user equipment (UE) may include one or more transceivers, one or more memories, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE from the UE via the one or more transceivers in one of the messages during a positioning procedure in which the device exchanges messages with the UE to achieve positioning of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is unrelated to the positioning of the UE. The one or more processors may also be configured to, in response to receiving an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, perform one or more operations based on the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, an example user equipment may include a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory and configured to perform any of the previously described methods.

[0013] According to the present disclosure, an example apparatus may include means for performing any of the previously described methods.

[0014] According to the present disclosure, an example non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions including code for performing any of the previously described methods.

[0015] This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of the disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 The architecture of a communication system including multiple UEs, a radio access network (RAN) and a 5G core network (5GC) is shown.

[0017] Figure 2 An architecture of a communication system for network supported sidelink positioning is shown.

[0018] Figure 3 is a signal flow illustrating signaling between a UE and a location server for network supported sidelink positioning.

[0019] Figure 4A and Figure 4B is a block diagram illustrating a specific implementation of the structure of a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message.

[0020] Figure 5 is a signal flow illustrating signaling between a pair of UEs for paired sidelink positioning.

[0021] Fig. 6A is a signal flow illustrating signaling between UEs for sidelink positioning capability exchange, including exchange of capabilities, resources, and service requirements.

[0022] Figure 6B is a signal flow illustrating signaling between UEs for positioning signal configuration and confirmation exchange.

[0023] Figure 6C is a signal flow illustrating signaling between UEs for measurement exchange.

[0024] Figure 7 is a signal flow illustrating signaling of group operation for sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0025] Figure 8 and Fig. 9 is a signal flow diagram for an implementation of an SLPP positioning session between UEs in UE-based or "autonomous" mode.

[0026] Figures 10 to 12 is a signal flow diagram of an implementation scheme of an SLPP positioning session in network-assisted mode.

[0027] Fig.13 is a block diagram of an implementation scheme of a UE.

[0028] Fig.14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system.

[0029] Fig.15 is a signal flow diagram of an implementation scheme of SLPP and LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) positioning session between UE and LMF.

[0030] Fig.16 is a signal flow diagram of a technique for improving positioning by communicating a status indication from a UE to another entity, according to an embodiment.

[0031] Fig.17 is a flowchart of a method of positioning a UE performed by the UE according to an implementation scheme.

[0032] Fig.18 is a flowchart of a method of positioning a UE performed by an entity according to an embodiment.

[0033] According to some examples, similar reference symbols in the accompanying drawings indicate similar elements. In addition, multiple instances of the element can be indicated by adding a letter or a hyphen and a second digit after the first digit of the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first digit is used to refer to such an element, it should be understood that any instance of the element (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to element 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or element 110a, 110b and 110c). Additionally, the operations in some of the procedures shown in these figures can be shown as numbers and are referred to as stages in this article (which may or may not be individually marked in the figure). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Discussed herein are implementations for improving UE positioning using techniques by which a transient or semi-permanent state or condition (e.g., a non-positioning state or condition) of the UE can be notified to another positioning entity. For joint Uu and SL positioning, a positioning protocol (e.g., any combination of LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), SLPP, or New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa)) can be used, depending on the desired positioning method. Among the various advantages, implementations can provide higher positioning accuracy, higher reliability, use of fewer resources (e.g., less signaling, less processing, or both), lower latency, higher security (e.g., where unauthorized parties cannot obtain information about the location of the UE and / or other UEs), or some combination of these.

[0035] The present specification may refer to a sequence of actions to be performed, for example, by elements 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.

[0036] 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. In general, such UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) device, in-vehicle system (IVS), etc.) for communicating over a wireless communication network. The UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). For example, as used herein, a UE may be an infrastructure node such as a roadside unit (RSU), a positioning reference unit (PRU), etc. As used herein, the term "UE" may 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", RSU, PRU, IVS, or variations thereof. Typically, the UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can be connected to an external network 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 Wi-Fi network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0037] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs when communicating with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a general Node B (gNodeB, gNB), etc. Furthermore, in some systems a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0038] The UE may be implemented by any of a variety of 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 tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link through which the UE can transmit signals to the RAN is called 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 called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). The communication link through which the UE can transmit signals to other UEs is called a sidelink channel. As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward or sidelink traffic channel.

[0039] 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 carrier 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.

[0040] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the term "positioning" as used herein may include absolute position determination, relative position determination, ranging, or a combination thereof. Thus, positioning measurements as discussed herein may include range measurements. For the purposes of location or sensing services, such positioning may include and / or be based on timing, angle, phase, or power measurements, or a combination thereof (which may include RF sensing measurements).

[0041] Figure 1An example of a communication system 100 is shown, which includes a first UE 105A, a second UE 105B, a third UE 105C, a radio access network (RAN) 135 (here, a fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN)), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. For example, the 5GC 140 can be a public land mobile network (PLMN). UEs 105A, 105B, and 105C may sometimes be referred to herein as UEs 105 individually or collectively. UEs 105 may be, for example, IoT devices, location tracker devices, cellular phones, vehicles, on-board units (OBUs), or other similar types of devices. Additionally, UEs 105 may be considered RSUs or PRUs. 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 NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). The RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The communication system 100 may utilize a constellation of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190 that may support a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the 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 the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)). In some embodiments, the UE 105 may communicate with the SVs 190 and the earth station ( Figure 1 The UE 105 may communicate with a RAN node (e.g., gNB 110) or a 5GC 140 node (not shown), in which case the UE 105 may not communicate directly with the RAN node, but only communicate with the RAN node via the SV 190. This may be used to increase the coverage and / or capacity of the NG-RAN 135. Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0042] like Figure 1As shown in FIG. 1 , the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and a 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, a user plane function (UPF) 118, and a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 119. The gNBs 110a, 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 the UPF 118 and configured to perform bidirectional communication with the AMF and the UPF. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs) or RAN nodes. AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and GMLC 125 is communicatively coupled to external client 130. AMF 115, SMF 117, UPF 118, and SLP 119 are communicatively coupled to each other, and SLP 119 is communicatively coupled to external client 130. According to some embodiments, server 121, Internet 122, and server 123 may be communicatively coupled to UPF 118 and may facilitate SL positioning. SMF 117 may also serve as an initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. The base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may be macro cells (e.g., high-power cellular base stations) or small cells (e.g., low-power cellular base stations) or access points (e.g., short-range base stations configured to communicate using short-range technologies such as WI-FI, WI-FI Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Bluetooth-Low Energy (BLE), ZIGBEE, etc.). One or more of the base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the base stations 110a, 110b, 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.

[0043] Figure 1A 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 only 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 shown), gNBs 110a, 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.

[0044] 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 used 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) or at a base station 110a, 110b, 114, and / or provide location assistance to UE 105 (via LMF 120 or SLP 119 or other location servers), and / or calculate the location of one or both of UE 105 at a device with location capabilities (such as UE 105, base station 110a, 110b, LMF 120 or SLP 119) based on measurements received at UE 105 or base station 110a, 110b, 114 for such directional transmitted signals. GMLC 125, LMF 120, AMF 115, SMF 117, UPF 118, SLP 119, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other entities (including location server functionality and / or base station functionality) in various embodiments.

[0045] The communication 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 base stations 110a, 110b, 114 and / or network 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 changed during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change the header information of the 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 and 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 devices are only examples because the UE 105 does not need to 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 headphones, 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, base stations 110a, 110b, 114, the core network 140, and / or external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include IoT or IIoT devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The core network 140 may communicate with the external clients 130, servers 123, or servers 121 (e.g., each of which may be a computer system), for example, to allow the external clients 130, servers 123, or servers 121 (e.g., via the GMLC 125, SLP 119, or UPF 118) to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105.

[0046] 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, satellite communication, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (e.g., V2P (vehicle to pedestrian), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure), V2V (vehicle to vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.) for communication. V2X communication can be cellular (cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or Wi-Fi (for example, DSRC (dedicated short range connection)). System 100 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can send modulated signals on multiple carriers simultaneously. 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 can communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink (SL) channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSIRS), a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), or a sidelink sounding reference signal (SL-SRS).

[0047] 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, a tablet device, a PDA, a tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an asset tracker, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), 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 Wi-Fi (also known as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. UE 105 may support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN) that may connect 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 of 5GC 140 and possibly via Internet 122) to communicate with external clients 130, servers 121, and / or servers 123 and / or allow external clients 130, servers 121, and / or servers 123 (e.g., via GMLC 125, SLP 119, or UPF 118) to receive location-related information about UE 105.

[0048] Each of the UEs 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. An estimate of the location of a UE (e.g., UE 105) may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE, 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 the UE may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., expressed as a postal address or a designation of a point or smaller area in a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of the UE may be expressed as an area or volume (defined in geodetic or municipal terms) within which the UE is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE may be expressed as a relative location including, for example, a distance and direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geodetically, 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 variations unless otherwise indicated.

[0049] When using sidelink positioning, the absolute (e.g., global) position or relative position of the UE may not always be obtained. Alternatively, a position result of the UE may be obtained, which may include the range or distance between the UE and each of one or more other UEs, the direction from the UE to each of one or more other UEs, the position of the UE relative to the position of some other UE, the position of one or more other UEs relative to the position of the UE, the speed of the UE, and / or the speed of each of one or more other UEs. The speed of the UE may be an absolute speed (e.g., relative to the earth), or it may be a speed relative to some other UE, then such a speed may be referred to as a "relative speed". The relative speed of UE B relative to another UE A may include a "radial speed" component and a "lateral speed" component, the "radial speed" component may be equal to the rate of change of the range from UE A to UE B, the "lateral speed" component may be at right angles to the radial speed component seen by UE A and may be equal to the angular rate of change of the direction from UE B to UE A multiplied by the range from UE A to UE B. In the description contained herein, use of the term "position result" or "multiple position results" for sidelink positioning of a UE or a group of UEs may include any of these variations unless otherwise noted.

[0050] 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 communicate with one or more other UEs (e.g., other UEs 105) via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may be examples of sidelink signaling (or may be supported by sidelink signaling) and may be supported using any appropriate D2D radio access technology (RAT) such as LTE direct (LTE-D), WiFi direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be located within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP) such as one or more of gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNBs 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from a base station for other reasons. A 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 communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be located within a geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or unable to receive transmissions from a base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communications 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 communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP.

[0051] 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 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE using 5G. Figure 1 In the figure, the serving gNB for UE 105A is assumed to be gNB 110b, and the serving gNB for UE 105B is assumed to be gNB 110a, but another gNB may act as the serving gNB if UE 105 moves to another location, or may act as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105 and UE 105 may share the same serving gNB.

[0052] Figure 1 The 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.

[0053] Base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may transmit one or more downlink reference signals, including positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions. PRS transmissions may be configured for a particular UE 105 to measure and report one or more reporting parameters (e.g., reporting quantities) associated with positioning and location information. PRS transmissions and reporting parameter feedback may support various location services (e.g., navigation systems and emergency communications). In some examples, the reporting parameters supplement one or more additional location systems (such as global positioning system (GPS) technology) supported by UE 105.

[0054] Base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may configure PRS transmission on one or more PRS resources of a channel. PRS resources may span resource elements of multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) within one or more OFDM symbols of a time slot depending on the number of configured ports. For example, a PRS resource may span a symbol of a time slot and include a port for transmission. In any OFDM symbol, a PRS resource may occupy consecutive PRBs. In some examples, PRS transmission may be mapped to consecutive OFDM symbols of a time slot. In other examples, PRS transmission may be mapped to interspersed OFDM symbols of a time slot. In addition, PRS transmission may support frequency hopping within a PRB of a channel.

[0055] The one or more PRS resources may span multiple PRS resource sets according to the PRS resource settings of the base stations 110a, 110b, 114. The structure of one or more PRS resources, PRS resource sets, and PRS resource settings within a PRS transmission may be referred to as a multi-level resource setting. For example, the multi-level PRS resource settings of the base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may include multiple PRS resource sets, and each PRS resource set may include a set of PRS resources (such as a set of 4 PRS resources).

[0056] The UE 105 may receive a PRS transmission on one or more PRS resources of the time slot. The UE 105 may determine reporting parameters for at least some of the PRS resources included in the transmission. The reporting parameters for each PRS resource (which may include reporting quantities) may include one or more of: time of arrival (TOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), angle, PRS identification number, receive-to-transmit difference (UE Rx-Tx), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or reference signal received quality (RSRQ).

[0057] Similarly, the UE 105 may be configured to send one or more additional uplink reference signals, which may be received by the base stations 110a, 110b, 114 and used for positioning. For example, the UE 105 may send a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning. The base stations 110a, 110b, 114 receiving the uplink reference signal from the UE 105 may perform positioning measurements, such as one or more of time of arrival (TOA), receive-to-transmit difference (UE Rx-Tx).

[0058] The positioning estimate for the UE may be determined using reference signals from one or more base stations 110a, 110b, 114 or the UE, such as PRS signals or SRS or other reference signals for positioning signals. Positioning methods such as downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of departure (DL AOD), enhanced cell ID (ECID) are positioning methods that may be used to estimate the positioning of the UE using reference signals from base stations. For example, DL-TDOA relies on measuring the reference signal time difference (RSTD) between downlink (DL) signals received from a base station of a reference cell and base stations of one or more neighboring cells. DL signals from which RTSD may be obtained include cell-specific reference signals (CRS) and positioning reference signals (PRS).

[0059] Other positioning methods may use reference signals sent by the UE, including uplink-based positioning methods and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. For example, uplink-based positioning methods include, for example, UL time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL AOA), UL relative time of arrival (UL-RTOA), and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods, such as multi-cell round trip time (RTT) with one or more neighboring base stations. Additionally, sidelink-based positioning may be used, in which the UE sends and / or receives sidelink positioning reference signals that are measured and used for positioning.

[0060] As mentioned, although Figure 1Nodes 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 a 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 the UE 105. Figure 1 The NG-RAN 135 in the figure and the EPC correspond to the 5GC 140 in the figure.

