Ue location verification using original modes for Ue transmissions

Abstract

An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive, from the network, a configuration to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein transitioning to the second mode comprises: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and transmitting a signal to the network in a second mode of transmission.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The exemplary and non-limiting exemplary embodiments relate generally to communications and, more particularly, to UE location verification using a raw mode for UE transmissions. Background Art

[0002] Determining the location of user equipment within a communication network is well known. Summary of the invention

[0003] According to one aspect, a device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the device to at least: receive a configuration for switching to a second mode of transmission from a network; wherein the switching to the second mode includes: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission.

[0004] According to one aspect, an apparatus comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to at least: send a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration being used with the terminal device to switch to a second mode of transmission; wherein the switching to the second mode comprises: modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and receiving a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The foregoing aspects and other features are explained in the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0006] Figure 1 is a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting system in which example embodiments may be practiced.

[0007] Figure 2 An example of a non-terrestrial network is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 A signaling diagram illustrating examples described herein is shown.

[0009] Figure 4 is an example apparatus configured to implement the examples described herein.

[0010] Figure 5 A representation of an example of a non-volatile storage medium is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 is an example method of implementing the examples described herein.

[0012] Figure 7 is an example method of implementing the examples described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Go to Figure 1 , which shows a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting example in which these examples may be practiced. A user equipment (UE) 110, a radio access network (RAN) node 170, and (multiple) network elements 190 are shown. Figure 1 In the example of , a user equipment (UE) 110 wirelessly communicates with a wireless network 100. A UE is a wireless device capable of accessing the wireless network 100. The UE 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or more memories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected by one or more buses 127. Each transceiver in the one or more transceivers 130 includes a receiver Rx132 and a transmitter Tx 133. The one or more buses 127 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, an optical fiber or other optical communication device, etc. The one or more transceivers 130 are connected to one or more antennas 128. The one or more memories 125 include computer program code 123. The UE 110 includes a module 140, which includes one or both of the parts 140-1 and / or 140-2, which may be implemented in a variety of ways. The module 140 may be implemented in hardware as a module 140-1, such as being implemented as a part of the one or more processors 120. Module 140-1 may also be implemented as an integrated circuit or by other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, module 140 may be implemented as module 140-2, which is implemented as computer program code 123 and executed by one or more processors 120. For example, one or more memories 125 and computer program code 123 may be configured to, together with one or more processors 120, cause user equipment 110 to perform one or more of the operations described herein. UE 110 communicates with RAN node 170 via wireless link 111.

[0014] The RAN node 170 is a base station in this example that provides access for wireless devices, such as UE 110, to the wireless network 100. The RAN node 170 may be, for example, a base station for 5G, also known as New Radio (NR). In 5G, the RAN node 170 may be a NG-RAN node, which is defined as a gNB or ng-eNB. A gNB is a node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE and is connected to the 5GC (e.g., network element(s) 190) via an NG interface, such as connection 131. An ng-eNB is a node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE and is connected to the 5GC via an NG interface, such as connection 131. The NG-RAN node may include multiple gNBs, which may also include a central unit (CU) (gNB-CU) 196 and (multiple) distributed units (DUs) (gNB-DUs), of which DU 195 is shown. Note that the DU 195 may include or be coupled to and control a radio unit (RU). The gNB-CU 196 is a logical node that hosts the radio resource control (RRC), SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB or the RRC and PDCP protocols of the en-gNB, which control the operation of one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU 196 terminates the F1 interface connected to the gNB-DU 195. The F1 interface is shown as reference numeral 198, although reference numeral 198 also shows a link between a remote element of the RAN node 170 and a centralized element of the RAN node 170, such as a link between the gNB-CU 196 and the gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU 195 is a logical node that hosts the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of the gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is controlled in part by the gNB-CU 196. One gNB-CU 196 supports one or more cells. One cell can be supported by one gNB-DU 195, or one cell can be supported / shared by multiple DUs under RAN sharing. The gNB-DU 195 terminates the F1 interface 198 which connects to the gNB-CU 196. Note that the DU 195 is considered to include the transceiver 160, e.g., as part of the RU, but some such examples may have the transceiver 160 as part of a separate RU, e.g., under the control of and connected to the DU 195. The RAN node 170 may also be an eNB (evolved NodeB) base station, a base station for LTE (Long Term Evolution), or any other suitable base station or node.

[0015] The RAN node 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or more memories 155, one or more network interfaces (N / WI / F) 161, and one or more transceivers 160 interconnected by one or more buses 157. Each of the one or more transceivers 160 includes a receiver Rx 162 and a transmitter Tx 163. The one or more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155 include computer program code 153. The CU 196 may include (multiple) processors 152, (multiple) memories 155, and a network interface 161. Note that the DU 195 may also include its own memory and (multiple) processors, and / or other hardware, but these are not shown.

