Lateral link positioning and ranging for mobile devices with location server assistance

Abstract

Embodiments provide an enhancement procedure for a mobility originating location request (MO-LR), a mobility terminating location request (MT-LR), and a periodic or triggered MT-LR, which can be used to enable sidelink positioning and ranging location results to be obtained for a group of two or more UEs with the assistance of an LMF, and may be provided to a UE group (MO-LR) or LCS client or AF (MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR). These enhancements allow the LMF to interact with only one UE in the group of UEs, and allow the LCS client or AF to indicate preferences for that UE.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 18 / 469,547, filed on September 18, 2023, entitled “Sidelink Positioning and Ranging for Mobile Devices with Location Server Assistance,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 376,437, filed on September 20, 2022, entitled “Sidelink Positioning and Ranging for Mobile Devices with Location Server Assistance,” U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 484,171, filed on February 9, 2023, entitled “Sidelink Positioning and Ranging for Mobile Devices with Location Server Assistance,” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 501,670, filed on May 11, 2023, entitled “Sidelink Positioning and Ranging for Mobile Devices with Location Server Assistance,” all of which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to determining a position of a user equipment (UE) using measurements of radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted or coordinated over a sidelink communication channel. Background Art

[0004] In wireless communication networks, such as mobile / cellular broadband networks (e.g., fifth generation (5G) wireless networks), UEs may communicate with each other using sidelink (SL) communications, a form of wireless radio frequency communications. In addition, procedures may be established to enable two or more UEs to perform positioning (including ranging) using SL communications. However, many aspects of these SL-based procedures have not yet been formalized. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present disclosure provides an enhanced procedure for mobile originated location request (MO-LR), mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) and periodic or triggered MT-LR, which can be used to enable sidelink positioning and ranging location results to be obtained for a group of two or more UEs with the assistance of LMF, and provided to the UE group (MO-LR) or location service (LCS) client or application function (AF) (MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR). The enhanced procedure allows the LMF to interact with only one UE in the UE group, and allows the LCS client or AF to indicate a preference for this one UE.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, an example method for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple user equipments (UEs) performed at a location server includes: receiving a request for location-related information of the multiple UEs, the request being associated with a first UE among the multiple UEs, the request being based on one of the following: a mobile originated location request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or a mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) sent by an external client, or a periodic or triggered MT-LR. The method also includes obtaining capability information of each of the multiple UEs from the first UE among the multiple UEs. The method also includes obtaining location-related information. The method also includes sending location-related information, wherein the sending includes one of the following: sending location-related information to the first UE in response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; or sending location-related information to the external client in response to a request for location-related information based on (ii) MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR, wherein the location-related information is based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, an example method for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple user equipments, performed at a first UE of multiple UEs, includes: performing an operation including one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving a MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information from a location server; discovering other UEs in the multiple UEs. The method also includes obtaining capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs. The method also includes sending capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs to the location server. The method also includes receiving a message from the location server, the message being based at least in part on the capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs. The method also includes coordinating sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs based at least in part on the message. The method also includes obtaining a location measurement, a location result, or both based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs. The method also includes sending a location measurement or a location result to the location server when the message includes a request for the location measurement or the location result, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

[0008] According to the present disclosure, an example location server for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple user equipments (UEs) includes: 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. The one or more processors are configured to receive a request for location-related information of multiple UEs via one or more transceivers, the request being associated with a first UE among the multiple UEs, the request being based on one of the following: a mobile originating location request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or a mobile terminating location request (MT-LR) sent by an external client, or a periodic or triggered MT-LR. The one or more processors are also configured to obtain capability information of each of the multiple UEs from the first UE among the multiple UEs via the one or more transceivers; and obtain location-related information. The one or more processors are also configured to send location-related information via one or more transceivers, wherein the sending includes one of: sending location-related information to a first UE in response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of multiple UEs; or sending location-related information to an external client in response to a request for location-related information based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, wherein the location-related information is based on sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0009] According to the present disclosure, an exemplary first UE among multiple UEs for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs includes 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. The one or more processors are configured to perform operations including one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving a MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information from a location server. The one or more processors are also configured to discover other UEs among the multiple UEs. The one or more processors are also configured to obtain capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs. The one or more processors are also configured to send capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs to the location server. The one or more processors are also configured to receive a message from the location server, which is based at least in part on the capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs. The one or more processors are also configured to coordinate the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs based at least in part on the message. The one or more processors are also configured to obtain location measurements, location results, or both based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs. The one or more processors are further configured to send the location measurement or location result to the location server when the message includes a request for the location measurement or location result, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

[0010] This summary is neither intended to identify key 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 present disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 It is an architecture diagram of a communication system including multiple UEs, a radio access network (RAN) and a 5G core network (5GC).