[0061] 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 or indirectly with the UE 105, or directly or indirectly with the base stations 110a, 110b, 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 positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) (e.g., Downlink (DL) TDOA or Uplink (UL) TDOA), 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. A node / system implementing the 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 position of the UE) may be performed at the UE (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE for signals transmitted by wireless nodes (such as gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114), and / or assistance data provided to the UE, for example, by LMF 120). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the position of the UE) may alternatively be performed at LMF 120 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for handling signaling between UE 105 and core network 140, and provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105 (including cell changes and handovers), and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

[0062] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130, and may forward such 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 or a sidelink location result for 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 or the sidelink location result) to the external client 130. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, but in some implementations, the 5GC 140 may support only one of these connections.

[0063] A user plane function (UPF) 118 may support voice and data bearers for UE 105 and may enable voice and data access for UE 105 to other networks, such as the Internet 122, and to servers, such as server 121 and server 123. UPF 118 may be connected to gNB 110 and ng-eNB 114. UPF 118 functions may include: external protocol data unit (PDU) session interconnection points to data networks, packet (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)) routing and forwarding, user plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement, quality of service (QoS) handling of the user plane, downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 118 may be connected to SLP 119 to implement support for positioning of UE 105 using SUPL. SLP 119 may also be connected to or accessible from external client 130.

[0064] As illustrated, a session management function (SMF) 117 is connected to the AMF 115 and the UPF 118. The SMF 117 may have the ability to control local and central UPFs within a PDU session. The SMF 117 may manage the establishment, modification, and release of PDU sessions for the UE 105, perform IP address allocation and management for the UE 105, act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for the UE 105, and select and control the UPF 118 on behalf of the UE 105.

[0065] like Figure 1As further illustrated in FIG. 1 , LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be communicated between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120 and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1 As further illustrated in , the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, the LPP message may be passed between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or the serving ng-eNB 114 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP message may be passed between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a service operation based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and may be passed between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol.

[0066] The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, AOA, AOD, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based positioning methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used 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 synchronization signal (SS) transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based positioning methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used 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. Figure 1 140, but may be outside the core network 140, such as in the NG-RAN. For example, LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB, or may be located remote from the gNB and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB.

[0067] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B) may obtain location measurements and transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for the UE. 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), AOA, AOD of gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 and / or WLAN AP. The location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase and / or carrier phase of SV 190.

[0068] Using the UE-based positioning method, a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B) can obtain a position measurement (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurement for a UE-assisted positioning method) and can calculate the position of the UE (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF 120) or broadcast by gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base station or AP).

[0069] Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, AOD, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals sent by a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B)) and / or may receive measurements obtained by a UE. The one or more base stations or APs may transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for the UE.

[0070] As mentioned, although 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 functionalities). For example, in EPS, NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by E-UTRAN including eNBs, and 5GC 140 may be replaced by EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to GMLC 125.

[0071] In radio networks such as Figure 1The positioning of the UE in the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 100 ) typically uses the Uu interface, i.e., the radio interface between the UE 105 and the radio access network, for DL ​​PRS and / or UL PRS. The positioning of the UE may also use or alternatively use a sidelink PRS (SL-PRS), which may be a reference signal for positioning defined by a specific sidelink, or may reuse the Uu PRS (e.g., UL PRS, sometimes referred to as a positioning sounding reference signal (SRSPos)), or other reference signals may be sent in the sidelink channel. Sidelink positioning may enhance UE positioning by providing additional transmitting (or receiving) nodes. A UE with a known positioning (such as UE 105B) may be used to support positioning determination of another target UE (such as UE 105A), where UE 105B is sometimes referred to as an anchor node.

[0072] With the sidelink positioning method, UE 105A, for example, may transmit a sidelink PRS or sidelink SRS signal that is received and measured by another UE 105B. Additionally or alternatively, UE 105B, for example, may transmit a sidelink PRS or sidelink SRS signal that is received and measured by UE 105A. For example, as previously described, the sidelink PRS may be similar to a PRS (e.g., DL PRS) transmitted by gNB 110. For example, as previously described, the sidelink SRS may be similar to an SRS (e.g., uplink) SRS transmitted by UE 105 for measurement by gNB 110. Measurements of the SL PRS or SL SRS signal may include receive-to-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx), time of arrival (TOA), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), angle of arrival (AOA), and reference signal time difference (RSTD). SL positioning methods may include SL round trip signal propagation time (RTT) (also known as ranging), SL AOA, SLAOD, or any combination thereof.

[0073] In some scenarios, the UE group ( Figure 1SL positioning may be supported by the UE in the group (not shown). In this case, one UE in the group may send a SL PRS or SL SRS signal, which may be measured by some or all of the other UEs in the group. Some or all of the other UEs in the group may also each send a SL PRS or SL SRS signal (for example, where each UE sends an SLSRS or SL SRS at a time or times different from the time when the other UEs in the group send the SL PRS or SL SRS), which may be measured by some or all other UEs in the group that are different from the UE that sends the UL PRS or ULS SRS. Measurements made by the UE applicable to the transmission of the SL PRS or SL SRS by the UE group may include Rx-Tx, TOA, RSTD, AOA, RSRP, RSRQ, or any combination thereof. Positioning methods supported by these measurements may include sidelink RTT (for example, ranging), sidelink AOA, sidelink AOD, sidelink TDOA (SL-TDOA), or any combination thereof. Based on the measurement and positioning methods, each UE may determine the position results of itself and / or one or more other UEs in the group. As previously described, the position results of the UE may include the range or distance between the UE and each of the one or more other UEs in the group, the direction from the UE to each of the one or more other UEs in the group, the direction from each of the one or more other UEs in the group to the UE, the position of the UE relative to the position of some other UE in the group, the position of the UE relative to some other known position, the absolute position of the UE, the speed of the UE, or the speed of the UE relative to some other UE.

[0074] Sidelink positioning may be used to locate a UE independently of a core network (e.g., 5GC 140) or a serving PLMN. An example implementation of sidelink positioning may be found in a vehicle communication system, such as V2X, which may be used for safety-related applications such as safety warnings, traffic congestion (e.g., automated traffic control), and coordinated or automated vehicle maneuvers. One aspect of sidelink positioning that may require a standardized solution is a sidelink positioning protocol (SLPP) that may be used between UEs (including between an RSU and a UE and a location server). SLPP may, for example, support sidelink positioning between UEs, RSUs, and PRUs with network access independence. SLPP may provide support for sidelink positioning for a pair of UEs (e.g., ranging), a group of UEs (V2X), and UEs that are members of multiple different groups. By way of example, SLPP may provide support for various positioning technologies (such as PRS RTT, AOA, Differential AOA (DAOA), AOD, Differential AOD (DAOD)) that are currently standardized by location servers (e.g., LMF 120) for UE-based and UE-assisted support, but may also enable support for other PRS and SRS-based positioning methods and non-PRS methods (such as RTK) at a later time. By enabling the addition of new capabilities and methods at a later time, SLPP may avoid the need to define a separate new positioning protocol that is different from SLPP. By way of example, additional positioning methods that may be included in SLPP at a later time may include RTK, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wideband (UWB), BT positioning methods. SLPP may initially enable direct sidelink operation (where UEs communicate and coordinate positioning by exchanging SLPP messages using sidelink signaling), and may later be extended to sidelink operation via relay and operation via network, where UEs may exchange SLPP messages via the network or via an intermediate relay UE. For example, this can be used to coordinate the positioning of two vehicles on a collision course at a corner where direct SL signaling is not possible between the two vehicles. Therefore, SLPP may initially define support for SL PRS-based positioning in a generic manner to simplify later expansion to support for other positioning methods. By way of example, SLPP may define generic SLPP messages similar to the generic LPP messages defined for LPP in 3GPP TS 37.355. Where feasible, SLPP may use common procedures and common parameters to support separate positioning methods (e.g., SL PRS RTT, SLPRS AOA, SL PRS AOD). SLPP may define procedures that can be reused for multiple positioning methods and are not limited to only one or a few positioning methods. SLPP may be enabled to be delivered and used by various entities (such as UE, RSU, PRU) and location servers (such as LMF and SUPL SLP).Using a location server (e.g., LMF and SUPL SLP) SLPP messages may be delivered within LPP messages to enable UE-assisted positioning by LMF or SUPL SLP. Alternatively, using a location server (e.g., LMF and SUPL SLP) SLPP messages not associated with LPP messages may be delivered to enable UE-assisted positioning by LMF or SUPL SLP. SLPP may also support relative (local) and global positioning.

[0075] By way of example, Figure 2 2 shows the architecture of a communication system 200 capable of network-supported sidelink positioning. Figure 2 As illustrated in , multiple UEs may be combined in the same group 210 for sidelink positioning. Within the group 210, various UE subgroups may exist. For example, the UE group 210 may include a first UE subgroup 212 served by a first network (PLMN1 140a), while a second UE subgroup 214 is served by a (different) second network (PLMN2 140b), and a third UE subgroup 216 is out of coverage of either network and is not served by either network. One or more of the UEs served by the network (e.g., UEs in the subgroup 212 served by PLMN1 140a or UEs in the subgroup 214 served by PLMN2 140b) may include an RSU.

[0076] The location servers in the serving network (e.g., LMF1 120a, SUPL SLP1 119a, or Server 1 121a in the serving PLMN1 140a, LMF2 120b, SUPL SLP2 119b, or Server 2 121b in the serving PLMN2 140b, and Server 3 123 (communicating with the UE via PLMN1 140a and / or PLMN2 140b)) may assist some or all UEs in the group (e.g., subgroups 212 and 214) served by the network (PLMN), respectively. As illustrated in the figure, the location server may support the UE by communicating with the UE using "LPP / SLPP", which means communicating using LPP, SLPP, SLPP embedded in LPP, or a combination thereof. For example, LMF1 120a and LMF2 120b may embed SLPP in LPP while supporting UEs in subgroups 212 and 214, respectively (e.g., where each SLPP message communicated between the UE and LMF1 120a or LMF2 120b is embedded in one LPP message, and where one LPP message may include one or more embedded SLPP messages). Similarly, SUPL SLP1 119a and SUPL SLP2 119b may embed SLPP in LPP (where LPP messages are embedded in SUPL User Plane Location Protocol (ULP) messages) while supporting UEs in subgroups 212 and 214, respectively. Additionally or alternatively, LPP messages and / or SLPP messages may be used, where SLPP messages are not embedded in LPP messages (but LPP messages or SLPP messages may still be embedded in SUPL ULP messages). Additionally, UEs within each subgroup and UEs in different subgroups may exchange SLPP messages with each other to support and coordinate SL positioning.

[0077] Location server (e.g., LMF / SUPL SLP / Server 1 / Server 2 / Server 3) support for a particular UE or multiple specific UEs may not be visible to other UEs in the group. For example, location server support from PLMN1 140a for UEs in subgroup 212 may not be visible to UEs in subgroup 214, and may not be visible to out-of-coverage UEs in subgroup 216. The support provided by the location server to the UE may include determination or verification of SL PRS configuration and calculation of location results for the UE, including for supported UEs and unsupported UEs (e.g., such as calculating location results for UEs within a supported subgroup and for UEs within an unsupported subgroup (e.g., if positioning information for UEs in an unsupported subgroup is provided to the location server)). In some implementations, signaling between location servers in separate networks may be used to provide more complete network support. As illustrated, LMF-LMF or SUPL SLP-SUPL SLP signaling may use extensions of SLPP (in Figure 2 SLPP**) to achieve more complete network support.

[0078] SLPP message types may be aligned with LPP message types to enable LPP messages to contain embedded SLPP messages and / or to enable SLPP procedures to be aligned with LPP procedures, which may reduce implementation and / or testing. Figure 2 Signaling (eg, SLPP messages or SLPP messages embedded in LPP messages) between LMF1 120a and one or more UEs in subgroup 212 of UEs and signaling between LMF2 120b and one or more UEs in subgroup 214 of UEs are shown. Figure 2 Also shown are SLPP messages, or LPP messages containing embedded SLPP messages and embedded in SUPL ULP messages, exchanged between SUPLSLP1 119a and one or more of the UEs in subgroup 212, and between SUPL SLP2 119b and one or more of the UEs in subgroup 214. SLPP may include messages similar to LPP Request Capability messages and LPP Offer Capability messages, which may be referred to as "Request Capability and Resources" and "Offer Capability and Resources" in SLPP, for example. Requesting / offering capabilities and resources in SLPP is initially limited to NR SL PRS capabilities and resources, but may later be extended to capabilities and resources for LTE SLPRS, RTK, Wi-Fi, BT, etc.

[0079] In another example, the SLPP may include a message similar to the LPP Provide Assistance Data message, which may be referred to as "Provide Positioning Signal Configuration" (or just "Provide Assistance Data") in the SLPP, for example. The Provide Positioning Signal Configuration in the SLPP may include, for example, one or more of the following: a SL PRS configuration to be sent by each UE and to be measured by other UEs, a start time and duration for the transmission, and a condition for terminating the transmission, and the type of SL PRS measurement requested, such as Rx-Tx, AOA, RSRP, RSRD, TOA, TDOA. In some specific implementations, the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration in the SLPP may be extended to define other types of signals, such as RTK signals to be measured, Wi-Fi signals to be sent and measured, and the like. The Provide Positioning Signal Configuration in the SLPP may include additional information, for example, for assisting the UE in acquiring and measuring signals (e.g., SL PRS signals) and determining the time for transmission and measurement.

[0080] In another example, the SLPP may include a message such as "Confirm Positioning Signal Configuration" (or "Provide Assistance Data Confirmation") that does not have a similar LPP message. Confirming positioning signal configuration in the SLPP may, for example, confirm whether providing positioning signal configuration (or providing assistance data) is desirable. If providing positioning signal configuration is (partially) undesirable, a different configuration may be provided as providing positioning signal configuration. Because the LPP does not have a similar message, a new LPP message type may be added to carry the Confirm Positioning Signal Configuration SLPP message in the case where the LPP message is embedded in the LPP message. However, when the SLPP message is not embedded in the LPP message, such a new LPP message type may not be needed.