[0016] The RAN node 170 includes a module 150, which includes one or both of the parts 150-1 and / or 150-2, which can be implemented in a variety of ways. The module 150 can be implemented in hardware as the module 150-1, such as being implemented as part of one or more processors 152. The module 150-1 can also be implemented as an integrated circuit or by other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, the module 150 can be implemented as a module 150-2, which is implemented as a computer program code 153 and is executed by one or more processors 152. For example, one or more memories 155 and the computer program code 153 can be configured to, together with the one or more processors 152, cause the RAN node 170 to perform one or more of the operations described herein. Note that the functionality of the module 150 can be distributed, such as distributed between the DU 195 and the CU 196, or implemented solely in the DU 195.

[0017] One or more network interfaces 161 communicate over a network, such as via links 176 and 131. Two or more gNBs 170 may communicate using, for example, link 176. Link 176 may be wired or wireless or both, and may implement, for example, an Xn interface for 5G, an X2 interface for LTE, or other suitable interfaces for other standards.

[0018] The one or more buses 157 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fiber or other optical communication device, wireless channel, etc. For example, one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH) 195 for LTE or a distributed unit (DU) 195 for a gNB implementation of 5G, where other elements of the RAN node 170 may be physically located in a different location from the RRH / DU 195, and the one or more buses 157 may be partially implemented as, for example, a fiber optic cable or other suitable network connection to connect other elements of the RAN node 170 (e.g., central unit (CU), gNB-CU 196) to the RRH / DU 195. Reference numeral 198 also indicates these suitable network link(s).

[0019] The RAN node / gNB may include one or more TRPs that may be applied to the methods described herein. Figure 1 The RAN node 170 is shown to include two TRPs, TRP 51 and TRP 52. The RAN node 170 may host or include Figure 1 Other TRPs not shown.

[0020] The relay nodes in NR are called integrated access and backhaul nodes. The mobile terminal part of the IAB node facilitates the backhaul (parent link) connection. In other words, it is the function that carries the UE functions. The distributed unit part of the IAB node facilitates the so-called access link (child link) connection (i.e., in the case of multi-hop IAB, for the access link UE, and the backhaul for other IAB nodes). In other words, it is responsible for certain base station functions. The IAB scenario can follow a so-called split architecture, where the central unit hosts the higher layer protocols to the UE and terminates the control plane and user plane interfaces to the 5G core network.

[0021] Note that the description in this article indicates that a "cell" performs a function, but it should be clear that the equipment that forms the cell can perform the function. The cell constitutes a part of the base station. That is, each base station can have multiple cells. For example, for a single carrier frequency and associated bandwidth, there may be three cells, each covering one-third of a 360-degree area, so that the coverage area of ​​a single base station covers an approximate ellipse or circle. In addition, each cell may correspond to a single carrier, and a base station may use multiple carriers. Therefore, if there are three 120-degree cells and two carriers per carrier, the base station has a total of 6 cells.

[0022] The wireless network 100 may include one or more network elements 190, which may include core network functions and which provide connectivity to another network, such as a telephone network and / or a data communication network (i.e., the Internet), via one or more links 181. Such core network functions for 5G may include (multiple) location management functions (LMF(s)) and / or (multiple) access and mobility management functions (AMF(s)) and / or (multiple) user plane functions (UPF(s)) and / or (multiple) session management functions (SMF(s)). Such core network functions for LTE may include MME (mobility management entity) / SGW (serving gateway) functions. Such core network functions may include SON (self-organizing / optimized network) functions. These are merely example functions that may be supported by (multiple) network elements 190, and note that both 5G and LTE functions may be supported. The RAN node 170 is coupled to the network element 190 via link 131. Link 131 may be implemented as, for example, an NG interface for 5G, or an S1 interface for LTE, or other suitable interfaces for other standards. Network element 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more network interfaces (N / WI / F(s)) 180 interconnected by one or more buses 185. One or more memories 171 include computer program code 173. Computer program code 173 may include SON and / or MRO functionality 172.

[0023] The wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functions into a single, software-based managed entity (virtual network). Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often in combination with resource virtualization. Network virtualization is categorized as external virtualization, combining multiple networks or portions of networks into a virtual unit, and internal virtualization, providing network-like functionality as software containers on a single system. Note that the virtualized entities resulting from network virtualization are still implemented to some extent using hardware such as processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and such virtualized entities also create technical effects.

[0024] Computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, non-volatile memory, transient memory, fixed memory, and removable memory. Computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be components for performing storage functions. As non-limiting examples, processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Processors 120, 152, and 175 may be components for performing functions, such as controlling UE 110, RAN node 170, (multiple) network elements 190, and other functions as described herein.

[0025] In general, various example embodiments of user equipment 110 may include, but are not limited to, a cellular phone (such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) with wireless communication capabilities, a portable computer with wireless communication capabilities), an image capture device (such as a digital camera with wireless communication capabilities), a gaming device with wireless communication capabilities, a music storage and playback device with wireless communication capabilities, an Internet device that allows wireless Internet access and browsing, a tablet computer with wireless communication capabilities, a head-mounted display (such as those that implement virtual / augmented / mixed reality), and a portable unit or terminal that combines these functions. UE 110 may also be a vehicle (such as a car, or a UE installed in a vehicle), a UAV (such as a drone, or a UE installed in a UAV).