[0012] Figure 2 The architecture of a communication system for network-supported sidelink (SL) positioning is shown.

[0013] Figure 3 is a signal flow illustrating signaling between a UE and a location server for network supported sidelink positioning.

[0014] Figure 4A and Figure 4B is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message structure.

[0015] Figure 5 is a signal flow diagram of an embodiment of an SLPP positioning session between UEs based on or in “autonomous” mode.

[0016] Figure 6 is another signal flow diagram of an embodiment of an SLPP positioning session between UEs based on or in “autonomous” mode.

[0017] Figure 7 is a signal flow diagram of a first example of an SLPP positioning session in network-assisted mode.

[0018] Figure 8 is a signal flow diagram of a second example of an SLPP positioning session in network-assisted mode.

[0019] Fig. 9 is a signal flow diagram of a third example of an SLPP positioning session in network-assisted mode.

[0020] Fig.10 is an example diagram of the sidelink positioning / ranging procedure for a UE group without server assistance.

[0021] Fig.11 is an example diagram of the enhanced MO-LR procedure applied to a UE group.

[0022] Fig.12 is an example diagram of the enhanced MT-LR procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging with server assistance.

[0023] Fig.13 is an example diagram of an enhanced periodic or triggered MT-LR procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging with server assistance.

[0024] Fig.14 is an example diagram of an enhanced periodic or triggered MO-LR procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging with server assistance.

[0025] Fig.15 is an example diagram of the MT-LR procedure for ranging between target UEs.

[0026] Fig.16 is a block diagram of a UE embodiment.

[0027] Fig.17 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system.

[0028] Fig.18 is an example diagram of periodic and triggered MT-LR procedures for ranging between target UEs.

[0029] Fig.19is a diagram of an embodiment of a method performed at a location server for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0030] Fig. 20 is a diagram of an embodiment of a method performed at a UE for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0031] According to certain example embodiments, the same reference numerals in the various drawings represent the same elements. In addition, multiple instances of an element can be indicated by following a letter or 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 as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first digit is used to refer to such an element, any instance of the element (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to elements 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or elements 110a, 110b and 110c) should be understood. In addition, the operations in some programs shown in the figure can be shown as numbers, and are referred to as stages here (which may or may not be separately marked in the figure). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] For the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of various embodiments, the following description is directed to certain implementations. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE 802.11 standards (including those identified as Wi-Fi® technology), Bluetooth® standards, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (General Packet Radio Service), and the like. Service, GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Release A, EV-DO Release B, High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals for communicating within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IoT), such as systems utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G or further implementation techniques thereof.

[0033] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information through space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0034] In addition, unless otherwise specified, "reference signal", "positioning reference signal", "reference signal for positioning", etc. may be used to refer to a signal used to locate a user equipment (UE) in a 5G New Radio (NR) network. As described in more detail herein, such a signal may include any of a variety of signal types, but is not necessarily limited to a positioning reference signal (PRS) defined in a relevant wireless standard.

[0035] In addition, unless otherwise specified, the term "positioning" as used herein may include absolute position determination, relative position determination, ranging, or a combination thereof. 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), for location or sensing services.

[0036] In addition, "TS" documents (e.g., "TS 23.304") mentioned herein refer to the corresponding technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0037] As described above, SL-based signaling between two or more UEs can potentially be used to perform positioning (including ranging) of at least one UE. However, many procedural aspects of such positioning remain to be defined or formalized. The embodiments herein address these and other issues by providing enhanced procedures for Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR), Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR), and periodic or triggered MT-LR, which can be used to enable sidelink positioning and ranging position results to be obtained for a group of two or more UEs with assistance from a location server (e.g., LMF) and provided to the UE group (MO-LR) or the LCS client or AF (MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR). The embodiments are described after reviewing the related art.