[0081] In another example, SLPP may include a message similar to the LPP Provide Location Information message, which may be referred to as a "Provide Location Information" message in SLPP, for example. The Provide Location Information message in SLPP may include and provide SL PRS measurements obtained by the UE for SL PRS sent by one or more other UEs, and / or may include and provide location results obtained for the UE and / or other UEs. The Provide Location Information in SLPP may be extended to include and provide other measurements, such as measurements of RTK, Wi-Fi, BT, etc.

[0082] like Figure 2As illustrated in , UEs within each subgroup and UEs in different subgroups may use SLPP to signal each other (e.g., where a UE transmits a SLPP message to one or more other UEs). Additionally, a location server (e.g., LMF, SUPLSLP, or Servers 1-3) may support UEs using SLPP (as discussed above). As previously mentioned, according to some embodiments, SLPP may be embedded in LPP or in both LPP and SUPL, or may be transmitted without being embedded in LPP. Thus, a first UE may receive a first SLPP message from a second UE, and may transmit the first SLPP message to a location server supporting the first UE. The first UE may receive a second SLPP message from the location server in response to the first SLPP message, and may transmit the second SLPP message to the second UE.

[0083] By way of example, Figure 3 3 is a signal flow 300 illustrating signaling between UE 105A and UEs 105B, 105C, and 105D and a location server 302 for network supported sidelink positioning as discussed herein. UEs 105A, 105B, 105C, and 105D may belong to the same group and may be, for example, Figure 1 UE 105 as illustrated in Figure 2 The location server 302 may be any UE in the UEs illustrated in the subgroups 212 and 214 supported by the network. Figure 1 LMF 120, SUPL SLP 119, server 121 or server 123 or Figure 2 Either of the LMF1 120a or the SUPL SLP1 119a shown in FIG.

[0084] like Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , at 310, UE 105A receives a first side link positioning message from UE 105B. The first side link positioning message may be, for example, an SLPP message as discussed above, and may be any of the message types as discussed above. If the group includes more than two UEs (e.g., Figure 3), the first side link positioning message may be transmitted based on SL multicast (also called SL groupcast), or may be transmitted based on SL unicast. For SL multicast (also called SL groupcast), a side link positioning message (e.g., SLPP message) including a group target address (e.g., the group target address may be partially or completely included in a layer 1 protocol header and / or a layer 2 protocol header in the side link positioning message) may be sent. Then, a receiving UE (e.g., UE 105A) belonging to the group with the group target address identifies the group target address in the side link positioning message, and receives, decodes and processes the side link positioning message. For SL unicast, a side link positioning message including a UE target address (e.g., a layer 2 address assigned to UE 105A) may be sent, and is received, decoded and processed only by a UE (e.g., UE 105A) whose target address is included therein.

[0085] In 320, the UE 105A transmits a first LPP / SLPP message (eg, a first SLPP message or a first SLPP message embedded in an LPP message as previously mentioned) to the location server 302, wherein the first SLPP message is based on or includes the first sidelink positioning message.

[0086] In 330, UE 105A receives a second LPP / SLPP message from location server 302 in response to the first LPP / SLPP message from 320. The second LPP / SLPP message can be a second SLPP message or a second SLPP message embedded in an LPP message as discussed above, and can be any of the message types discussed above. The second LPP / SLPP message (e.g., a second SLPP message) may include a location result for at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B). For example, the location result for at least one UE in the group may include at least one of the following: a range between the at least one UE and another UE, a direction from the at least one UE to the other UE, a location of the at least one UE relative to a location of the other UE, a speed of the at least one UE, a relative speed of the at least one UE relative to a speed of the other UE, or some combination of these items.

[0087] At 340, UE 105A may transmit a second sidelink positioning message to one or more of UEs 105B, 105C, and 105D in the group. The second sidelink positioning message may be a SLPP message and may be based on or include the second SLPP message received at 330. Figure 3 ), the second side link positioning message can be transmitted based on SL multicast.

[0088] The sidelink positioning messages in signal flow 300 may be any of the message types discussed above. For example, the first sidelink positioning message at 310 and the first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include sidelink positioning capabilities, sidelink positioning resources, or both for at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105B). The first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include an LPP offers capabilities message and / or an SLPP offers capabilities message (e.g., where the SLPP offers capabilities message may be embedded in the LPP offers capabilities message). The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 and the second sidelink positioning message at 340 may include sidelink positioning capabilities, sidelink positioning resources, or both for UE 105A. The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 may include an LPP offers capabilities message and / or an SLPP offers capabilities message.

[0089] In another example, the first sidelink positioning message at 310 and the first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include a SL positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105A and / or UE 105B). The first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include an LPP request assistance data message, an LPP provide assistance data message, an SLPP request assistance data message, and / or an SLPP provide assistance data message (e.g., where the SLPP message may be embedded in the same type of LPP message). The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 and the second sidelink positioning message at 340 may include a SL positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B). The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 may include an LPP provide assistance data message and / or an SLPP provide assistance data message (e.g., where the SLPP provide assistance data message may be embedded in the LPP provide assistance data message).

[0090] In another example, the first sidelink positioning message at 310 and the first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include sidelink positioning measurements obtained by at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105B). The first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include an LPP Provides Location Information message and / or an SLPP Provides Location Information message (e.g., wherein the SLPP Provides Location Information message may be embedded in the LPP Provides Location Information message). The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 may include a location result of at least one UE in the group, wherein the second LPP / SLPP message includes an LPP Provides Location Information message and / or an SLPP Provides Location Information message (e.g., wherein the SLPP Provides Location Information message may be embedded in the LPP Provides Location Information message).

[0091] The location server 302 may be a LMF or a SUPL SLP. If the location server 302 is a SUPL SLP, a first LPP / SLPP message is transmitted by the UE 105A to the location server 302 as part of a first SUPL message at 320, and a second LPP / SLPP message is received by the UE 105A from the location server 302 as part of a second SUPL message at 330. The first SUPL message and the second SUPL message may each include a SUPL POS message.

[0092] By way of example, Figure 4A 4 is a block diagram 400A illustrating a specific implementation of the structure of an SLPP message 410. As illustrated, the SLPP message 410 includes a header 412, which may include a session ID, a transaction ID, a sequence number (seq no), a confirmation sequence number (confirmation seq no), etc. The SLPP message 410 allows the use of one or more positioning methods or positioning method types. For example, the SLPP message 410 includes positioning method / type 1 414, positioning method / type 2 416, and positioning method / type M 418 as entries (for example, where M may be equal to 3 or greater). The positioning method may, for example, use one or more specific signal types (for example, SL NR PRS, SL LTE PRS, Wi-Fi, GPS L1-L5, or any combination thereof) and support a method for determining a position for the specific signal type (for example, one of RTT, AOA, RSRP, or TDOA). On the other hand, the positioning method type uses one or more specific signal types and supports multiple positioning methods for the one or more signal types. For example, a positioning method type may use SL PRS signals (e.g., SL NR PRS signals or both SL NR PRS and SL LTE PRS signals) and support multiple positioning methods using these SL PRS signals (e.g., all of RTT, AOA, RSRP, and TDOA may be supported). Another positioning method type may use GNSS signals and support multiple positioning methods using GNSS signals (e.g., GNSS code phase-based positioning and GNSS carrier phase-based positioning, such as RTK, may be supported).

[0093] The SLPP message 410 may be configured to support a positioning method or positioning method type (also referred to as a positioning type), or both a positioning method and a positioning method type. As illustrated, each positioning method / type 414, 416, and 418 in the SLPP message 410 may include parameters for each UE in the group, which are illustrated as being identified by a member ID (e.g., UE1, UE2, ... UEn). Not all UEs in the group may support the same positioning method / type, which may mean that parameters for UEs that do not support positioning method / type 414, 416, or 418 may not be presented in the SLPP message 410 for the positioning method / type. When the UEs do not all support the same positioning method or the same positioning method type, for example, some of the UEs may support positioning using RTK and SLPRS, while some other UEs only support RTK, it may be advantageous to support multiple positioning methods or positioning method types in the SLPP message 410. However, in some implementations, the SLPP message 410 may provide support for only one positioning method (e.g., NRSL PRS RTT) or one positioning method type (e.g., NR SL PRS).

[0094] Figure 4B 4 is a block diagram 400B illustrating another specific implementation of the structure of the SLPP message 420. Figure 4A 400A, SLPP message 420 includes header 422, which may include Figure 4A However, here, the data may be structured so that each UE in the group of n UEs has a separate message part 424, 426 and 428 in the SLPP message 420, each message part including parameters for the UE for each positioning method / type 1-M supported by the UE.

[0095] By way of example, Figure 5 5 is a signal flow 500 illustrating signaling between UE 105A and UE 105B for paired sidelink positioning involving only two UEs. For example, UE 105A and UE 105B may be, for example, Figure 1 The UE or Figure 2 Any two of the UEs illustrated in the group 210 shown in . Figure 5 The sidelink positioning illustrated in can be independent of the network, and therefore, Figure 5 The UE shown in FIG. 5 may be an out-of-coverage UE in subgroup 216. The signaling performed in signal flow 500 may be similar to that described above with reference to FIG. Figure 2 The SLPP signaling discussed is similar or identical.

[0096] exist Figure 5At stage 0 of the present invention, the discovery of UEs and the establishment of a sidelink communication session or a sidelink positioning session are performed. The discovery process can be based on request-response or notification. For example, the discovery phase can be implemented by one or both of UE 105A and 105B to detect other UEs that can be used for sidelink positioning. For example, discovery messages can be exchanged between UE 105A and / or UE 105B to determine nearby UEs that can be used to participate in sidelink positioning. For example, UE 105A can use sidelink signaling to broadcast a discovery-based message, and UE 105B can receive the message and respond by sending a similar discovery-based response message back to UE 105A using sidelink signaling. Additional messages can be exchanged between UE 105A and UE 105B to establish a sidelink communication or positioning session between UE 105A and 105B. For example, UE 105A may transmit a request (eg, SLPP Request) to UE 105B to start a SLPP positioning session, and UE 105B may return a response (eg, SLPP Response) to UE 105A agreeing to start the SLPP positioning session.

[0097] At stage 1, UE 105A and 105B may exchange SLPP capabilities, resources, and service requirements, which may include quality of service (QoS), using, for example, SLPP request capabilities and resources messages and SLPP offer capabilities and resources messages as discussed above. Exchanging SLPP capabilities, resources, and service requirements may include both UE 105A and UE 105B transmitting their capabilities, resources, and service requirements to the other UE, or only one of UE 105A or UE 105B transmitting its capabilities, resources, and service requirements to the other UE. The exchanged capabilities may define what capabilities each of UE 105A and 105B is implemented to support. The exchanged resources may define what capabilities each of UE 105A and 105B is allowed to support, and / or what capabilities each of UE 105A and 105B is not allowed to support, or both. The sidelink positioning capabilities that the UE is allowed to support or not allowed to support may include permission or restriction for one or more of the following: sidelink PRS transmission time, sidelink PRS measurement time, sidelink PRS transmission duration, sidelink PRS measurement duration, bandwidth of sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, bandwidth of sidelink PRS that can be measured, RF frequency of sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, RF frequency of sidelink PRS that can be measured, signal decoding of sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, signal decoding of sidelink PRS that can be measured, periodicity of sidelink PRS transmission, periodicity of measured sidelink PRS, transmit power of sidelink PRS transmission, transmit power of measured sidelink PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0098] The sidelink positioning capability may be fixed and static (e.g., depending on the UE specific implementation, which may never change or may change infrequently via software upgrades to the UE). The sidelink positioning resources may depend on the available spectrum for the SL PRS (e.g., whether PLMN licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or Intelligent Transport System (ITS) spectrum for V2X is available and allowed to be used) and / or on pre-existing positioning sessions and / or positioning procedures that the UE may already support or participate in. Pre-existing positioning sessions and / or positioning procedures may mean that the UE cannot send and / or measure SL PRS for a new SL positioning session at certain times because at these times the UE needs to send and / or measure SL PRS for pre-existing positioning sessions and / or positioning procedures. Similarly, certain SLPRS characteristics (such as frequency or decoding) that have been used for pre-existing positioning sessions may not be available for new SL (or SLPP) positioning sessions. For example, using certain SL PRS characteristics that have been used for a pre-existing positioning session for a new positioning session may prevent the SL PRS transmission of the new positioning session or the pre-existing positioning session from being uniquely identified by the UE involved in the new positioning session or the pre-existing positioning session, which may then lead to errors in the position measurement and position results. Controlling the SL PRS characteristics for the new positioning session by exchanging allowed and / or not allowed sidelink positioning resources can prevent such errors from occurring.

[0099] The service requirements exchanged at stage 1 may include an indication of at least one of: an instant (e.g., single) position at the current time, a delayed position (e.g., at a later time), a periodic position, a triggered position, one or more position result types (e.g., relative position, global position, range, direction), a QoS of the position result (e.g., position result accuracy, position result response time or latency, position periodicity, position reliability), or some combination of these. The exchanged service requirements may define the position type (e.g., single or periodic), accuracy, latency, periodicity, reliability, or any combination thereof, required or expected by each UE in a sidelink positioning session.

[0100] At stage 2, as discussed above, UE 105A may transmit a proposed sidelink positioning signal configuration, e.g., PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration, to UE 105B, e.g., using a SLPP Provide Positioning Signal Configuration message or a SLPP Provide Assistance Data message. The PRS1 configuration (in this example) may define a SL PRS to be sent later by UE 105A, while the PRS2 configuration (in this example) may define a SL PRS to be sent later by UE 105B. For example, the PRS1 configuration and the PRS2 configuration may be defined and proposed by UE 105A based on the capabilities, resources, and service requirements exchanged at stage 1 (which may include the QoS of UE 105A and 105B). For example, the PRS1 configuration and the PRS2 configuration may be the same or similar to the PRS configurations defined for LPP in 3GPP TS 37.355, except that they may involve SLPRS transmission on a sidelink communication channel between UE 105A and 105B. For example, the PRS1 configuration and the PRS2 configuration may each include specifications for: SL PRS transmission start time, SL PRS transmission duration, SL PRS bandwidth, SL PRS RF frequency (or multiple frequencies), SL PRS signal decoding, SL PRS transmission periodicity, SL PRS transmission power, SL PRS muting, and / or SL PRS frequency hopping. Rules and guidelines may be standardized to ensure that the proposed PRS configurations PRS1 and PRS2 are compatible with the capabilities, resources, and service requirements of UEs 105A and 105B (which capabilities, resources, and service requirements may include QoS for both UEs).