[0026] UE 110, RAN node 170, and / or network element(s) 190 (and associated memory, computer program code, and modules) may be configured to (i.e., in part) implement the methods described herein, including performing UE location verification using an original mode (i.e., an alternative mode or a second mode or an uncompensated mode) for UE transmissions. Thus, Figure 1 The computer program code 123, module 140-1, module 140-2 and other elements / features in the UE 110 shown in FIG. 140-1 may implement aspects of the example described herein related to user equipment. Similarly, Figure 1 The computer program code 153, module 150-1, module 150-2 and other elements / features in the RAN node 170 shown in the figure can implement the example gNB / TRP-related aspects described herein. Figure 1The computer program code 173 and other elements / features in the network element(s) 190 shown in FIG. 1 may be configured to implement the network element-related aspects of the examples described herein.

[0027] Having thus introduced a suitable but non-limiting technical background for the practice of example embodiments, example embodiments are now described in more detail.

[0028] The feasibility of using 5G NR standards to support non-terrestrial networks has been studied in 3GPP Releases 15 and 16. In December 2019, the 3GPP RAN plenary meeting approved the normative standard work item for NTN in Release 17. In this work item, it is assumed that the UE supporting NTN has GNSS capability, and reference is made to solutions for NR to support non-terrestrial networks (NTN). In the NTN system, 5G base stations (gNB) are deployed on satellites to provide communication coverage over very large areas that may not be reached by cellular networks. The NTN system can be used to connect global IoT devices, as well as provide personal communications in remote areas and disaster relief. Figure 2 An example NTN scenario is shown.

[0029] Figure 2 A satellite or UAS platform 202 is shown providing communication access to a user device 110 via a service link 204. A field of view 208 of the satellite or UAS platform 202 is given by a plurality of beams forming a beam footprint. Each beam is shown as item 206. The user device 110 uses one or more of the beams 206 to send and receive data to and from the satellite or UAS platform 202 via the service link 204, and / or the satellite or UAS platform 202 uses one or more of the beams 206 to send and receive data to and from the user device 110 via the service link 204. The satellite or UAS platform 202 sends and receives data to and from a gateway 212 via a feeder link 210, and the gateway 212 sends and receives data to and from a data network 214 that has access to a wireless network having a plurality of wireless links. Figure 2 A user device 110 configured as shown in FIG.

[0030] Different types of satellite orbits have been studied for NR access, including low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which operate at about 600 km above the Earth. LEO is assumed to be one of the more interesting engineering cases compared to higher orbits like geosynchronous satellites. During the Rel-16 study project, the typical beam footprint size for LEO satellites was assumed to be between 100-1000km in radius. Therefore, one LEO satellite can cover a very large area on Earth, which can include multiple countries.

[0031] The angle of arrival (AoA) of a radio signal can be measured at the receiver, and recently improved accuracy algorithms have become more available, such as MUSIC and other super-resolution algorithms involving MIMO arrays, as low-complexity direction of arrival (DoA) estimation for 2D massive MIMO systems can be performed. AoA works best in typical LoS scenarios for NTN access.

[0032] In addition, in June 2022, RAN#96 has initiated and concluded a study on the requirements and use cases for network-verified UE location for non-terrestrial networks (NTN). The study has the following recommendations (emphasis in quotation marks ("")):

[0033] In this study, we have identified the need to define a network-based solution aimed at verifying the reported UE location information.

[0034] "The verification SHOULD be performed independently of the location information reported by the UE."

[0035] UE location information for the study is considered validated if the reported UE location is consistent with the network-based assessment to within 5-10km (similar to terrestrial network macro cell sizes), enabling the State to identify and select the appropriate core network to support all managed services (i.e. emergency calls, lawful intercept, public warnings, charging / billing).

[0036] “The solution should not significantly impact the latency of the target service” and should not violate privacy requirements applying to the UE location.

[0037] The studies to be conducted in [RAN2, RAN1, RAN3] will investigate and evaluate network solutions for validating UE reported location information and “should consider the following aspects”:

[0038] - "At a certain moment observed by the UE, the situation of a single satellite" (or HAPS) will be considered with higher priority.

[0039] - If time permits, consider multiple satellites (or HAPS) observed by the UE

[0040] - It is assumed that the UE is attached to the network for positioning purposes (so that its context is already established in the network).

[0041] - Different solutions or positioning methods using NGSO, GSO or HAPS are not excluded.

[0042] - When considering solutions based on positioning methods, the existing 3GPP defined RAT-dependent positioning methods should be considered as a benchmark. Other methods are not excluded.

[0043] - Solutions using existing NG-RAN architecture and procedures should be considered.

[0044] The updated work item description, RP-221819, "Revised WID: NR NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) Enhancements," points to further investigation and research in this area.

[0045] One of the main issues with current assumptions about UE location for network verification is that it is primarily focused on single satellite operation, which means that network entities can only collect information from a single satellite (possibly multiple samples from the same satellite over time), and latency requirements do not really allow for the collection of the required samples over a long period of time. Of course, the verification process can run in the background to allow for the collection of long-term information, but this will not show short-term results on whether the UE is allowed or not allowed to access the network.