[0038] 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). The UEs 105A, 105B, and 105C may sometimes be referred to herein individually as UEs 105, or collectively as UEs 105. The UEs 105 may be, for example, IoT devices, location tracker devices, cellular phones, vehicles, on-board units (OBUs), or other similar types of devices. The UEs 105 may additionally be considered roadside units (RSUs), which may support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications and program and / or positioning reference units (PRUs). The 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; the NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NRRAN; and the 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, which 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 be connected to the SV 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 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.

[0039] like Figure 1As shown, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeB (gNB) 110a, 110b and next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a session management function (SMF) 117, a location management function (LMF) 120, a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, a policy control function (PCF) 126, a unified data management (UDM) 127, a user plane function (UPF) 118, and a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 119. The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each is wirelessly configured to communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and each is communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and the UPF 118, and is configured to communicate bidirectionally with them. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs) or RAN nodes. The AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC 125 is communicatively coupled to an external client 130, which may also be referred to as a location service (LCS) client. The AMF 115, SMF 117, UPF 118, and SLP 119 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the SLP 119 is communicatively coupled to the external client 130. According to some embodiments, the server 121, the Internet 122, and the server 123 may be communicatively coupled to the UPF 118 and may facilitate SL positioning. The 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 (Wi-Fi 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 base station 110a, 110b, 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic area (e.g., a cell). Each cell may be divided into a plurality of sectors according to the functionality of the base station antenna. The interface between the UE 105 and the gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as a Uu interface, and the interface between two UEs 105 may be referred to as a sidelink or PC5 interface.

[0040] PCF 126 may support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior, provide policy rules to control plane functions to implement them, access subscription information related to policy decisions, and provide policies and parameters required for ranging / SL positioning services to UE 105. The policies and parameters for ranging / SL positioning services provided in UE 105 may include authorization policies and parameters for ranging / SL positioning through PC5, authorization policies and parameters for network-based SL positioning, and network-assisted SL positioning and authorization policies and parameters for ranging / SL positioning service exposure.

[0041] The UDM 127 may support generation of UE authentication credentials, user identity handling (e.g., storage and management of the Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) and GPSI for each UE), de-hiding of the Privacy Preserving Subscription Identifier (SUCI), access authorization based on subscription data (e.g., roaming restrictions), subscription management, and mobility management (e.g., by storing the current serving AMF and serving PLMN identity for each subscribed UE).

[0042] Figure 1 A general description of various components is provided, any or all of which may be used as appropriate, and each component may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. In particular, although only UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be used in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or lesser) 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 connections shown 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, depending on the desired functionality, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted.

[0043] Although Figure 1A 5G-based network is shown, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The embodiments described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure the directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105) or base station 110a, 110b, 114 and / or provide position assistance to UE 105 (via LMF 120 or SLP 119 or other location server) and / or calculate the position of one or both of UE 105 at a positioning-capable device such as UE 105, base station 110a, 110b, 119 based on measurements of such directional transmission signals received at UE 105 or base station 110a, 110b, 114. 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.

[0044] The communication system 100 can communicate wirelessly because the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (at least sometimes using wireless connections), 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 base transceiver stations). For indirect communication, the communication can be altered during transmission from one entity to another, for example, header information of a data packet can be altered, the format can be changed, etc. The UE 105 can include multiple UEs and can be a mobile wireless communication device, but can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. The UE 105 can be any of a variety of devices, such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are merely examples, as the UE 105 need not be any of these configurations, and other configurations of the UE can be used. Other UEs can include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headphones, etc.). Other UEs can also be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) can be implemented within the system 100 and can communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the base stations 110a, 110b, 114, the core network 140, and / or the external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include IoT or Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The core network 140 can communicate with the external clients 130, the servers 123, or the servers 121 (e.g., each of which can be a computer system), for example, to allow the external clients 130, the servers 123, or the servers 121 to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125, the SLP 119, or the UPF 118).

[0045] 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 communications, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communications, satellite positioning, satellite communications, one or more types of communications (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.). V2X communications can be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or Wi-Fi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Connection)). The system 100 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can transmit 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 sent on a different carrier and can carry pilots, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105 may communicate with each other via UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink 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).

[0046] 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) supporting secure user plane location (SUPL), or other names. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, 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), which may be connected to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 to communicate with external clients 130, servers 121, and / or servers 123 (e.g., via elements of 5GC 140 and possibly the Internet 122) and / or allow external clients 130, servers 121, and / or servers 123 to receive location-related information about UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125, SLP 119, or UPF 118).