[0101] At stage 3, as discussed above, UE 105B may transmit a message to UE 105A to confirm the proposed positioning signal configuration, e.g., PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration, using, for example, SLPP confirm positioning signal configuration or SLPP provide assistance data confirmation. In some implementations, UE 105B may alternatively reject the proposed positioning signal configuration at stage 3, and UE 105A may then propose a different positioning signal configuration until UE 105A confirms the positioning signal configuration. In some implementations, UE 105B may transmit a modified proposed positioning signal configuration to UE 105A, and UE 105A may confirm the modified positioning signal configuration or may transmit another modified proposed positioning signal configuration to UE 105B. In some implementations, when the PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration transmitted at stage 2 is acceptable to UE 105B, stage 3 may be omitted, which may reduce signaling.

[0102] At stage 4, UE 105A sends SL positioning signals corresponding to the PRS1 configuration, and UE 105B measures these positioning signals (e.g., based on UE 105B already knowing the PRS1 configuration). For example, UE 105B may measure one or more of RTT, Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, AOD, TOA of PRS1 sent by UE 105A.

[0103] At stage 5, 105B sends SL positioning signals corresponding to the PRS2 configuration, and UE 105A measures these positioning signals (e.g., based on UE 105A already knowing the PRS2 configuration). For example, UE 105A may measure one or more of RTT, Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, AOD, TOA of the PRS2 sent by UE 105B.

[0104] At stage 6, UE 105A and UE 105B exchange measurements obtained at stages 4 and 5. For example, if there are any differences with the PRS1 configuration and / or the PRS2 configuration (e.g., regarding the exact time or duration of the SL PRS transmission), the exchange of measurements may indicate the exact SL PRS configuration used for SL PRS transmission at stage 4 or stage 5, and may further provide measurements generated at stage 4 or stage 5. As an example, if the SL positioning signal (SL PRS) transmitted by UE 105A at stage 4 corresponding to the PRS1 configuration transmitted by UE 105A at stage 2 does not exactly match the PRS1 configuration (e.g., because UE 105A slightly delayed the SL PRS transmission due to some other UE transmitting at the transmission time indicated in the PRS1 configuration), UE 105A may include the transmission time actually used by UE 105A at stage 4 as part of the measurements transmitted by UE 105A at stage 6. Then, when calculating any position results later (e.g., at stage 7), UE 105B can use the correct transmission time of UE 105A received at stage 6. Exchanging measurements at stage 6 may include both UE 105A and UE 105B transmitting their measurements to the other UE, or only one of UE 105A or UE 105B transmitting its measurements to the other UE.

[0105] At stage 7, UE 105A and UE 105B may each calculate a position result, such as a range and / or direction, relative position, absolute position, speed, relative speed, or any combination thereof, between UE 105A and 105B based on the measurements generated at stages 4 and 5 and received at stage 6. For example, the UE may determine the range between UE 105A and UE 105B based on Rx-Tx measurements of PRS signals or based on equivalent TODi and TOAi measurements of PRSi signals (where i=1 for PRS sent by UE 105A at stage 4; i=2 for PRS sent by UE 105B at stage 5; and c represents the transmission speed of electromagnetic waves (e.g., the speed of light)) as:

[0106]

[0107] Then, at stage 8, the position results determined at stage 7 may be exchanged. Exchanging the position results at stage 8 may include: both UE 105A and UE 105B transmitting their position results to other UEs, or only one of UE 105A or UE 105B transmitting its position result to other UEs. In the latter case, only the UE that transmits its position result to other UEs can calculate its position result at stage 7.

[0108] Stages 4 through 8 may be repeated as needed by UE 105A and UE 105B as illustrated at stage 9. For example, stages 4 through 8 may be repeated at stage 9 to enable periodic location results or triggered location results for UE 105A and UE 105B.

[0109] Fig. 6A is a signal flow 600 illustrating signaling between UE 105A and UE 105B for a sidelink positioning capability exchange, which includes an exchange of capabilities, resources, and service requirements, which may include a corresponding Figure 5 As illustrated in signal flow 600, at stage 1, UE 105A may transmit a (e.g., SLPP) request capability message, a (e.g., SLPP) offer capability message, or a (e.g., SLPP) offer capability, resource, and service requirements message that may include QoS to UE 105B. At stage 2, in response to the request capability message, the offer capability message, or the offer capability, resource, and service requirements message, UE 105B may transmit a (e.g., SLPP) offer capability message, or a (e.g., SLPP) offer capability, resource, and service requirements message that may include QoS to UE 105A.

[0110] Figure 6Bis a signal flow 620 illustrating signaling between UE 105A and UE 105B for positioning signal configuration and confirmation exchange, and may correspond to Figure 5 As shown in the figure, at stage 1 of the signal flow 620, UE 105A transmits a proposed positioning signal configuration, such as PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration, to UE 105B, which corresponds to Figure 5 Phase 2 and may be included in the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message or the SLPP Provide Positioning Signal Configuration message. At phase 2a, UE 105B may transmit a confirmation configuration message to UE 105A, the confirmation configuration message corresponding to Figure 5 Phase 3 and may be a SLPP confirm positioning signal configuration message or a SLPP provide auxiliary data confirm message. Alternatively, at phase 2b, UE 105B may transmit a rejection configuration message to UE 105A, which may be a SLPP reject positioning signal configuration message or a SLPP provide auxiliary data reject message. In response to the rejection configuration message from phase 2b, UE 105A may prepare another positioning signal configuration and repeat phase 1 and phase 2a or phase 2b. In another specific implementation, at phase 2c, UE 105B may transmit a modified positioning signal configuration (e.g., a PRS1* configuration, a PRS2* configuration with the proposed modification) to UE 105A, which may be included in a SLPP provide auxiliary data message or a SLPP provide positioning signal configuration message. In response to phase 2c, UE 105A may transmit a confirmation configuration message to UE 105B at phase 3, which may be a SLPP confirm positioning signal configuration message or a SLPP provide auxiliary data confirm message. Alternatively, UE 105A may further modify the positioning signal configuration by repeating Phase 1 and Phase 2a or Phase 2b.

[0111] Figure 6C is a signal flow 660 illustrating signaling between UE 105A and UE 105B for measurement exchange, and may correspond to Figure 5 As illustrated in signal flow 660, at stage 1, UE 105A may transmit a measurement report to UE 105B, which may include the measurement report received by UE 105A at Figure 5 4, such as an exact time or times of transmission, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105A at stage 4 of the present invention, such as an exact time or times of transmission, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105B at stage 4 of the present invention ... Figure 5 The measurement report of the PRS sent at stage 5 of the SLPP can be a SLPP provide location information message.

[0112] Similarly, at stage 2, UE 105B may transmit a measurement report to UE 105A, which may include the measurement report corresponding to the measurement performed by UE 105B at Figure 5 5, such as an exact time or times of transmission, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105A at stage 5 of the present invention, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105B at stage 5 of the present invention, such as an exact time or times of transmission, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105A at stage 5 of the present invention, and may further include information related to the PRS sent by UE 105B at Figure 5 The measurement report of the PRS sent at stage 4 of the SLPP can be a SLPP provide location information message.

[0113] Therefore, if Figure 5 As discussed in Phase 1 of Fig. 6A As discussed in stage 1 shown in , the sidelink positioning message transmitted by UE 105A may include the sidelink positioning capability and sidelink positioning resources of UE 105A. Figure 5 and Fig. 6A As discussed in Stage 1 of , the sidelink positioning message may further include a sidelink positioning service requirement of UE 105A.

[0114] In addition, UE 105A may receive a second sidelink positioning message from UE 105B. Figure 5 As discussed in Phase 1 of Fig. 6A As discussed in stage 2 shown in FIG, the second side link positioning message received from UE 105B may include the side link positioning capability and the side link positioning resource of UE 105B. The second side link positioning message received from UE 105B may further include the side link positioning capability and the side link positioning resource of UE 105B. Figure 5 Phase 1 and Fig. 6A The sidelink positioning service requirements of UE 105B discussed in Phase 2.

[0115] If targeted Figure 5 As illustrated in stages 2 to 8 of , UE 105A may exchange additional sidelink positioning messages with UE 105B, which may be based on the sidelink positioning capability and sidelink positioning resources of UE 105B. Each of these additional sidelink positioning messages may be further based on the sidelink positioning service requirements of UE 105B. For example, as for Figure 5 Phases 2 to 8 discussed in Figure 6B and Figure 6C As discussed in signal flow 620 and signal flow 660, the additional sidelink positioning messages exchanged with UE 105B may include a proposed positioning signal configuration, a confirmation (or rejection or modification) of the proposed positioning signal configuration, a request for measurement and / or measurement of the sidelink positioning PRS and a position result determined from the measurement of the sidelink positioning PRS.

[0116] like Figure 5As illustrated in Stage 7 of the present invention, UE 105A may determine the location of UE 105B based on the additional side link positioning message.

[0117] Figure 5 , Fig. 6A , Figure 6B and Figure 6C The paired side link positioning illustrated in can be expanded and extended for use, for example, with (e.g., Figure 2 210 in the UE group. For example, the UE group may be small enough so that direct discovery and direct sidelink signaling can be performed between the UEs in the UE group. Various sidelink positioning messages transmitted by the UEs in the group may be sent using groupcast or multicast so that each sidelink positioning message is broadcast once to all recipient UEs using sidelink signaling.

[0118] By way of example, Figure 7 7 is a signal flow 700 illustrating signaling for group operation of sidelink positioning for multiple UEs, illustrated as UEs 105A, 105B, 105C, ... 105Z (sometimes collectively referred to as UEs 105). The UE group may include a small number of UEs (e.g., up to 20) for which direct discovery and direct SL signaling may be performed. UE 105 may be, for example, Figure 1 The UE or Figure 2 Any of the UEs illustrated in group 210 shown in . Figure 7 The sidelink positioning illustrated in is independent of the network, and therefore, Figure 7 The UE shown in FIG. 1 may be Figure 2 The signaling performed in signal flow 700 may be similar to that described above with reference to Figure 2 As discussed and Figure 5 500 in FIG. 7 is similar or identical to the SLPP signaling illustrated in the signal flow 500 in FIG. 7 (except that the SLPP signaling may involve a larger number of UEs). If desired, the signaling may be performed directly as illustrated, or via a relay and / or via the network. Note that the number of UEs in the signal flow 700 is typically more than two, although in limiting cases it may be two (in which case, Figure 7 Two of the UEs shown in FIG. 1 do not exist).

[0119] exist Figure 7At stage 0 of the UE 105, discovery of UEs, formation of groups, and establishment of multicast sidelink communication sessions are performed. The discovery process can be request-response or announcement-based. For example, the discovery phase can be implemented by one or more UEs 105 to detect other UEs 105 that can be used for sidelink positioning and are suitable for joining the group. For example, discovery messages can be exchanged between UEs 105 to determine nearby UEs 105 that can be used to participate in sidelink positioning. For example, UE 105A can use sidelink signaling to broadcast a discovery-based message, and UEs 105B, 105C, and 105Z can each receive the message and respond by sending similar discovery-based response messages back to UE 105A using sidelink signaling. The UEs 105 may also exchange (or may be preconfigured with) one or more group criteria parameters for group formation, such as an approximate maximum distance between pairs of UEs (to help ensure that the UEs 105 can communicate directly with each other), a minimum time period that any UE 105 may communicate with other UEs 105 (to help ensure that the UEs 105 can communicate directly with each other for a certain minimum time period), and / or a common direction and / or a common speed range of the UEs 105 (to help ensure that the UEs 105 will remain close to each other). Based on the group criteria parameters, the UEs 105 may determine whether to form a group, which UEs 105 should or should not belong to the group, or whether and when to later add additional UEs 105 to the group and / or remove existing UEs 105 from the group. For example, the UEs 105 may determine a group status indication for each UE 105 that indicates inclusion in the group or exclusion from the group. For example, in Figure 7 In the above description, it is assumed that all UEs 105A, 105B, 105C, ... 105Z meet one or more group criteria and are included in the group. Additional messages may be exchanged between UEs 105 to establish sidelink communication or positioning sessions between UEs 105. For example, UE 105A may multicast a single request (e.g., SLPP Request) to UEs 105B, 105C, and 105Z to start a SLPP positioning session, and UEs 105B, 105C, and 105Z may each return a response (e.g., SLPP Response) to UE 105A agreeing to start the SLPP positioning session.

[0120] At stage 1, the UE 105 may exchange SLPP capabilities, resources, and service requirements, which may include QoS, using, for example, the SLPP request capabilities and resources message and the SLPP offer capabilities and resources message as discussed above. The exchange of capabilities, resources, and service requirements, which may include QoS, may be similar to Fig. 6A, but using additional UEs. For example, the UEs 105 may initially exchange capabilities by transmitting a single multicast SLPP message from each UE 105 to all other UEs 105. The exchanged capabilities may define what capabilities each of the UEs 105 is implemented to support. The exchanged resources may define what capabilities each of the UEs 105 is allowed to support and / or is not allowed to support. The sidelink positioning capabilities that the UE is allowed to support or is not allowed to support may include permission or restriction for one or more of the following: sidelink PRS transmission time, sidelink PRS measurement time, sidelink PRS transmission duration, sidelink PRS measurement duration, bandwidth of the sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, bandwidth of the sidelink PRS that can be measured, RF frequency of the sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, RF frequency of the sidelink PRS that can be measured, signal decoding of the sidelink PRS that can be transmitted, signal decoding of the sidelink PRS that can be measured, periodicity of sidelink PRS transmission, periodicity of the sidelink PRS to be measured, transmission power of the sidelink PRS transmission, transmission power of the sidelink PRS to be measured, or any combination thereof. For example, for Figure 5 As discussed in Phase 1 of , the sidelink positioning capability can be fixed and static. Figure 5 As discussed in stage 1 of , the sidelink positioning resources may depend on the available spectrum for the SL PRS and / or on pre-existing positioning sessions and / or positioning procedures that the UE 105 may already be supporting or participating in. The service requirements for each UE in the UE 105 may be as specified for Figure 5 as described in Phase 1.