[0046] For NR over NTN, the current assumption is that the UE is able to understand its own geographic location (such as its GNSS position), as well as the location of satellites in space, with directional information making it possible to extrapolate along the satellites' trajectories. Under normal conditions, the UE will use this information to compensate in an autonomous manner for channel effects that occur due to the satellites moving in the air. Such effects include Doppler shift (due to the satellite's speed of 7.5 km / s) and long propagation delays (due to the altitude of 300-1200 km for low earth orbit (LEO) satellites). This UE-autonomous compensation of channel effects is required so that UL transmissions from different UEs are aligned at the satellite receive antenna before being fed to the gNB on the ground, so the satellite is assumed to operate in a transparent manner. That is, the satellite simply acts as a simulated forwarding node that ensures that the signals for both UL and DL are fed in the correct direction or fed to the gNB 170 or UE 110.

[0047] The NTN enhancement work items have been updated to also include the concept of network-verified UE location, which means that the network is expected to have a mechanism to verify whether the location reported by the UE is to be trusted. In some cases, it can be assumed that the UE will report its true location, but there may be multiple reasons why the UE may want to report a "wrong location", which include but are not limited to:

[0048] A) Avoid tracking from the Internet, such as to avoid tracking from government agencies / companies.

[0049] B) wish to be treated as being located in a country other than the current country, e.g. for billing purposes.

[0050] C) Want to be treated as being located in another country than the current one, e.g. to be able to access country restricted content - this can work in two ways - as some content is only available in some countries and some information is not accessible in some countries.

[0051] In this case, the UE may wish to "spoof" its location, meaning that it reports one thing to the operating network while it is located at another location to obtain the above benefits.

[0052] In other cases, GNSS may be unavailable, for example due to indoor UE location, because the UE does not receive signals from a sufficient number of GNSS satellites, or due to other reasons such as interference, spoofing, etc., to which the GNSS system is sensitive. In such cases, the UE will also report a wrong / inaccurate position to the network.

[0053] The examples described herein involve a network (170, 190, 202, 212) that is able to place a UE 110 into a "raw transmission mode," meaning that in this mode, the UE 110 will disable one or more of its autonomous compensation mechanisms such that the gNB (170, 202) will observe physical impacts on the radio channel signal that the UE would otherwise normally compensate for. In one embodiment of the invention, the UE will do "partial compensation," but is still sending the "raw signal," but now is just compensating in time and / or frequency in a predetermined manner, e.g., to a "fixed point" provided by the network. In another embodiment, the network specifies in which domain (time or frequency) the raw mode should be performed.

[0054] The signal that the UE will send in this "original transmission mode" can be characterized as a known signal from the base station (gNB), and the signal will have known characteristics, such as a preamble sequence, a PUCCH transmission, or a PUSCH transmission, and the transmission can occur on predetermined physical resources in the time, frequency, code and power domains. The transmission can also be restricted to one or more physical channels.

[0055] By observing the “raw transmission mode” signal as received by the gNB, the gNB determines the physical characteristics of this received signal and, based on the reported UE position, verifies whether these physical characteristics match the expected signal characteristics (at least within certain boundaries).

[0056] This method is Figure 3 300 and described in detail in the following description.

[0057] 1. The UE 110 reports its location to the network, as included in the 3GPP specifications for NTN.

[0058] 2. The network (170, 190, 202, 212) wants to verify the UE location. A reason could be, for example, that the cell the user is connected to covers multiple countries and the network wants to ensure that the user is connected to the correct PLMN. Another reason could be that the network detects from the UE's UL signal that the UE may not be sufficiently synchronized, which means that the UE may have inaccurate GNSS location information.

[0059] 3. The network takes action and instructs the UE to move to "original mode", meaning that the UE turns off some NTN specific time and frequency pre-compensation mechanisms or changes the settings according to predefined settings. This means that the UE no longer pre-compensates for delay and / or Doppler shift on at least a part of the serving link 204 and / or feeder link 210 as it did when synchronized and with accurate position information. When pre-compensating to a known fixed point, the UE will perform partial compensation, but the distance of the UE to the fixed point will be reflected in the received signal at the gNB. The signaling for configuration and activation / deactivation can be done by RRC signaling, MAC commands or broadcast as part of the list of UEs to move to this mode. Different options can be applied:

[0060] 3a. Full native mode: The UE starts behaving like connected to a TN, ie it switches off all pre-compensation in time and frequency.

[0061] 3b. Time primitive mode: The UE pre-compensates for frequency but not for time offset and only applies network timing commands.

[0062] 3c. Frequency native mode: The UE pre-compensates the time offset but not the frequency offset.

[0063] 3d. Different reference point: The reference point for time and / or frequency, towards which precompensation is performed, is changed.

[0064] 3e. Specific pre-compensation values: Instead of providing a reference point, explicit values ​​to be used for time and / or frequency pre-compensation are provided to the UE.