[0047] Each UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may use audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. 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 fix, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, providing the UE with location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude), which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height above or below ground level, floor level, or basement level or depth). Alternatively, the location of the UE may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., a postal address or a designation of a point or small area in a building, such as a specific room or floor). The location of the UE may be expressed as an area or volume (defined in geographic or civic form) 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. A relative position 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 geographically, in city terms, or by a reference point, area, or volume, such as indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the descriptions contained herein, use of the term "location" may include any of these variations unless otherwise specified.

[0048] When using sidelink positioning, the absolute (e.g., global) or relative position of the UE may not always be obtained. Instead, a position result for the UE may be obtained, which may include a range or distance between the UE and each of one or more other UEs, a direction from the UE to each of the one or more other UEs, the position of the UE relative to the position of some other UEs, 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 the one or more other UEs. The speed of the UE may be absolute (e.g., relative to the earth) or may be relative to some other UEs, which may then be referred to as a "relative speed". The relative speed of UE B relative to another UE A may include a "radial speed" component, which may be equal to the rate of change of the distance from UE A to UE B, and a "lateral speed" component, which may be at right angles to the radial speed component as seen by UE A and may be equal to the angular rate of change of the direction from UE A to UE B multiplied by the distance from UE A to UE B. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "position result" for sidelink positioning of a UE or UE group may include any of these variations unless otherwise specified.

[0049] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The 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. The D2D P2P links may be examples of sidelink signaling (or may be supported by sidelink signaling) and may be supported by any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside of the geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. The group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate resource scheduling for the D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communications may be conducted between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more of the UE group utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​the TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside of the geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. The group of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate resource scheduling for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be conducted between UEs without involving a TRP.

[0050] Figure 1 The base stations (BS) in the NG-RAN 135 shown include NR Node Bs (Node Bs), referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The gNB pair 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 gNBs 110a, 110b, and the gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE using 5G. Figure 1 In the present invention, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105A is gNB 110b, and the serving gNB for UE 105B is gNB 110a, although if UE 105 moves to another location, another gNB can serve as the serving gNB, or can serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105, and UE 105 can share the same serving gNB.

[0051] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include an ng-eNB 114, also known as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 through 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, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that may transmit signals to help determine the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0052] The base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may transmit one or more downlink reference signals, including positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions. The 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. The 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 positioning systems (such as global positioning system (GPS) technology) supported by the UE 105.

[0053] Base stations 110a, 110b, 114 may configure PRS transmission on one or more PRS resources of a channel. Depending on the configured number of ports, PRS resources may span resource elements of multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) within one or more OFDM symbols of a time slot. For example, a PRS resource may span one symbol of a time slot and include one 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 the time slot. In other examples, PRS transmission may be mapped to interspersed OFDM symbols of a time slot. Additionally, PRS transmission may support frequency hopping within a PRB of a channel.

[0054] According to the PRS resource settings of the base stations 110a, 110b, 114, one or more PRS resources may span multiple PRS resource sets. 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).

[0055] The UE 105 may receive a PRS transmission via one or more PRS resources of a time slot. The UE 105 may determine reporting parameters for at least some of the PRS resources included in the transmission. The reporting parameters (which may include the number of reports) for each PRS resource may include one or more of a time of arrival (TOA), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), an angle, a PRS identification number, a received transmission difference (UE Rx-Tx), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ).

[0056] Similarly, the UE 105 may be configured to transmit 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 transmit 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 transmission difference (UE Rx-Tx).

[0057] Reference signals from one or more base stations 110a, 110b, 114 or the UE, such as PRS signals or SRS signals for positioning signals, or other reference signals, may be used to determine a positioning estimate for the UE. 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 a 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).

[0058] Other positioning methods may use reference signals transmitted 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 transmits and / or receives sidelink positioning reference signals that are measured and used for positioning.

[0059] As mentioned above, 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 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 Figure 1 The NG-RAN 135 in the network and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0060] The gNB 110a, 110b and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which may communicate with the LMF 120 to implement positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105, and may support 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. When the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, the LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 and may support positioning presentation / 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, for example, a location service request received from the AMF 115 or from 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 part of the positioning functionality (including deriving 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). Alternatively, at least part of the positioning functionality (including deriving the position of the UE) may 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, handling signaling between UE 105 and core network 140, and providing 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.