[0121] At stage 2, as discussed above, UE 105A may transmit proposed positioning signal configurations, such as PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration, PRS3 configuration, ... PRSn configuration, to other UEs 105, for example, using an SLPP Provide Positioning Signal Configuration message or an SLPP Provide Assistance Data message. The PRS1 configuration (in this example) may define an SLPRS to be sent later by UE 105A, the PRS2 configuration (in this example) may define an SL PRS to be sent later by UE 105B, the PRS3 configuration (in this example) may define an SL PRS to be sent later by UE 105C, and the PRSn configuration (in this example) may define an SL PRS to be sent later by UE 105Z. For example, the PRS1 configuration, the PRS2 configuration, the PRS3 configuration, and the PRSn configuration may be defined and proposed by UE 105A based on the capabilities, resources, and service requirements exchanged at stage 1 (which may include the QoS of each of the UEs 105). For example, the PRS1 configuration, the PRS2 configuration, the PRS3 configuration, and the PRSn configuration may each be configured as for Figure 5Stage 2 of PRS1 and PRS2 is described above.

[0122] At stage 3, as discussed above, each of UE 105B, 105C, ... 105Z may transmit a message to UE 105A to confirm the proposed positioning signal configuration, e.g., PRS1 configuration, PRS2 configuration, PRS3 configuration, ... PRSn configuration, using, for example, SLPP confirm positioning signal configuration or SLPP provide assistance data confirmation. In some implementations, UE 105 (e.g., UE 105B) may alternatively reject the proposed positioning signal configuration at stage 3, and may further indicate which PRS configurations are being rejected, and UE 105A may then propose a different positioning signal configuration (or only propose a different PRS configuration for the PRS configurations being rejected) until each of the other UEs 105 confirms the positioning signal configuration. In some implementations, UE 105 (e.g., UE 105B) may transmit the modified proposed positioning signal configuration to UE 105A and other UEs 105 in the group, and UE 105A and other UEs 105 may confirm the modified positioning signal configuration or may transmit another modified proposed positioning signal configuration to other UEs 105. In some implementations, when the PRS1, PRS2, PRS3, ..., PRSn configurations transmitted at stage 2 are acceptable to each of UE 105B, UE 105C, ..., UE 105Z, stage 3 may be omitted, which may reduce signaling.

[0123] At stage 4, UE 105A sends SL positioning signals corresponding to the PRS1 configuration, and UE 105B, UE 105C ... UE 105Z each measure these positioning signals (e.g., based on UE 105B, UE 105C ... UE 105Z each already knowing the PRS1 configuration). For example, UE 105B, UE 105C ... UE 105Z may each measure one or more of RTT, Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, AOD, TOA of PRS1 sent by UE 105A.

[0124] At stage 5 , UE 105B transmits positioning signal PRS2 , and the remaining UEs 105 each measure positioning signal PRS2 , similar to the PRS1 measurement at stage 4 .

[0125] At stage 6 , UE 105C sends positioning signal PRS3 and the remaining UEs 105 measure positioning signal PRS3 , similar to the PRS1 measurement at stage 4 .

[0126] At stage 7 , UE 105Z sends positioning signal PRSn, and the remaining UEs 105 measure positioning signal PRSn, similar to the PRS1 measurement at stage 4 .

[0127] At stage 8, the UE 105 exchanges measurements. The exchange of measurements may be similar to Figure 6C , but using additional UEs, and the measurements are exchanged, for example, via a single multicast SLPP message transmitted by each UE 105 to all other UEs 105 in the group. For example, the exchange of measurements may indicate the exact or modified SLPRS configuration used by the UE 105 to send the SL PRS (e.g., as for Figure 5 ), and may further provide measurements obtained by UE 105, for example, at one of stages 4, 5, 6 or 7.

[0128] At stage 9, each UE 105 determines a position result based on the measurements generated at stages 4 to 7 and received at stage 8, such as a range and / or direction between the UE 105 and each of the one or more other UEs 105 in the group, a relative position of one or more of the UEs 105, an absolute position, a speed, a relative speed, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, only one UE 105 (e.g., UE 105A) may determine a position result.

[0129] Then, at stage 10, the position results determined at stage 9 may be exchanged. Exchanging the position results at stage 10 may include each of UE 105A, UE 105B, UE 105C, ... UE 105Z transmitting its position result to all other UEs 105 in the group, or only one UE 105 (e.g., UE 105A) transmitting its position result to the other UEs 105. In the latter case, only the UE 105 that transmits its position result to the other UEs 105 can calculate its position result at stage 9.

[0130] As illustrated at stage 11, stages 4 to 10 may be repeated as needed by UE 105. For example, stages 4 to 10 may be repeated at stage 11 to enable periodic location results or triggered location results for UE 105 to obtain.

[0131] Therefore, if Figure 7As shown in , when UE 105 (such as UE 105A) belongs to a UE group including two or more UEs, UE 105A may transmit a sidelink positioning message to all other UEs in the UE group (e.g., UE 105B, 105C, ... 105Z), for example, based on sidelink multicast, so that the sidelink positioning message is broadcast or multicast once to all receiving UEs using SL signaling. For example, as shown in Figure 7 discussed in Phase 1 of Fig. 6A As discussed at stage 1 shown in , the sidelink positioning message transmitted by UE 105A may include the sidelink positioning capability and sidelink positioning resources of UE 105A. Figure 7 and Fig. 6A As discussed in Stage 1 of , the sidelink positioning message may further include the sidelink positioning service requirement of UE 105A.

[0132] In addition, as in Figure 7 As further discussed in stage 1 of , UE 105A may receive a second sidelink positioning message from each of the other UEs in the UE group (e.g., UE 105B, 105C, ... 105Z), for example, based on sidelink multicast. Figure 7 As discussed in Phase 1 of Fig. 6A As discussed in stage 2 shown in , the second sidelink positioning message received from each of the other UEs may include the sidelink positioning capability and sidelink positioning resources of each UE. Figure 7 and Fig. 6A As discussed in stage 1 of , the second sidelink positioning message received from each UE may further include the sidelink positioning service requirement of each UE.

[0133] As illustrated in stages 2 to 8 of stage 7, UE 105A may exchange additional sidelink positioning messages with at least some of the UEs in the group of UEs (e.g., UE 105B, 105C, ... 105Z), for example, based on sidelink multicast. For example, the additional sidelink positioning messages may be based on the sidelink positioning capabilities and sidelink positioning resources of each of the at least some of the UEs. Each of these additional sidelink positioning messages may be further based on the sidelink positioning service requirements of each UE. For example, as in Figure 7 as discussed in Stages 2 to 8 of Figure 6B and Figure 6C As discussed in signal flows 620 and 660, the additional sidelink positioning messages exchanged with at least some UEs may include a proposed positioning signal configuration, may confirm (or reject or modify) a proposed positioning signal configuration, and / or may request measurement or provide measurement of the SL PRS.

[0134] As illustrated in stage 9, UE 105A may determine location results for at least some of the UEs based on the additional sidelink positioning messages.

[0135] For group operations of sidelink positioning, such as Figure 7 As illustrated in , a UE group must be initially determined and optionally formed, for example based on one or more criteria. Furthermore, it may be necessary to modify the group UE when the UE leaves or enters the group area.

[0136] Group determination and formation for sidelink positioning may use proximity-based services (ProSe) or V2X services, for example, for discovering and establishing groups, such as Figure 5 and Figure 7 Various criteria may be used to include UEs in the same group. For example, to be included in the group, one criterion may be the ability to discover via ProSe or V2X and the ability to communicate directly with other UEs in the group (via sidelink signaling). Other criteria may include: a maximum distance limit, for example, excluding from the group any UE that is generally farther away from other UEs in the group than a maximum distance threshold; a time limit, for example, excluding from the group any UE that communicates with other UEs in the group for a time less than a minimum duration threshold; and a direction or speed limit, for example, excluding from the group any UE that moves in a different direction from other UEs in the group or moves at a speed that differs from other UEs in the group by more than a maximum speed difference threshold. The criteria (e.g., thresholds for determining whether a UE meets various requirements for joining the group) may depend on the environment and application. By way of example, the distance, time, and direction or speed criteria in the group formation for V2X highway, V2X local road, or V2X parking lot applications may be different. Once a group is established, periodic ProSe or V2X signaling may be used to determine when a UE should leave the group and when a new UE should join the group, for example, based on whether the group criteria are met. Within a group, a UE may be assigned a member ID (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) for identification within the group and in SLPP messages. For example, the group member ID may be used to determine which UE will lead, coordinate, and / or initiate a SLPP positioning session, positioning method, or positioning method type, such as which UE will propose a PRS configuration to other UEs, such as in Figure 5 and Figure 7As illustrated at Stage 2 of . A group may be restricted to one positioning method type (e.g., SL NR PRS), while other positioning method types (e.g., SL LTE PRS or RTK) may be used by different groups. Restricting a group to one positioning method type avoids the situation where not all UEs in the group support the same positioning method type, and simplifies procedures and messaging. Alternatively, in order to maximize signaling efficiency, the same UE group may adopt multiple positioning method types and / or multiple positioning methods, where not all UEs in the group must support exactly the same positioning method type or exactly the same positioning method.

[0137] Figure 8 8 is a signal flow diagram showing four UEs (UE A, B, C, and D) participating in a SLPP positioning session 800 without the support of a location server such as LMF. Figure 1 Sample, Figure 8 805, wherein the UEs may discover each other and / or each UE may determine whether it has network services. In some embodiments, the device and service discovery process (in Figures 8 to 12 Any of the above) may be followed by a potential SLPP session establishment (not shown).

[0138] After the device and service discovery process, the sidelink positioning and ranging function (SPRF) process 807 may begin, where the initiating UE ( Figure 8 UE B in the example of , which may act as a coordinating UE) may broadcast or multicast an SLPP request capability message, as shown by arrow 810, to request UE positioning capabilities from UE A, C, and D. As used in the figures herein, a bidirectional arrow (such as arrow 810) may represent a transmission to multiple receiving devices (e.g., from one UE to all other UEs), including a broadcast or multicast transmission. That is, it should be noted that an alternative embodiment may similarly send a message to each of the multiple receiving devices using a unicast transmission (e.g., a separate unicast transmission for each receiving device). It should be noted that UE B may be referred to as an "initiating UE", "coordinating UE", "anchor UE", "target UE", or "server UE".

[0139] The addressed UEs may then respond by each multicasting (or possibly broadcasting or unicasting) a SLPP Provide Capabilities message including the UE positioning capabilities, as indicated by arrow 815. The UE positioning capabilities of each UE may include details of the supported SL-PRS configurations and supported SL-PRS measurements for that UE. Taking into account the received UE capabilities, UE B may then (in this example) determine the SL-PRS configurations that may be broadcast and measured by all UEs, and multicast a SLPP Provide Assistance Data message (as indicated by arrow 820) to distribute the determined SL-PRS configurations to the participating UEs in the session. This may then be followed by UE B transmitting a SLPP Request Location Information message (as indicated by arrow 825) to request specific SL-PRS measurements from UEs A, C and D. Each of the participating UEs (including Figure 8 The initiating UE B in the block 830 may then broadcast a SL-PRS according to its own SL-PRS configuration (e.g., at a different time than the SL-PRS transmitted by the other UEs) and perform the requested measurements of the SL PRS broadcast by the other participating UEs, as indicated at block 830. For example, at block 830a, UE A may transmit a SL-PRS according to its SL-PRS configuration, and measure the SL-PRS transmitted by UEs B, C, and D, which are transmitted at blocks 830b, 830c, and 830d, respectively. (The other UEs have similar functionality at block 830.)

[0140] Once the measurements are complete, all UEs (except the initiating UE B) may then each multicast (or possibly broadcast or unicast) a SLPP Provides Location Information message, as indicated by arrow 835, and the initiating UE B will use the SLPP Provides Location Information message to determine the range and / or position of the UE group, as indicated at block 840. For example, the position / range calculation at block 840 may include obtaining position results (e.g., relative positions, directions, and / or ranges) for UEs A, B, C, and D. In some cases, the initiating UE B may optionally distribute the obtained UE ranges / positions to the other UEs in the group, as indicated by dashed arrow 845. (As used herein, dashed arrows may represent optional functionality.) UE B's transmission of the final SLPP Provides Location Information message may be unsolicited by the other UEs, but may still be allowed according to applicable transaction rules of the SLPP.

[0141] Figure 8 The procedure in may be referred to as centralized UE location or as "UE-assisted" UE location because one UE (UEB) obtains the location or location information of other UEs and may then transmit it to the other UEs.

[0142] Fig. 9is a signal flow diagram illustrating another example SLPP positioning session 900. Figure 8 800, UE B is the initiator and many of the initial operations are the same. Fig. 9 , each UE in the group (including the initiating UE B) may distribute its SL-PRS measurements (e.g., via multicast) to all other UEs in the group using the SLPP Provide Location Information message (at arrow 910). This may allow each UE in the group to perform a range or location calculation, as indicated at block 920. As indicated by arrow 930, each UE may then optionally transmit the range or location calculation determined by the UE at block 920 to the other UEs in the group.

[0143] Fig. 9 The procedures in may be referred to as distributed or decentralized UE location or as "UE-based" UE location because each UE obtains location or location information for both itself and other UEs and may then transmit it to other UEs.

[0144] According to some embodiments, two or more UEs may use SLPP with location server support to support ranging and positioning in network assisted mode. For example, this is possible when at least one UE is in network coverage and is able to access the PLMN via subscription. In this mode, a UE with PLMN access may be assisted by a location server (e.g., LMF) to use SLPP or may be requested by a location server to employ SLPP to obtain a mobile terminal location request (MT-LR) location result. In some instances of this network assisted mode, not all UEs may have PLMN access and be supported by or provide support to a location server—for example, if some UEs are out of coverage. Therefore, location server support may be limited to only some UEs in a UE group that are participating in a SLPP positioning session. Described in more detail below Figures 10 to 12 The method of how positioning in such a network-assisted mode can be performed is illustrated.