[0065] 4. The UE sends a signal in the original mode. The signal can be a normal communication, or the transmission can be a signal known to the network, or a UE-specific signal, or a universal original signal. This signal can be transmitted to the UE via RRC, broadcast or pre-configuration.

[0066] 5. The network detects a signal which will be offset in time and / or frequency according to the selected mode. When the network knows the reported position (step 1), the network can verify whether the received time and frequency can belong to the UE at the reported position, or within a certain radius around the reported UE position. This step can be subdivided into two functions. The first function (5a) will verify whether one or more attributes of the received signal match the expected values, for example, if the timing of the received signal matches the expected values ​​based on the position reported by the UE, and the second function (5b) will determine / detect whether the verification process can verify the UE position within certain limits, for example, within a 5km or 10km radius of the reported position.

[0067] Figure 4 An example apparatus 400 that may be implemented in hardware is configured to implement the examples described herein. Apparatus 400 includes at least one processor 402 (e.g., an FPGA and / or a CPU), at least one memory 404, including computer program code 405, wherein at least one memory 404 and computer program code 405 are configured to, together with at least one processor 402, cause apparatus 400 to implement circuit systems, processes, components, modules, or functions (collectively referred to as control 406) to implement the examples described herein, including UE location verification using a raw mode for UE transmissions. Memory 404 may be a non-volatile memory, a transient memory, a volatile memory (e.g., a RAM), or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a ROM).

[0068] The device 400 optionally includes a display and / or I / O interface 408, which can be used to display aspects or states of the methods described herein (e.g., while executing one of the methods or at a later time), or to receive input from a user, such as using a keyboard, camera, touch screen, touch area, microphone, biometrics, one or more sensors, etc. The device 400 includes one or more communications, such as network (N / W) interfaces ((multiple) I / Fs) 410. (Multiple) communication I / Fs 410 can be wired and / or wireless, and communicate on the Internet / other (multiple) networks via any communication technology. (Multiple) communication I / Fs 410 can include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers. (Multiple) communication I / Fs 410 can include standard well-known components, such as amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, (de) modulators, and encoder / decoder system circuits and one or more antennas.

[0069] The apparatus 400 implementing the functionality of the control 406 may be a UE 110, a RAN node 170 (e.g., a gNB), or a network element (s) 190. Thus, the processor 402 may correspond to the processor (s) 120, the processor (s) 152, and / or the processor (s) 175, the memory 404 may correspond to the memory (s) 125, the memory (s) 155, and / or the memory (s) 171, the computer program code 405 may correspond to the computer program code 123, the module 140-1, the module 140-2, and / or the computer program code 153, the module 150-1, the module 150-2, and / or the computer program code 173, and the communication I / F (s) 410 may correspond to the transceiver 130, the antenna (s) 128, the transceiver 160, the antenna (s) 158, the N / WI / F (s) 161, and / or the N / WI / F (s) 180. Alternatively, apparatus 400 may not correspond to any of UE 110, RAN node 170, or network element 190, as apparatus 400 may be part of a Self-Organizing / Optimizing Network (SON) node, such as in the cloud.

[0070] The apparatus 400 may also be distributed throughout the network (eg, 100 ), including between the apparatus 400 and any network elements (such as a network control element (NCE) 190 and / or a RAN node 170 and / or a UE 110 ).

[0071] Interface 412 enables data communication between various items of device 400, such as Figure 4 As shown. For example, interface 412 can be one or more buses, such as an address, data or control bus, and can include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fiber or other optical communication device, etc. Computer program code 405 including control 406 can include object-oriented software that is configured to pass data or messages between objects within computer program code 405. Apparatus 400 need not include each of the features mentioned, or may include other features as well.

[0072] Figure 5 Schematic representations of non-volatile storage media 500a (e.g., a computer disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD)) and 500b (e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and / or parameters 502 that, when executed by a processor, allow the processor to perform one or more steps of the methods described herein.

[0073] Figure 6The present invention is an example method 600 for implementing the example embodiments described herein. At 610, the method includes: receiving a configuration to transition to a second mode of transmission from a network. At 620, the method includes: wherein transitioning to the second mode includes: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting. At 630, the method includes: sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission. The method 600 may be performed by the UE 110 or the apparatus 400.

[0074] Figure 7 is an example method 700 for implementing the example embodiments described herein. At 710, the method includes: sending a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration being used with the terminal device to transition to a second mode of transmission. At 720, the method includes: wherein transitioning to the second mode includes: modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting. At 730, the method includes: receiving a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission. The method 700 may be performed by a network node 170, a satellite 202, or an apparatus 400.

[0075] The following examples are provided and described herein.

[0076] Example 1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to at least: receive a configuration for transitioning to a second mode of transmission from a network; wherein the transitioning to the second mode comprises: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission.

[0077] Example 2. The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the transmitted signal is configured to be used with a network to verify the location of the terminal device.

[0078] Example 3. An apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 to 2, wherein the apparatus is caused to: report to a network a timing advance used with the terminal device, the timing advance being configured to be used with the network to compare the timing advance with at least one characteristic of a channel used for transmission of the signal in the first mode to verify the location of the terminal device.