[0061] The GMLC 125 may support a location request for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward the location request to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location request directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate or a sidelink location result for the UE 105) 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 a location estimate or a 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, although in some embodiments, the 5GC 140 may support only one of these connections. The GMLC can act as a home GMLC (H-GMLC) when located in the target UE's home PLMN, or as a visited GMLC (V-GMLC) when located in the target UE's serving PLMN, or as both an H-GMLC and a V-GMLC when located in the home PLMN of a non-roaming target UE. The term (H)GMLC or GMLC may be used to denote a GMLC that acts as both an H-GMLC and a V-GMLC.

[0062] The user plane function (UPF) 118 may support voice and data bearers for the UE 105 and may enable the UE 105 voice and data access to other networks, such as the Internet 122 and servers, such as server 121 and server 123. The UPF 118 may be connected to the gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114. The functions of the UPF 118 may include: external protocol data unit (PDU) session points interconnected with 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) processing of the user plane, downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 118 may be connected to the SLP 119 to enable support for positioning of the UE 105 using SUPL. The SLP 119 may be further connected to or accessible from the external client 130.

[0063] As shown, 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.

[0064] like Figure 1 As further shown in FIG. 1 , LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using New Radio Position Protocol A (NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be transmitted 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 shown 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, LPP messages may be transmitted between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and a serving gNB 110a, 110b or a serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP messages may be transmitted between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a service operation based on a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and may be transmitted between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G non-access stratum (NAS) protocol.

[0065] 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 a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by a 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 provide a directional synchronization signal (SS) to the UE 105 using a directional synchronization signal (SS) to the UE 105 using a directional synchronization signal (SS) to the UE 105 using a directional synchronization signal (SS) to the UE 105. Figure 1 140, but may also be outside of the core network 140, for example, in the NG-RAN. For example, the 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.

[0066] Using the UE-assisted positioning method, a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B) can obtain a location measurement and send the measurement to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) to calculate a location estimate of the UE. For example, the location measurement can 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 gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 and / or WLAN AP. The location measurement can also or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase and / or carrier phase of SV 190.

[0067] For UE-based positioning methods, a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B) may obtain position measurements (e.g., which may be the same or similar to position measurements of a UE-assisted positioning method) and may calculate the UE's position (e.g., with the aid of assistance data received from a positioning server (such as LMF 120) or broadcast by a gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base station or AP).

[0068] 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., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, AOD, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 105A or UE 105B)) and / or may receive measurements obtained by a UE. One or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in computing a location estimate for the UE.

[0069] As described above, although the communication system 100 is described for 5G technology, the communication system 100 can be implemented to support other communication technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc.) for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., implementing voice, data, positioning and other functions). For example, in EPS, NG-RAN 135 can be replaced by E-UTRAN including eNB, and 5GC 140 can be replaced by EPC, including Mobility Management Entity (MME) instead of AMF 115, E-SMLC instead of LMF 120, and GMLC similar to GMLC 125.

[0070] In radio networks such as Figure 1In the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 , a UE is positioned in a wireless communication system 100, typically using a Uu interface, i.e., a wireless interface between a UE 105 and a radio access network, for DL ​​PRS and / or UL PRS. Positioning of the UE may also or alternatively use a sidelink PRS (SL-PRS), which may be a reference signal defined for a specific sidelink for positioning, or may reuse a Uu PRS, such as a UL PRS, sometimes referred to as a sounding reference signal for positioning (SRSPos), or may transmit other reference signals in a sidelink channel. Sidelink positioning may enhance UE positioning by providing additional transmitting (or receiving) nodes. A UE with a known position, such as UE 105B, may be used to support position determination of another target UE, such as UE 105A, where UE 105B is sometimes referred to as an anchor node.

[0071] With the sidelink positioning method, for example, UE 105A may transmit a sidelink PRS or sidelink SRS signal that is received and measured by another UE 105B. Additionally or alternatively, UE 105B may, for example, transmit a sidelink PRS or sidelink SRS signal that is received and measured by UE 105A. The sidelink PRS may be similar to a PRS (e.g., DL PRS) transmitted by gNB 110, for example, as described above. The sidelink SRS may be similar to an SRS (e.g., uplink) SRS transmitted by UE 105 for measurement by gNB 110, for example, as described above. Measurements of the SL PRS or SL SRS signal may include receive transmission 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, SL AOD, or any combination thereof.