[0145] Fig.10 An example SLPP positioning session 1000 is shown, in which a location server (LS) (eg, LMF) acts as an adjunct to an initiating UE B to assist UE B in performing sidelink positioning. Figure 8 and Fig. 9In the process, there may be a device and service discovery process shown at box 1005, followed by the SPRF 1010. The SPRF 1010 may start with the initiating UE (UE B) multicasting (or broadcasting) a SLPP request capability message, as shown by arrow 1015, to request side link positioning capabilities from other participating UEs, and these other participating UEs each respond to the initiating UE (UE B) with a SLPP provide capability message, as shown by arrow 1020. The initiating UE B may then request SL-PRS configuration information from the LS via SLPP request assistance data (indicated by arrow 1025), to which the LS may respond with a SLPP provide assistance data message (indicated by arrow 1035), which may have the SL-PRS configuration for all UEs. In some embodiments, in order to enable the LS to determine the appropriate SL-PRS configuration for all UEs, UE B may also provide the LS with the obtained SL-PRS capabilities of all UEs in the group in the SLPP provide capability message, as indicated by optional arrow 1030. (As shown in FIG. 10A , FIG. 10B ) Fig.10 As indicated in , this message may precede the SLPP request assistance data message of arrow 1025).

[0146] Then, the SLPP positioning session 1000 may be similar to Figure 8 The method 800 of SLPP positioning of the embodiment of the present invention is continued to distribute assistance data, perform SL-PRS measurements, and distribute location information. Specifically, UE B may transmit the SL-PRS configuration received from the LS to other UEs in the group in the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message shown by arrow 1040, followed by the SLPP Request Location Information message shown by arrow 1045. The transmission and measurement of the SL-PRS measurement at block 1050 and the transmission of the measurement results in the SL LP Provide Location Information message at arrow 1055 may be similar to the previously described Figure 8 . As indicated by the dashed box 1060, UE B may use the measurement results received from other UEs to perform range / position calculations. Alternatively, UE B may provide the LS with location measurements obtained from all UEs in the group in a SLPP Provide Location Information message, as shown by arrow 1065, for use in the range / position calculation performed at the LS, as shown by box 1070. In the case where the LS performs the range / position calculation, the LS may then provide the calculated range / position to the initiating UE B in a SLPP Provide Location Information message, as shown by arrow 1075. The SLPP transaction initiated by UE B to the LS may be part of a location session between UE B and the LS (e.g., emulated by a mobile initiated location request (MO-LR) or a new supplementary service operation).

[0147] Fig.11Another example SLPP positioning session 1100 in network assisted mode is shown. In this example, the LS initiates a sidelink positioning operation with a coordinating UE (UE B) to obtain a mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) location result. In this example, the coordinating UE (UE B) is the UE that coordinates the SL-PRS configuration and reports the measurement results of the group of UEs participating in the SLPP positioning session 1100. The LS may request the location of the coordinating UE and / or the location of any UE (or all UEs) in the group. In some embodiments, the MT-LR that triggers the request from the location server to the coordinating UE may be initiated by an external client or an application function (AF) (e.g., Figure 1 The LS may first request the sidelink positioning capability of UE B and possibly other UEs (e.g., UE A, C, D) from UE B via an SLPP request capability message, to which the coordinating UE may respond with an SLPP provide capability message, as shown by arrow 1110. The LS may then request a location result from UE B using a supplementary service operation request, as shown by arrow 1115. According to some embodiments, the supplementary service operation request may, for example, indicate the type of location result requested (e.g., the location of one or more UEs of the coordinating UE and / or other UEs), the identity and / or address of specific other UEs (e.g., UE A, C, D) to be involved, or whether any UE may be used, whether a single set of location results (instant location) is requested, or whether a delayed (e.g., periodic or triggered) location result is requested, or any combination thereof. The supplementary service request may also include an embedded SLPP Request Location Information message indicating specific SLPP location results or measurements to be provided by the coordinating UE and / or an embedded SLPP Provide Assistance Data message providing assistance data (eg, SL PRS configuration) for SLPP positioning to the coordinating UE.

[0148] In accordance with some embodiments, a reason for using a supplementary service request (at arrow 1115) may be to allow for the inclusion of information such as UE address and identity and the use of immediate versus delayed location that may not be suitable for inclusion in a SLPP message. However, in accordance with some embodiments, an SLPP message (e.g., SLPP request location information) may be used instead. The target UE may then confirm or acknowledge the supplementary service request with a supplementary service response, as indicated by arrow 1120—for example, the supplementary service response may indicate whether any of the requested UEs are available (e.g., whether UE A, C, D has been discovered by target UE B). The coordinating UE then performs SLPP positioning using the operations of process 1125 to obtain measurement and position results without further LS assistance. As can be seen, the operations of process 1125 reflect the previously described Figure 8 Alternatively, the coordinating UE may initiate a repeat of the operations described previously. Fig. 9 The process of operations in the SLPP positioning session 900 of the coordinating UE. At the end of process 1125, the coordinating UE may optionally perform a position calculation (shown at box 1130), in which case the coordinating UE may then provide the calculation result in an SLPP Provide Location Information message, as shown by arrow 1135. Otherwise, the coordinating UE may return the measurement to the LS in the SLPP Provide Location Information message at arrow 1135, in which case the LS may then determine the position (or range and / or orientation) of the coordinating UE and / or other UEs, as indicated at box 1140. In either case, the LS may then provide the position determination to an external client or AF (not shown). For delayed (periodic or triggered) location, the SLPP positioning performed by the coordinating UE and the return of the position result to the LS may be repeated.

[0149] Fig.12 Shows something like Fig.11 The SLPP positioning session is 1200. However, in Fig.12 In the example, LS actively assists the SLPP positioning of four UEs, such as Fig.10 That is, Fig.12 The SLPP positioning session 1200 may be similar to that previously described Fig.11 However, in Fig.12 In the process 1205, the operation shown by arrows 1210, 1215 and 1220 may be similar to the operation shown by arrows 1210, 1215 and 1220 as described above. Fig.10 The operations shown by arrows 1025, 1030 and 1035 of FIG. The position calculation at block 1225, the SLPP providing position information at arrow 1230 and / or the position calculation at block 1235 may be similar to those previously described. Fig.11 The corresponding steps are implemented.

[0150] In some embodiments, the LS may indicate to the coordinating UE whether to use the LS for such active assistance. For example, according to some embodiments, the LS may indicate in the supplementary service request (arrow 1240) whether to use the LS for such active assistance. Fig.11 LS assistance is not preferred as in Fig.12 In the example above, assistance is preferred (or required).

[0151] It can be noted that although Figures 8 to 12 The procedures shown in are described herein as SL LP positioning "sessions", but the implementation is not limited thereto. In an alternative implementation, Figures 8 to 12 The procedures shown in the may not necessarily be performed within a SL LP positioning session (e.g., with an established session ID, etc.). In some embodiments, some operations of these procedures (e.g., initiating / coordinating communications between UE and LS) may be performed outside of a SLPP positioning session, while other operations may be performed within a SLPP positioning session (e.g., communications between UEs, such as operations within an SPRF).

[0152] Depending on the desired functionality, implementations may utilize SL positioning in conjunction with Uu positioning (eg, utilizing one or more base stations) to provide hybrid Uu and SL positioning. Examples of such hybrid positioning methods are described in Fig.15 Describe as follows.

[0153] Fig.13 1300, which can be utilized as described herein (e.g., in connection with previously described and later described figures, with respect to UE, mobile device, etc.). It should be noted that Fig.13 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. In addition, the functionality of the UE discussed herein may be provided by Fig.13 One or more of the illustrated hardware and / or software components execute.

[0154] UE 1300 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1305 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1310, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 1310 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Fig.13As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1320, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 1310 and / or the wireless communication interface 1330 (discussed below). The UE 1300 may also include: one or more input devices 1370, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 1315, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0155] UE 1300 may also include a wireless communication interface 1330, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as Device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, WAN device and / or various cellular devices, etc.), which can enable UE 1300 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 1330 can allow the use of the TRP of the network, for example, via eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic device communicatively coupled to the TRP to communicate (e.g., send and receive) data and signaling, as described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1332 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1334. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1332 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 1332 may be able to use beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with corresponding digital and / or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 1330 may include such circuitry.

[0156] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1330 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers such as wireless devices and access points. The UE 1300 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, one such network type may include a wireless wide area network (WWAN), which may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and the like. A CDMA network may implement one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and so on. The IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards are included. A TDMA network may implement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE, Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), and the like. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0157] UE 1300 may also include sensors 1340. Sensors 1340 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain positioning-related measurements and / or other information.

[0158] Embodiments of UE 1300 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1380 that is capable of receiving signals 1384 from one or more GNSS satellites using antenna 1382 (which may be the same as antenna 1332). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. GNSS receiver 1380 may extract the location of UE 1300 using conventional techniques from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) covering Japan, IRNSS covering India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) covering China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1380 may be used for various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), among others.

[0159] It may be pointed out that although Fig.13 1380 is illustrated as a different component, but the embodiments are not limited to this. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Therefore, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include (as software) a measurement engine executed by one or more processors (such as processor 1310, DSP 1320 and / or a processor within wireless communication interface 1330 (e.g., in a modem)). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that can use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the orientation of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors such as processor 1310 or DSP 1320.

[0160] UE 1300 may also include and / or communicate with memory 1360. Memory 1360 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0161] The memory 1360 of the UE 1300 may also include software elements ( Fig.13 1300), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code such as one or more applications, which software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1360 that can be executed by UE 1300 (and / or processor 1310 or DSP 1320 within UE 1300). Then, in some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0162] Fig.14 1400, which may be used in whole or in part to provide the functionality of one or more components and / or devices (including a location server, such as an LMF) as described in the embodiments herein. This may include, for example, a computer server, a personal computer, a personal electronic device, etc. It should be noted that Fig.14 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Fig.14 The broad illustrations show how various system elements can be implemented in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. Fig.14 The illustrated components may be localized to a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different geographical locations.

[0163] The computer system 1400 is shown as including hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus 1405 (or can communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1410, which may include but is not limited to one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, etc.) and / or other processing structures, which can be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. The computer system 1400 may also include one or more input devices 1415, which may include but are not limited to a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, a microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1420, which may include but are not limited to a display device, a printer, etc.

[0164] The computer system 1400 may also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1425, which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage devices, and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as random access memory ("RAM") and / or read-only memory ("ROM")), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc. Such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be transmitted to one or more devices via the hub, as described herein.

[0165] The computer system 1400 may also include a communication subsystem 1430, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 1433, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, universal serial bus (USB), etc.). The wireless communication interface 1433 may include one or more wireless transceivers, which may transmit and receive wireless signals 1455 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 1450. Thus, the communication subsystem 1430 may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset, etc., which may enable the computer system 1400 to communicate with any device (including user equipment (UE), base station and / or other transmission / reception point (TRP), and / or any other electronic device described herein) on any or all of the communication networks described herein. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1430 can be used to receive and transmit data, as described in the embodiments of this document.

[0166] In many embodiments, the computer system 1400 will also include a working memory 1435, which may include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 1435 may include an operating system 1440, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications 1445), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or these software elements may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more of the procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions that can be executed by a computer (and / or a processor within a computer); then, in one aspect, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0167] The set of these instructions and / or codes may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (such as the storage device 1425 described above). In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system (such as computer system 1400). In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., removable media such as an optical disk), and / or may be provided in the form of an installation package so that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer using the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that can be executed by the computer system 1400, and / or may take the form of source code and / or installable code that, when compiled and / or installed on the computer system 1400 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installers, compression / decompression utilities, etc.), takes the form of executable code.

[0168] One limitation of the sidelink (PC5) user plane in terms of broadcast and multicast is that the Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) procedure may not be supported at the Radio Link Control (RLC) level, which may lead to the loss of SLPP messages - for example when the distance between the transmitting UE and the receiving UE increases above a certain threshold (e.g. 1 km), or if an obstacle (e.g. a building, vehicle, tree or mountain) between the transmitting UE and the receiving UE blocks the transmission. This can also happen in PC5 user plane signaling (PC5-U) or PC5 control plane signaling (PC5-S) - if RLC is not used in acknowledged mode (with ARQ), or if ARQ is used but the lost RLC level packets cannot be successfully retransmitted. This possible message loss at the transport level is not unprecedented, because in the case of Uu operation, the loss of LPP messages is also possible when the LPP messages are not successfully forwarded by the MME or AMF, so the LPP itself contains acknowledgement and retransmission capabilities. According to some embodiments, this acknowledgement and retransmission capability may be supported by SLPP (for PC5-U or PC5-S SLPP message transmission) and used, for example, when a small number of UEs are communicating. In this case, if the original SLPP message is transmitted using broadcast or multicast, the SLPP acknowledgement and possibly retransmission may be transmitted using unicast, and possibly with ARQ support at the RLC level for higher reliability. Fig.18 An example of such acknowledgement and retransmission capability for SLPP messages is provided in .

[0169] Fig.15 15 is a signal flow diagram 1500 illustrating an example hybrid positioning method that utilizes SL positioning in conjunction with Uu positioning (e.g., utilizing one or more base stations) to provide hybrid (or "joint") Uu and SL positioning for a group of UEs (UEs A, B, C, D in this example). The basic SLPP transaction types (capability transfer, assistance data transfer, location information transfer) applicable to supporting in-coverage, partial coverage, and out-of-coverage link positioning and ranging scenarios may also be applied to support joint sidelink-Uu positioning. This may be accomplished by jointly performing, for example, Fig.15 The desired positioning method is simply implemented by the SLPP, LPP and NRPPa procedures shown. For Uu positioning, LPP and / or NRPPa are used for UE positioning operations of UE A (e.g., for multi-RTT), but if Fig.15 If the LS in can access each of UE B, UE C and UE D, then Uu positioning using LPP and / or NRPPa may also or alternatively be used for any of these UEs. For SL positioning, Fig.15 UE A in Fig.15 LS in the interact with it (e.g. similar to Figures 10 to 12For joint Uu and SL positioning, any combination of LPP, SLPP and NRPPa may be used, depending on the desired positioning method (UL, DL, SL positioning).