[0079] Example 4. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus is caused to: report the location of the terminal device to a network for verification of the location of the terminal device.

[0080] Example 5. The apparatus of any of Examples 1 to 4, wherein at least one network time compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network, and at least one network frequency compensation device comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network.

[0081] Example 6. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: disabling terminal device specific delay compensation or common delay compensation; or disabling Doppler shift compensation on a serving link to a network or a feeder link to a gateway.

[0082] Example 7. The apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 6, wherein the second mode comprises: the network having knowledge of at least one known characteristic of the signal.

[0083] Example 8. The apparatus according to Example 7, wherein the at least one known characteristic of the signal includes: transmission of the signal utilizing at least one of the following: a preamble sequence; a physical channel; a physical uplink control channel; a physical uplink shared channel; a predefined physical resource in the time domain; a predefined physical resource in the frequency domain; a predefined physical resource in the code domain; or a predefined physical resource in the power domain.

[0084] Example 9. The apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 8, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of: disabling both time compensation and frequency compensation to simulate a connection to a terrestrial network; disabling time compensation and applying at least one network timing command while compensating for a frequency offset; or disabling frequency compensation while compensating for a time offset.

[0085] Example 10. The apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 9, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive a network-known fixed point from a network; and adjust the delay compensation or the Doppler frequency compensation based on the network-known fixed point.

[0086] Example 11. The apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 10, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive at least one value from a network for modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and compensate using the at least one value received from the network.

[0087] Example 12. The apparatus of any of Examples 1 to 11, wherein at least one network time compensation setting and at least one network frequency compensation setting configures the terminal device to compensate for at least one channel effect occurring due to satellite movement.

[0088] Example 13. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to at least: send a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration being used with the terminal device to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises: modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and receive a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission.

[0089] Example 14. The apparatus according to Example 13, wherein the apparatus is caused to verify the location of the terminal device based on the signal received in the second mode of transmission.

[0090] Example 15. An apparatus according to any one of Examples 13 to 14, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive a timing advance for use with a terminal device; and verify the location of the terminal device by comparing the timing advance to at least one characteristic of a channel used for transmission of the signal in the first mode.

[0091] Example 16. An apparatus according to any one of Examples 13 to 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive a reported position of a terminal device from the terminal device using a network; and verify the reported position of the terminal device based on a signal received in the second mode of transmission; wherein verifying the reported position of the terminal device comprises: comparing at least one physical characteristic of the received signal with at least one expected characteristic of the received signal.

[0092] Example 17. The apparatus of any of Examples 13 to 16, wherein at least one network time compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network, and at least one network frequency compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network.

[0093] Example 18. An apparatus according to any one of Examples 13 to 17, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: configuring the terminal device to disable terminal device specific delay compensation or common delay compensation; or configuring the terminal device to disable Doppler shift compensation on a service link to a network or a feeder link to a gateway.

[0094] Example 19. The apparatus of any one of Examples 13 to 18, wherein the second mode comprises: the network having knowledge of at least one known characteristic of the signal.

[0095] Example 20. The apparatus of Example 19, wherein the at least one known characteristic of the signal comprises: transmission of the signal using at least one of: a preamble sequence; a physical channel; a physical uplink control channel; a physical uplink shared channel; a predefined physical resource in the time domain; a predefined physical resource in the frequency domain; a predefined physical resource in the code domain; or a predefined physical resource in the power domain.

[0096] Example 21: An apparatus according to any one of Examples 13 to 20, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following items: configuring the terminal device to disable both time compensation and frequency compensation to simulate a connection to a terrestrial network; configuring the terminal device to disable time compensation and apply at least one network timing command and compensate for frequency offset; or configuring the terminal device to disable frequency compensation and compensate for time offset.

[0097] Example 22. The apparatus of any one of Examples 13 to 21, wherein the apparatus is caused to: send a network-known fixed point to the terminal device; and configure the terminal device to adjust the delay compensation or the Doppler frequency compensation based on the network-known fixed point.

[0098] Example 23. The apparatus of any one of Examples 13 to 22, wherein the apparatus is caused to: send at least one value to a terminal device for modification of at least one non-terrestrial network time compensation setting or at least one non-terrestrial network frequency compensation setting; and configure the terminal device to compensate using the at least one value sent to the terminal device.

[0099] Example 24. The apparatus of any of Examples 13 to 23, wherein the at least one non-terrestrial network time compensation setting and the at least one non-terrestrial network frequency compensation setting configure the terminal device to compensate for at least one channel effect occurring due to satellite movement.

[0100] Example 25. An apparatus according to any one of Examples 13 to 24, wherein the apparatus is caused to: determine a possible location of the terminal device given the signal received in the second mode based on the timing of the signal or the frequency of the signal; and determine a difference between the possible location of the terminal and the reported location of the terminal device given the signal received in the second mode; and determine whether the difference is within a value to verify the reported location of the terminal device, wherein the value includes a radius or other value.