[0072] In some scenarios, UE groups ( Figure 1SL positioning may be supported by a 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 other UEs in the group. Some or all other UEs in the group may also each send a SL PRS or SL SRS signal (for example, each UE sends a SL SRS or SL SRS at one or more times different from the time when other UEs in the group send a SL PRS or SL SRS), which may be measured by some or all other UEs in the group other than the UE that sends a UL PRS or a ULS SRS. Measurements made by the UE applicable to the transmission of the SL PRS or SL SRS made 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 (e.g., ranging), sidelink AOA, sidelink AOD, sidelink TDOA (SL-TDOA), or any combination thereof. Based on the measurements and positioning methods, each UE may determine the position results for itself and / or one or more other UEs in the group. As previously described, the UE's location results may include the range or distance between the UE and each of one or more other UEs in the group, the direction from the UE to each of one or more other UEs in the group, the direction from each of one or more other UEs in the group to the UE, the UE's location relative to some other UEs in the group, the UE's location relative to some other known locations, the UE's absolute location, the UE's speed, or the UE's speed relative to some other UEs.

[0073] Sidelink positioning may be used for positioning of UEs independent of the core network (e.g., 5GC 140) or serving PLMN. An example implementation of sidelink positioning may be found in vehicular communication systems, such as V2X, which may be used for safety-related applications such as safety warnings, traffic congestion (e.g., automatic traffic control), and coordinated or automatic vehicle maneuvers. One aspect of sidelink positioning that may require a standardized solution is the Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP), which may be used between UEs, including between RSUs and UEs, and between location servers. For example, SLPP may support sidelink positioning between UEs, RSUs, and PRUs independent of network access. SLPP may provide sidelink positioning support (e.g., ranging) for UE pairs, UE groups (V2X), and UEs that are members of multiple different groups. For example, SLPP may provide support for various positioning techniques currently standardized by location servers (e.g., LMF 120) for UE-based and UE-assisted support, such as PRS RTT, AOA, Differential AOA (DAOA), AOD, Differential AOD (DAOD), but may also be able to support other PRS and SRS-based positioning methods and non-PRS methods, such as RTK later. By enabling the addition of new capabilities and methods later, SLPP may avoid the need to define a separate new positioning protocol different from SLPP. For example, additional positioning methods that may be included in SLPP later 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 may be used to coordinate the positioning of two vehicles at a corner of a collision course where a direct SL signal between the two vehicles is not possible. Therefore, SLPP may initially define support for SL PRS-based positioning in a generic manner to simplify expansion to support other positioning methods in the future. For 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 support separate positioning methods (e.g., SL PRSRTT, SL PRS AOA, SL PRS AOD) using common procedures and common parameters. SLPP may define procedures that can be reused by multiple positioning methods and is not limited to just one or a few positioning methods. SLPP may be transmitted and used by various entities, such as UE, RSU, PRU, and location servers, such as LMF and SUPL SLP.The location server (e.g., LMF and SUPL SLP) may transmit SLPP messages within LPP messages to enable UE-assisted positioning of the LMF or SUPL SLP. Alternatively, the location server (e.g., LMF and SUPLSLP) may transmit SLPP messages not associated with LPP messages to enable UE-assisted positioning of the LMF or SUPL SLP. SLPP may further support relative (local) positioning and global positioning.

[0074] The term "target UE" as used herein may refer to a UE for which a positioning result is desired. When a group of two or more UEs participate in SL positioning, only some of the UEs in the UE group may be target UEs, since the positioning results may already be known or may not be required for other UEs. However, in general, when discussing the techniques described herein for positioning a group of UEs, all UEs may be considered potential target UEs, since there may be little or no difference in how the techniques described herein are used for positioning.