[0170] In some implementations, a UE may perform positioning of the UE and / or other UEs together with another entity, which may include another UE (e.g., Figure 5 , Fig. 6A , Figure 6B , Figure 6C ), UE groups (e.g. Figures 7 to 12 ), or a location server such as an LMF (e.g. Figures 10 to 12 and Fig.15 ). This may then be useful in the case where the UE may provide another entity with any transient or semi-permanent state or condition of the UE that may enable improved positioning of the UE and / or other UEs. For example, improving positioning of the UE and / or other UEs may include positioning the UE and / or other UEs with higher accuracy, higher reliability, use of fewer resources (e.g., less signaling or less processing or both), lower latency, higher security (e.g., where unauthorized parties cannot obtain information about the location of the UE and / or other UEs), or some combination of these. Examples of transient or semi-permanent states or conditions of a UE that may be notified to another entity (such as a UE, a group of UEs, or a location server) may include any of the following:

[0171] (a) The UE transmits signaling (e.g., SLPP or LPP messages and / or other messages) to another entity using a relay UE (e.g., where the relay UE forwards signaling from the UE to the other entity directly or via the network, and similarly forwards signaling from the other entity back to the UE);

[0172] (b) The UE uses a satellite (or satellite access) to transmit and receive signaling (e.g., SLPP or LPP messages and / or other messages) to and from another entity and possibly via a network;

[0173] (c) The UE uses the WiFi access point to transmit and receive signaling (e.g., SLPP or LPP messages and / or other messages) to and from another entity and possibly via the network;

[0174] (d) high levels of RF interference at the UE or some other radio condition that may prevent signaling, location measurement and / or reference signal transmission;

[0175] (e) The UE cannot access the network (e.g., the UE is not within the network coverage or does not have a subscription to access the network);

[0176] (f) The UE is located indoors, outdoors, at ground level, below ground level, or above ground level; or

[0177] (g) Whether the UE is stationary or mobile (eg, where stationary may mean that the user of the UE is stationary).

[0178] The examples of transient or semi-permanent states or conditions of the UE listed above may have two common characteristics. They are not capabilities of the UE (e.g., positioning capabilities) and may not be caused or affected by the positioning of the UE. Transient or semi-permanent states or conditions (such as those listed above) may therefore be independent of the positioning of the UE. For this reason, transient or semi-permanent states or conditions (such as those listed above) may be referred to as non-positioning states or conditions.

[0179] In some embodiments, one or more status items or conditions may be indicated using a Boolean value (true or false), a bit, or a bit string, for example, where a bit is set to a binary one to indicate that a particular status item or condition exists and is set to a binary zero to indicate that a particular status item or condition does not exist. The indication of one or more status items or conditions (e.g., a Boolean value, a bit, or a bit string) may then be included in a SLPP or LPP message sent by the UE to another entity such as a UE, a UE group, or a location server. The SLPP or LPP message may be or may include a SLPP or LPP provide capability message, a SLPP or LPP request assistance data message, and / or a SLPP or LPP request location information message. For example, the present invention is directed to Figures 8 to 12 and Fig.15 Any of the described SLPP messages and LPP messages may include an additional status item or condition (eg, represented by a Boolean value, bit, or bit string) that indicates a particular transient or semi-permanent state or condition of the transmitting UE for that SLPP or LPP message.

[0180] If any of the additional state items or conditions exist when the UE transmits an LPP message or SLPP message, the UE may first include the state item or condition in an LPP message or SLPP message sent to a certain recipient entity or several recipient entities. The UE may later include the additional state item or condition in an LPP message or SLPP message sent to one or more recipient entities, or if any of these state items or conditions have changed since the last time an LPP or SLPP message containing the state item or condition was sent to one or more recipient entities.

[0181] One or more receiving entities may take appropriate actions based on the received status items or conditions to improve the positioning of the UE and / or other UEs. The appropriate actions may include one or more of the following: selecting a specific one or more positioning methods; not selecting a specific one or more positioning methods; allowing more time for positioning; increasing resources for sending reference signals (e.g., increasing the transmit power or transmit duration); using a specific signal frequency and / or a specific spectrum for reference signal transmission and measurement. For example, if the status item or condition indicates that the UE is using satellite access or WiFi AP to transmit signaling to another entity, the other entity may invoke a positioning method applicable to such signaling (e.g., such as GPS or GNSS for satellite access or WiFi positioning for WiFi access). If the status item or condition indicates that the UE is using a relay UE to transmit signaling to another entity, the other entity may not invoke a positioning method that relies on the UE having direct access to the network or to the other entity, which may include not invoking a positioning method that relies on RAT, such as downlink arrival time, uplink arrival time, arrival angle, departure angle, or multi-cell round-trip signal propagation time. If the status item or condition indicates that the UE is experiencing RF interference, another entity may allow additional time for the UE to perform RF signal measurements, or may cause the power level and / or duration of any reference signal transmission to be measured by the UE to be increased. If the status item or condition indicates that the UE does not have access to the network, the receiving entity (e.g., another UE) may use non-operator (e.g., unlicensed) spectrum for reference signal transmission and measurement for positioning of the UE. If the status item or condition indicates that the UE is indoors, outdoors, at ground level, below ground level, above ground level, and / or the UE is stationary or mobile, the receiving entity may decide to use a positioning method that is appropriate for the UE location type or UE motion state. For example, an A-GNSS positioning method may be used for a UE located outdoors, while an NR RAT-related or WiFi-based positioning method may be used indoors.

[0182] Fig.16 1 is a signal flow diagram 1600 illustrating how a status indication transfer from a UE 1610 to another entity 1620 may be performed in conjunction with UE positioning according to an embodiment. As previously indicated, the status indication transfer may occur, for example, in conjunction with Uu positioning, SL positioning, and / or joint Uu and SL positioning. The status indication transfer may be performed, for example, in one or more of the example positioning methods described herein. As previously indicated, the UE 1610 may perform positioning of the UE and / or other UEs, and the another entity 1620 may include another UE (e.g., Figure 5 , Fig. 6A , Figure 6B , Figure 6C ), UE groups (e.g. Figures 7 to 12), or a location server such as an LMF (e.g. Figures 10 to 12 and Fig.15 middle).

[0183] At stage 1, UE 1610 determines the state of UE 1610. As previously described, the state of UE 1610 may include a transient or semi-permanent (e.g., non-positioning) state or condition. The state may be determined using information obtained through received communications, sensor data, RF measurements, and / or other data sources, and may include, for example, one or more of the states (a) to (g) previously described above.

[0184] At stage 2, UE 1610 may transmit an indication of the UE state in an LPP or SLPP message to entity 1620. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the positioning protocol used (LPP or SLPP) may depend on what type of device entity 1620 is and / or the type of positioning session established between UE 1610 and entity 1620. If entity 1620 includes a location server (e.g., LMF), then LPP or SLPP protocols may be used. On the other hand, if entity 1620 includes a UE or a group of UEs, then the SLPP protocol may be used.

[0185] As indicated in the embodiments described herein, the UE status indication may be included in different types of LPP and / or SLPP messages. If the message transmitted by the UE 1610 at stage 2 includes an LPP message, the LPP message may include, for example, an LPP Provide Capability message, an LPP Request Assistance Data message, or an LPP Provide Location Information message. If the message transmitted by the UE 1610 includes an SLPP message, the SLPP message may include, for example, an SLPP Provide Capability message, an SLPP Request Assistance Data message, or an SLPP Provide Location Information message.

[0186] Depending on the desired functionality, the indication of the UE state may be encoded in the message transmitted by the UE 1610 at stage 2 in different ways. The indication may be provided within the message, for example, as a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string. Of course, these may have different impacts on the overhead, on the type of encoding, and may also be defined or limited by any standard governing the message format.

[0187] At stage 3, entity 1620 may adjust LPP or SLPP positioning based at least in part on the UE status indication. As noted, the adjustment may improve the positioning of the UE and / or other UEs by providing higher accuracy, higher reliability, use of fewer resources (e.g., less signaling or less processing or both), lower latency, higher security (e.g., where unauthorized parties cannot obtain information about the location of the UE and / or other UEs), or some combination of these. As examples of adjusting LPP or SLPP positioning, entity 1620 may: select a particular one or more positioning methods; omit a particular one or more positioning methods; allow more time for positioning; increase resources used to send reference signals (e.g., increase transmit power or transmit duration); and / or use a particular signal frequency and / or a particular signal spectrum for reference signal transmission and measurement.

[0188] Stages 4 to 6 illustrate how UE 610 may provide a status update to entity 1620 for a situation where the UE's state changes. That is, at stage 4, the UE may determine that the non-positioning state determined at stage 1 has changed. This may be performed, for example, using the same or similar data source as the data source used to determine the UE state at stage 1. Stages 4 to 6 may be performed in the same or similar manner as stages 1 to 3 described previously.

[0189] Fig.17 1700 is a flow chart of a method 1700 of locating a UE (e.g., UE 105 or UE 1610) performed by a UE according to an embodiment. Structures and / or means for performing the functionality illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown in diagram 1700 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE. Example components of the UE are shown in FIG. Fig.13 As exemplified above.

[0190] At box 1710, the functionality includes determining the non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE separated from the capabilities of the UE and is independent of the positioning of the UE. As noted above, the non-permanent condition may include a transient or semi-permanent state / condition of a mobile device. In addition, the non-positioning state may be independent of the positioning of the UE (e.g., different or separate), such as related to communication, network connection status, etc. Specific examples are provided in the previously described embodiments, and additional examples are provided below. Determining the non-positioning state of the UE may include obtaining information from a variety of data sources, including a data source (e.g., sensor, RF measurement, etc.) within the UE and / or a data source external to the UE (e.g., information received by the UE from one or more other devices and / or systems).

[0191] Example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1710 may include bus 1305, one or more processors 1310, digital signal processor 1320, wireless communication interface 1330, sensor 1340, memory 1360, GNSS receiver 1380, and / or other components of UE 1300, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0192] At block 1720, the functionality includes, during a positioning procedure in which a UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve positioning of the UE, transmitting an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages. As previously noted, the at least one entity may include another UE, a plurality of UEs or a group of UEs, or a location server (or any combination thereof). The messages may include LPP or SLPP messages, and according to some embodiments, at least one of the messages including an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE may include an LPP Provide Capability message, an LPP Request Assistance Data message, an LPP Provide Location Information message, an SLPP Provide Capability message, an SLPP Request Assistance Data message, or an SLPP Provide Location Information message.

[0193] As noted, the non-positioning state may include any of a variety of conditions or states of the UE that are separate from the capabilities of the UE and unrelated to the positioning of the UE. This may include, for example, the UE using a relay UE to exchange messages; the UE using satellite access to exchange messages; the UE using a WiFi access point to exchange messages; radio conditions at the UE that may prevent the exchange of messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE being unable to access the network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile. As noted, the indication of the non-positioning state may be encoded in different ways and may include, for example, a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string (or any combination thereof).

[0194] Example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1720 may include bus 1305, one or more processors 1310, digital signal processor 1320, wireless communication interface 1330, sensor 1340, memory 1360, GNSS receiver 1380, and / or other components of UE 1300, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0195] As previously mentioned Fig.16 As noted, if the UE determines that a change has occurred in the non-positioning state, the process may be repeated. Therefore, some embodiments may also include: after transmitting an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, determining a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; and transmitting an indication of a change in the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least another of the messages.

[0196] Fig.18 1800 is a flow chart of a method 1800 of locating a UE (e.g., UE 105 or UE 1610) performed by an entity according to an embodiment. As previously noted, the entity may include another UE or a location server. Thus, the structures and / or means for performing the functionality illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown in FIG. 1800 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of a UE or a computing system (e.g., a server). Example components of a UE are shown in FIG. Fig.13 , and example components of a computing system are illustrated in Fig.14 , both of which are described above.

[0197] At box 1810, the functionality includes: during a positioning procedure in which an entity exchanges messages with a UE to achieve positioning of the UE, receiving an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE from the UE in one of the messages, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is independent of the positioning of the UE. Likewise, the message may be an LPP or SLPP message. According to some embodiments, one of the messages may include: an LPP provides capabilities message; an LPP requests assistance data message; an LPP provides location information message; an SLPP provides capabilities message; an SLPP requests assistance data message; or an SLPP provides location information message. The non-positioning state of the UE may include at least one of the following: the UE uses a relay UE to exchange messages; the UE uses satellite access to exchange messages; the UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange messages; radio conditions at the UE that may hinder the exchange of messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE cannot access a network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile. According to some embodiments, the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE includes a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

[0198] Example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1810 may include a bus 1305, one or more processors 1310, a digital signal processor 1320, a wireless communication interface 1330, a sensor 1340, a memory 1360, a GNSS receiver 1380, and / or other components of the UE 1300, such as Fig.13 Additionally or alternatively, example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1810 may include a bus 1405, one or more processors 1410, a communication subsystem 1430 (which may include an optional wireless communication interface 1433), a memory 1435, an operating system 1440, one or more applications 1445, and / or other components of the computer system 1400, such as Fig.14 exemplified.

[0199] At box 1820, the functionality includes, in response to receiving an indication of a non-positioning state for the UE, performing one or more operations based on the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE. As previously noted, the one or more operations may vary depending on the desired functionality and may adapt to certain non-positioning states (e.g., depending on connectivity, availability of using non-operator (e.g., unlicensed) spectrum, etc.). According to some embodiments, performing one or more operations to improve the positioning of the UE may include: selecting one or more positioning methods to be performed for the positioning of the UE; omitting performing one or more positioning methods for the positioning of the UE; increasing the length of time that the positioning of the UE will be performed; increasing one or more resources used to send reference signals for the positioning of the UE; selecting a specific signal frequency, spectrum, or both for reference signal transmission and measurement for the positioning of the UE; or any combination thereof.