[0101] Example 26. A method comprising: receiving a configuration from a network to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein transitioning to the second mode comprises: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission.

[0102] Example 27. A method, comprising: sending a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration for use with the terminal device to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises: a modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and receiving a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission.

[0103] Example 28. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving a configuration from a network to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and means for sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission.

[0104] Example 29. An apparatus comprising: means for sending a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration being used with the terminal device to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises: a modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and means for receiving a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission.

[0105] Example 30. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations comprising: receiving a configuration from a network to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and sending a signal to the network in the second mode of transmission.

[0106] Example 31. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations comprising: sending a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration for use with the terminal device to transition to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises: modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; and receiving a signal from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission.

[0107] References to "computers", "processors", etc. should be understood to include not only computers with different architectures such as single / multi-processor architectures and sequential or parallel architectures, but also special-purpose circuits such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific circuits (ASICs), signal processing devices, and other processing circuits. References to computer programs, instructions, codes, etc. should be understood to include software or firmware for programmable processors, such as the programmable content of hardware devices, whether instructions for a processor or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array, or programmable logic device, etc.

[0108] The memory(s) described herein may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, non-volatile memory, transient memory, fixed memory, and removable memory. The memory(s) may include a database for storing data.

[0109] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to the following: (a) hardware circuit implementations, such as implementations in analog and / or digital circuits, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and / or firmware), such as, as applicable: (i) a combination of (multiple) processors, or (ii) portions of (multiple) processors / software, including (multiple) digital signal processors, software, and (multiple) memories, which work together to enable the device to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as (multiple) microprocessors or portions of (multiple) microprocessors, which require software or firmware to operate, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. As another example, as used herein, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of only a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or an application processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or another network device.

[0110] In the figures, arrows between blocks indicate operational couplings between them and the direction of data flow over these couplings.

[0111] It should be understood that the above description is merely illustrative. Those skilled in the art may devise various alternatives and modifications. For example, the features described in the various dependent claims may be combined with each other in any suitable combination. In addition, features from the above-described different example embodiments may be selectively combined into new example embodiments. Therefore, this specification is intended to include all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0112] The following abbreviations and acronyms that may be found in the specification and / or drawings are defined as follows (abbreviations and acronyms may be appended to each other or to other characters using dashes, hyphens or numbers, etc.):

[0113] 2D Two Dimensions

[0114] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0115] 4G Fourth Generation

[0116] 5G Fifth Generation

[0117] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0118] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0119] AoA Angle of Arrival

[0120] ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

[0121] CPU Central Processing Unit

[0122] CU Central Unit or Centralized Unit

[0123] DL Downlink

[0124] DoA Direction of Arrival

[0125] DS Digital Signal Processor

[0126] eNB Evolved Node B (e.g., LTE base station)

[0127] EN-DC E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity

[0128] en-gNB is a node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE and acts as a secondary node in EN-DC

[0130] E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access, also known as LTE radio access technology E-UTRAN E-UTRA Network

[0131] F1 Interface between CU and DU

[0132] FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

[0133] gNB is a base station for 5G / NR, i.e., a node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE and is connected to 5GC via the NG interface GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0134] GSO Geostationary orbit (or geosynchronous orbit)

[0135] HAPS High Altitude Platform System

[0136] IAB Integrated Access and Backhaul

[0137] I / F Interface

[0138] I / O Input / Output

[0139] IoT

[0140] LEO Low Earth Orbit

[0141] LMF Location Management Function

[0142] LoS Line of Sight

[0143] LTE Long Term Evolution (4G)

[0144] MAC Media Access Control

[0145] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output (e.g., per antenna) MME Mobility Management Entity

[0146] MRO mobility robustness optimization

[0147] MUSIC Multiple Signal Classification

[0148] NCE Network Control Element

[0149] ng or NG new generation

[0150] ng-eNB Next Generation eNB NGSO Non-geostationary orbit (or non-geosynchronous orbit) NG-RAN Next Generation Radio Access Network NR New Radio (5G)

[0151] NTN Non-Terrestrial Network

[0152] N / W Network

[0153] PDA Personal Digital Assistant

[0154] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0155] PHY Physical Layer

[0156] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0157] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RAM Random Access Memory

[0158] RAN Radio Access Network

[0159] RAN# RAN study or meeting

[0160] RAN1 Radio Layer 1

[0161] RAN2 Radio Layer 2

[0162] RAN3 Radio Layer 3

[0163] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0164] Rel- version

[0165] RLC Radio Link Control

[0166] ROM Read Only Memory

[0167] RRC Radio Resource Control (protocol)

[0168] RU Radio Unit

[0169] Rx Receiver or Receiver

[0170] SGW Service Gateway

[0171] SMF session management functions

[0172] SON self-organizing / optimizing network

[0173] TN Terrestrial Network

[0174] TRP Transmission Reception Point

[0175] Tx Transmitter or Transmit

[0176] UAS Unmanned Aerial System

[0177] UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

[0178] UE User Equipment (e.g., wireless, typically mobile device)

[0179] UL Uplink

[0180] UPF User Plane Function

[0181] WID Work Item Description

[0182] X2 Network interface between RAN nodes and between RAN and core network

[0183] Xn Network interface between NG-RAN nodes

Claims

1. A device comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receiving from the network a configuration for transitioning to a second mode of transmission; wherein said transitioning to said second mode comprises: modifying at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; as well as A signal is sent to the network in the second mode of transmission.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmitted signal is configured to be used with the network to verify the location of the terminal device.

3. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the device is configured to: Reporting to the network a timing advance for use with a terminal device, the timing advance being configured for use with the network to compare the timing advance with at least one characteristic of a channel used for transmission of the signal in the first mode to verify a location of the terminal device.

4. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the device is configured to: The location of the terminal device is reported to the network for verification of the location of the terminal device.

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the at least one network time compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network, and the at least one network frequency compensation device comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: disabling terminal device specific delay compensation or common delay compensation; or Disable Doppler shift compensation on the service link to the network or the feeder link to the gateway.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second mode comprises: The network has knowledge of at least one known characteristic of the signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one known characteristic of the signal comprises: Transmission of said signal utilizing at least one of the following: preamble sequence; Physical channel; Physical uplink control channel; Physical uplink shared channel; Predefined physical resources in the time domain; Predefined physical resources in the frequency domain; A predefined physical resource in the code domain; or Predefined physical resources in a power domain.

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: disabling both time compensation and frequency compensation to simulate a connection to a terrestrial network; disabling time compensation and applying at least one network timing command while compensating for frequency offset; or Disables frequency compensation while compensating for time offset.

10. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the device is configured to: receiving from the network a fixed point known to the network; and Delay compensation or Doppler frequency compensation is adjusted based on the fixed point known to the network.

11. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the device is configured to: receiving at least one value from said network for said modification of said at least one network time compensation setting or said at least one network frequency compensation setting; and The at least one value received from the network is used for compensation.

12. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the at least one network time compensation setting and the at least one network frequency compensation setting configure the terminal device to compensate for at least one channel effect occurring due to satellite movement.

13. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: sending a configuration to a terminal device, the configuration being used with the terminal device to switch to a second mode of transmission; wherein the transition to the second mode comprises: modification of at least one network time compensation setting or at least one network frequency compensation setting; as well as A signal is received from the terminal device in the second mode of transmission.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the apparatus is caused to: Based on the signals received in the second mode of transmission, the location of the terminal device is verified.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein the apparatus is configured to: receiving a timing advance for use with the terminal device; and The timing advance is compared to at least one characteristic of a channel used for transmission of the signal in the first mode to verify the location of the terminal device.

16. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the apparatus is configured to: receiving a reported position of the terminal device from the terminal device using a network; as well as verifying the reported position of the terminal device based on the signals received in the second mode of transmission; Wherein verifying the reported position of the terminal device comprises: comparing at least one physical characteristic of the received signal with at least one expected characteristic of the received signal.

17. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the at least one network time compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network, and the at least one network frequency compensation setting comprises a setting for a non-terrestrial network.

18. An apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: configuring the terminal device to disable terminal device specific delay compensation or common delay compensation; or The terminal device is configured to disable Doppler shift compensation on a serving link to the network or a feeder link to a gateway.

19. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein the second mode comprises: The network has knowledge of at least one known characteristic of the signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one known characteristic of the signal comprises: Transmission of said signal utilizing at least one of the following: preamble sequence; Physical channel; Physical uplink control channel; Physical uplink shared channel; Predefined physical resources in the time domain; Predefined physical resources in the frequency domain; A predefined physical resource in the code domain; or Predefined physical resources in a power domain.

21. An apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 20, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform at least one of the following: configuring the terminal device to disable both time compensation and frequency compensation to simulate a connection to a terrestrial network; configuring the terminal device to disable time compensation and apply at least one network timing command and compensate for frequency offset; or The terminal device is configured to disable frequency compensation and to compensate for time offset.

22. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein the apparatus is configured to: sending the fixed point known to the network to the terminal device; and The terminal device is configured to adjust delay compensation or Doppler frequency compensation based on the fixed point known to the network.

23. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein the apparatus is configured to: sending at least one value to said terminal device for said modification of said at least one non-terrestrial network time compensation setting or said at least one non-terrestrial network frequency compensation setting; and The terminal device is configured to compensate using the at least one value sent to the terminal device.

24. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 23, wherein the at least one non-terrestrial network time compensation setting and the at least one non-terrestrial network frequency compensation setting configure the terminal device to compensate for at least one channel effect occurring due to satellite movement.

25. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 24, wherein the apparatus is configured to: determining a likely location of the terminal device given the signals received in the second mode based on the timing of the signals or the frequency of the signals; as well as determining a difference between the possible position of the terminal device and the reported position of the terminal device in view of the signals received in the second mode; as well as The reported location of the terminal device is verified by determining whether the difference is within a value, wherein the value includes a radius or other value.

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