[0075] Figure 2 The architecture of a communication system 200 capable of network-supported sidelink positioning is shown by way of example. Figure 2 As shown, multiple UEs may be combined within the same group 210 for sidelink positioning. Within the group 210, various subgroups of UEs may exist. For example, the UE group 210 may include a first subgroup 212 of UEs served by a first network (PLMN1 140a), while a second subgroup 214 of UEs is served by a second (different) network (PLMN2 140b), and a third subgroup 216 of UEs is out of coverage of either network and is not served by either network. One or more UEs served by a network, e.g., UEs in subgroup 212 served by PLMN1 140a, or UEs in 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 serving PLMN1 140a, LMF2 120b, SUPL SLP2 119b, or Server 2 121b in 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 served by the network (PLMN), e.g., subgroups 212 and 214, respectively. As shown, the location server may support the UE by communicating with the UE using "LPP / SLPP", which means communicating using LPP, SLPP, embedding SLPP 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., wherein each SLPP message transmitted between the UE and LMF1 120a or LMF2 120b is embedded in one LPP message, and wherein one LPP message may include one or more embedded SLPP messages). Similarly, SUPL SLP1 119a and SUPL SLP2 119b may embed SLPP in LPP, and LPP messages are embedded in SUPL User Plane Positioning Protocol (ULP) messages while supporting UEs in subgroups 212 and 214, respectively. Additionally or alternatively, LPP messages and / or SLPP messages may be used, wherein the SLPP messages are not embedded in the LPP messages (although the LPP messages or SLPP messages may still be embedded in the SUPL ULP messages). Additionally, the UEs in 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 one or more 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 UEs may include determining or verifying SL PRS configuration, and calculating location results for the UEs, including supported UEs and unsupported UEs (e.g., if location information for UEs in an unsupported subgroup is provided to the location server, location results are calculated for UEs in a supported subgroup and UEs in an unsupported subgroup). In some embodiments, signaling between location servers in separate networks may be used to provide more complete network support. As shown, 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 such that LPP messages contain embedded SLPP messages, and / or SLPP procedures may be aligned with LPP procedures, which may reduce implementation and / or testing. Figure 2 Signaling (eg, a SLPP message or a SLPP message embedded in an LPP message) between LMF1 120a and one or more UEs of subgroup 212 and signaling between LMF2 120b and one or more UEs of subgroup 214 are shown. Figure 2 Also shown are SLPP messages, or LPP messages containing embedded SLPP messages, and LPP messages embedded in SUPL ULP messages, exchanged between SUPL SLP1 119a and one or more UEs of subgroup 212, and between SUPL SLP2 119b and one or more UEs of subgroup 214. SLPP may include messages similar to LPP request capabilities messages and LPP offer capabilities messages, which may be referred to as "request capabilities and resources" and "offer capabilities and resources" in SLPP, for example. Requesting / offering capabilities and resources in SLPP may initially be limited to NR SL PRS capabilities and resources, but may later be extended to capabilities and resources for LTE SL PRS, 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 simply "Provide Assistance Data") in the SLPP. The Provide Positioning Signal Configuration in the SLPP may include, for example, a SL PRS configuration to be sent by each UE and measured by other UEs, a start time and duration of transmission, a termination condition for transmission, and one or more of the types of SL PRS measurements requested, such as Rx-Tx, AOA, RSRP, RSRD, TOA, TDOA. In some embodiments, the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration of the SLPP may be extended to define other types of signals, such as RTK signals to be measured, Wi-Fi signals to be transmitted and measured, and the like. For example, the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration in the SLPP may include additional information to assist the UE in obtaining and measuring signals (e.g., SL PRS signals) and determining the time for transmission and measurement.

[0080] In another example, SLPP may include messages such as "Confirm Positioning Signal Configuration" (or "Provide Assistance Data Confirmation"), which do not have similar LPP messages. For example, the Confirm Positioning Signal Configuration in SLPP can confirm whether the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration (or the Provided Assistance Data) is appropriate. If the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration (partial) is not appropriate, a different configuration may be provided as the Provide Positioning Signal Configuration. Because LPP does not have a similar message, a new LPP message type may be added to carry the Confirm Positioning Signal Configuration SLPP message when the SLPP message is embedded in the LPP message. However, when the SLPP message is not embedded in the LPP message, this 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, for example, in SLPP, it may be referred to as a "Provide Location Information" message. 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 shown, UEs in each subgroup and UEs in different subgroups can use SLPP to send signals to each other (for example, in the case where the UE sends a SLPP message to one or more other UEs). Additionally, a location server (for example, LMF, SUPL SLP, or server 1-3) can support UEs using SLPP (as described above). As previously described, according to some embodiments, SLPP can be embedded in LPP or embedded in both LPP and SUPL, or can be sent without being embedded in LPP. Therefore, the first UE can receive a first SLPP message from the second UE, and can send the first SLPP message to the location server supporting the first UE. The first UE can receive a second SLPP message from the location server in response to the first SLPP message, and can send the second SLPP message to the second UE.