[0200] Example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1820 may include a bus 1305, one or more processors 1310, a digital signal processor 1320, a wireless communication interface 1330, a sensor 1340, a memory 1360, a GNSS receiver 1380, and / or other components of the UE 1300, such as Fig.13 Additionally or alternatively, example components and / or structures for performing the functionality at block 1820 may include a bus 1405, one or more processors 1410, a communication subsystem 1430 (which may include an optional wireless communication interface 1433), a memory 1435, an operating system 1440, one or more applications 1445, and / or other components of the computer system 1400, such as Fig.14 exemplified.

[0201] Because the non-positioning state of the UE may change, the entity may receive an update of the indication of the non-positioning state from the UE. Therefore, some embodiments may also include: after receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, receiving an indication of a change in the non-positioning state of the UE from the UE in another of the messages; and based on the indication of the change in the non-positioning state of the UE, performing one or more additional operations to further improve the positioning of the UE.

[0202] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed.

[0203] With reference to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved when providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many specific implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with hole patterns, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory box, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0204] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, replace or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the features described in certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. In addition, technology may evolve, and therefore many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to those specific examples.

[0205] It turns out that it is convenient at times to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digital symbols, and the like, primarily for reasons of common usage. However, it should be understood that all of these or similar terms should be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as is apparent from the above discussion, it should be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "calculating," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "associating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular device such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically represented as physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in a memory, register, or other information storage device, a transmitting device, or a display device of a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0206] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include multiple meanings that are also expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to represent A, B, and C (inclusive meanings are used here) as well as A, B, or C (exclusive meanings are used here). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular form, or may be used to describe a certain combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the subject matter claimed is not limited to this example. In addition, the term "at least one of", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted as representing any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0207] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. In addition, multiple steps may be performed before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0208] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0209] Clause 1: A method for locating a user equipment (UE), performed by the UE, the method comprising: determining a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state comprises a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is unrelated to the positioning of the UE; and during a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve the positioning of the UE, transmitting an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages.

[0210] Clause 2: The method of clause 1, wherein the at least one entity comprises another UE, a plurality of UEs, or a location server.

[0211] Clause 3: A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the message comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message or a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message.

[0212] Clause 4: A method according to clause 3, wherein at least one of the messages includes: LPP provides capability message; LPP requests auxiliary data message; LPP provides location information message; SLPP provides capability message; SLPP requests auxiliary data message; or SLPP provides location information message.

[0213] Clause 5: A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the non-positioned state of the UE includes at least one of the following: the UE uses a relay UE to exchange the message; the UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; the UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE may hinder the exchange of the message, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE is unable to access a network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

[0214] Clause 6: A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value or a bit string.

[0215] Clause 7: The method according to claim 1 also includes determining a change in the non-positioning state of the UE after transmitting the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE; and transmitting an indication of the change in the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least another message in the message.

[0216] Clause 8: A method for locating user equipment (UE) performed by an entity, the method comprising: during a positioning procedure in which the entity exchanges messages with the UE to achieve the positioning of the UE, receiving an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE from the UE in one of the messages, wherein the non-positioning state includes a non-permanent condition of the UE separate from the capabilities of the UE and is unrelated to the positioning of the UE; and in response to receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, performing one or more operations based on the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

[0217] Clause 9: A method as described in clause 8, wherein the entity comprises another UE or a location server.

[0218] Clause 10: A method as described in any of clauses 8 to 9, wherein the message comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message or a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message.

[0219] Clause 11: A method according to any clause 10, wherein the one of the messages includes: LPP Provide Capability message; LPP Request Assistance Data message; LPP Provide Location Information message; SLPP Provide Capability message; SLPP Request Assistance Data message; or SLPP Provide Location Information message.

[0220] Clause 12: A method according to any one of clauses 8 to 11, wherein the non-positioned state of the UE includes at least one of the following: the UE uses a relay UE to exchange the message; the UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; the UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE may hinder the exchange of the message, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE is unable to access a network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

[0221] Clause 13: A method as set forth in any of clauses 8 to 12, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

[0222] Clause 14: A method according to any one of clauses 8 to 13, the method further comprising, after receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, receiving from the UE in another message in the message an indication indicating a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; and based on the indication indicating the change in the non-positioning state of the UE, performing one or more additional operations to further improve the positioning of the UE.

[0223] Clause 15: A method according to claim 8, wherein performing the one or more operations to improve the positioning of the UE includes: selecting one or more positioning methods to be performed for the positioning of the UE; omitting performing one or more positioning methods for the positioning of the UE; increasing the length of time for which the positioning of the UE will be performed; increasing one or more resources used to send reference signals for the positioning of the UE; selecting a specific signal frequency, spectrum, or both for reference signal sending and measurement for the positioning of the UE; or any combination thereof.

[0224] Clause 16: A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state comprises a non-permanent condition of the UE that is separate from the capabilities of the UE and is unrelated to the positioning of the UE; and during a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve the positioning of the UE, transmit an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages via the one or more transceivers.

[0225] Clause 17: A UE as set forth in clause 16, wherein the at least one entity comprises another UE, a plurality of UEs, or a location server.

[0226] Clause 18: A UE as described in any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein in order to exchange the messages, the one or more processors are configured to exchange Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages or Side Link Positioning Protocol (SLPP) messages.

[0227] Clause 19: A UE according to clause 18, wherein in order to transmit the indication of the non-positioned state of the UE in at least one of the messages, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the indication in the following messages: LPP provides capability message; LPP requests auxiliary data message; LPP provides location information message; SLPP provides capability message; SLPP requests auxiliary data message; or SLPP provides location information message.

[0228] Clause 20: A UE according to any of clauses 16 to 19, wherein the non-positioned state of the UE includes at least one of the following: the UE uses a relay UE to exchange the messages; the UE uses satellite access to exchange the messages; the UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the messages; radio conditions at the UE that may hinder the exchange of the messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE is unable to access a network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

[0229] Clause 21: A UE as described in any of clauses 16 to 20, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value or a bit string.

[0230] Clause 22: A UE according to any of clauses 16 to 21, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine a change in the non-positioning state of the UE after transmitting the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE; and transmit an indication of the change in the non-positioning state of the UE to the at least one entity in at least another message in the message.

[0231] Clause 23: A device for locating user equipment (UE), the device comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: during a positioning procedure in which the device exchanges messages with the UE to implement the positioning of the UE, receive from the UE via the one or more transceivers in one of the messages an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE, the non-positioning state comprising a non-permanent condition of the UE separate from the capabilities of the UE and unrelated to the positioning of the UE; and in response to receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, perform one or more operations based on the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

[0232] Clause 24: The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the apparatus comprises another UE or a location server.

[0233] Clause 25: An apparatus according to any of clauses 23 to 24, wherein in order to exchange the message with the UE, the one or more processors are configured to exchange Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages or Side Link Positioning Protocol (SLPP) messages.

[0234] Clause 26: An apparatus according to clause 25, wherein in order to receive the indication of the non-positioned state of the UE in one of the messages, the one or more processors are configured to receive the indication in the following messages: LPP provides capability message; LPP requests auxiliary data message; LPP provides location information message; SLPP provides capability message; SLPP requests auxiliary data message; or SLPP provides location information message.

[0235] Clause 27: An apparatus according to any of clauses 23 to 26, wherein the non-positioned state of the UE includes at least one of the following: the UE uses a relay UE to exchange the message; the UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; the UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE may hinder the exchange of the message, the positioning of the UE, or both; the UE is unable to access a network; the location type of the UE's location; or whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

[0236] Clause 28: Apparatus as described in any of clauses 23 to 27, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value or a bit string.

[0237] Clause 29: An apparatus according to any one of clauses 23 to 28, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: after receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, receive from the UE in another message in the message an indication indicating a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; and based on the indication indicating the change in the non-positioning state of the UE, perform one or more additional operations to further improve the positioning of the UE.

[0238] Clause 30: An apparatus according to any of clauses 23 to 29, wherein in order to perform the one or more operations to improve the positioning of the UE, the one or more processors are configured to: select one or more positioning methods to be performed for the positioning of the UE; omit the performance of one or more positioning methods for the positioning of the UE; increase the length of time for which the positioning of the UE will be performed; increase one or more resources used to send reference signals for the positioning of the UE; select a specific signal frequency, spectrum, or both for reference signal sending and measurement for the positioning of the UE; or any combination thereof.

[0239] Clause 31: An apparatus having means for performing the method of any one of clauses 1 to 15.

[0240] Clause 32: A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions comprising code for performing the method of any of clauses 1 to 15.

Claims

1. A method for positioning a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state: comprising a non-persistent status of the UE separate from capabilities of the UE and independent of the location of the UE; as well as During a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve the positioning of the UE, an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE is transmitted to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one entity comprises another UE, a plurality of UEs, or a location server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message or a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one of the messages comprises: LPP provides capability information; LPP request assistance data message; LPP provides location information messages; SLPP provides capability messages; SLPP request assistance data message; or SLPP provides location information messages.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the non-positioning state of the UE comprises at least one of the following: The UE exchanges the message using a relay UE; The UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; The UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE that may impede the exchange of the messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; The UE cannot access the network; The location type of the location of the UE; or Whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: after transmitting the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, determining a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; as well as An indication indicative of the change in the non-positioning state of the UE is transmitted to the at least one entity in at least another of the messages.

8. A method for locating a user equipment (UE) performed by an entity, the method comprising: During a positioning procedure in which the entity exchanges messages with the UE to achieve the positioning of the UE, an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE is received from the UE in one of the messages, wherein the non-positioning state: comprising a non-persistent status of the UE separate from capabilities of the UE and independent of the positioning of the UE; as well as In response to receiving the indication of the non-positioning status of the UE, one or more operations are performed based on the indication of the non-positioning status of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the entity comprises another UE or a location server.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the message comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message or a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one of the messages comprises: LPP provides capability information; LPP request assistance data message; LPP provides location information messages; SLPP provides capability messages; SLPP request assistance data message; or SLPP provides location information messages.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the non-positioning state of the UE comprises at least one of the following: The UE exchanges the message using a relay UE; The UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; The UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE that may impede the exchange of the messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; The UE cannot access the network; The location type of the location of the UE; or Whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

14. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: after receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, receiving from the UE in another one of the messages an indication indicating a change of the non-positioning state of the UE; as well as Based on the indication indicating the change in the non-positioning state of the UE, one or more additional operations are performed to further improve the positioning of the UE.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the one or more operations to improve the positioning of the UE comprises: For the positioning of the UE, selecting one or more positioning methods to be performed; For the positioning of the UE, omitting execution of one or more positioning methods; increasing the length of time for which the positioning of the UE will be performed; adding one or more resources for sending a reference signal for the positioning of the UE; selecting a specific signal frequency, spectrum, or both for reference signal transmission and measurement for said positioning of said UE; or Any combination of them.

16. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determining a non-positioning state of the UE, wherein the non-positioning state: comprising a non-permanent status of the UE separate from the capabilities of the UE, and It is independent of the positioning of the UE; as well as During a positioning procedure in which the UE exchanges messages with at least one entity to achieve the positioning of the UE, an indication of the non-positioning state of the UE is transmitted to the at least one entity in at least one of the messages via one or more transceivers.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the at least one entity comprises another UE, a plurality of UEs, or a location server.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein to exchange the messages, the one or more processors are configured to exchange Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages or Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) messages.

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein to transmit the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE in the at least one of the messages, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the indication in the following messages: LPP provides capability information; LPP request assistance data message; LPP provides location information messages; SLPP provides capability messages; SLPP request assistance data message; or SLPP provides location information messages.

20. The UE according to claim 16, wherein the non-positioning state of the UE comprises at least one of the following: The UE exchanges the message using a relay UE; The UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; The UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE that may impede the exchange of the messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; The UE cannot access the network; The location type of the location of the UE; or Whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

21. The UE of claim 16, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

22. The UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: after transmitting the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, determining a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; and An indication indicative of the change in the non-positioning state of the UE is transmitted to the at least one entity in at least another of the messages.

23. An apparatus for locating a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: During a positioning procedure in which the device exchanges messages with the UE to achieve the positioning of the UE, receiving, from the UE via the one or more transceivers, an indication of a non-positioning state of the UE in one of the messages, wherein the non-positioning state: comprising a non-permanent status of the UE separate from the capabilities of the UE, and is independent of the positioning of the UE; as well as In response to receiving the indication of the non-positioning status of the UE, one or more operations are performed based on the indication of the non-positioning status of the UE to improve the positioning of the UE.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the apparatus comprises another UE or a location server.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein to exchange the messages with the UE, the one or more processors are configured to exchange Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages or Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) messages.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein to receive the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE in one of the messages, the one or more processors are configured to receive the indication in: LPP provides capability information; LPP request assistance data message; LPP provides location information messages; SLPP provides capability messages; SLPP request assistance data message; or SLPP provides location information messages.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the non-positioning state of the UE comprises at least one of the following: The UE exchanges the message using a relay UE; The UE uses satellite access to exchange the message; The UE uses a WiFi access point to exchange the message; radio conditions at the UE that may impede the exchange of the messages, the positioning of the UE, or both; The UE cannot access the network; The location type of the location of the UE; or Whether the UE is stationary or mobile.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE comprises a bit, a Boolean value, or a bit string.

29. The device of claim 23, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receiving, after receiving the indication of the non-positioning state of the UE, an indication from the UE in another one of the messages indicating a change in the non-positioning state of the UE; and Based on the indication indicating the change in the non-positioning state of the UE, one or more additional operations are performed to further improve the positioning of the UE.

30. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein to perform the one or more operations to improve the positioning of the UE, the one or more processors are configured to: For the positioning of the UE, selecting one or more positioning methods to be performed; For the positioning of the UE, omitting execution of one or more positioning methods; increasing the length of time for which the positioning of the UE will be performed; adding one or more resources for sending a reference signal for the positioning of the UE; selecting a specific signal frequency, spectrum, or both for reference signal transmission and measurement for said positioning of said UE; or Any combination of them.

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