[0083] As an example, Figure 3 3 is a signal flow 300 showing 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 shown in or Figure 2 Any UE shown in the subgroups 212 and 214 supported by the network. The location server 302 may be Figure 1 LMF 120, SUPL SLP 119, server 121 or server 123 or Figure 2 Either LMF1 120a or SUPL SLP1 119a as shown.

[0084] like Figure 3 As shown, at 310, UE 105A receives a first sidelink positioning message from UE 105B. For example, as described above, the first sidelink positioning message may be a SLPP message and may be any of the message types described above. Figure 3As shown, if the group includes more than two UEs, the first sidelink positioning message can be sent based on SL multicast (also known as SL groupcast), or can be sent based on SL unicast. Using SL multicast (also known as SL groupcast), a sidelink positioning message (e.g., SLPP message) containing a group destination address can be sent (e.g., it can be partially or completely included in the Layer 1 protocol header and / or Layer 2 protocol header of the sidelink positioning message). Then, the receiving UE (e.g., UE 105A) belonging to the group with the group destination address identifies the group destination address in the sidelink positioning message, and receives, decodes and processes the sidelink positioning message. Using SL unicast, a sidelink positioning message containing a UE destination address (e.g., a Layer 2 address assigned to UE105A) can be sent, and the sidelink positioning message is only received, decoded and processed by the UE whose destination address is included (e.g., UE 105A).

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

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

[0087] At 340, UE 105A may send a second sidelink positioning message to one or more 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. For example, Figure 3 As shown, if the group contains more than two UEs, the second sidelink positioning message can be sent based on SL multicast.

[0088] The sidelink positioning messages in the signal flow 300 may be any of the message types described above. For example, the first sidelink positioning message at 310 and the first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include the sidelink positioning capabilities, sidelink positioning resources, or both of at least one UE in the group (e.g., UE 105B). The first LPP / SLPP message at 320 may include an LPP provisioning capabilities message and / or an SLPP provisioning capabilities message (e.g., where the SLPP provisioning capabilities message may be embedded in the LPP provisioning capabilities message). The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 and the second sidelink positioning message at 340 may include the sidelink positioning capabilities, sidelink positioning resources, or both of UE 105A. The second LPP / SLPP message at 330 may include an LPP provisioning capabilities message and / or an SLPP provisioning 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 of 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., wherein 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 of 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., wherein 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, at 320, a first LPP / SLPP message is sent by the UE 105A to the location server 302 as part of a first SUPL message, and at 330, a second LPP / SLPP message is received by the UE 105A from the location server 302 as part of a second SUPL message. The first SUPL message and the second SUPL message may each include a SUPL POS message.

[0092] As an example, Figure 4A4 is a block diagram 400A showing one embodiment of the structure of an SLPP message 410. As shown, the SLPP message 410 includes a header 412, which may include a session ID, a transaction ID, a sequence number (seq no), an acknowledgement (or acknowledgment) sequence number (acknowledgment seq no), etc. The SLPP message 410 allows 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). For example, the positioning method may use one or more specific signal types (for example, SL NR PRS, SL LTE PRS, Wi-Fi, GPSL1-L5, or any combination thereof), and support a method for determining a position for a 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 signal type. For example, a positioning method type may use SL NR PRS signals (e.g., SL NRPRS 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 carrier 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 a positioning method type (also referred to as a positioning type), or both a positioning method and a positioning method type. As shown, each positioning method / type 414, 416, and 418 in the SLPP message 410 may include parameters for each UE in the group, which are shown as being identified by a member ID, such as UE 1, UE 2, ... UEn. It is possible that not all UEs in the group support the same positioning method / type, which may mean that for the positioning method / type in the SLPP message 410, the parameters of the UE that does not support the positioning method / type 414, 416, or 418 may not exist. When the UEs do not all support the same positioning method or the same positioning method type, it may be advantageous to support multiple positioning methods or positioning method types in the SLPP message 410. For example, some of the UEs may support positioning using RTK and SL PRS, while some other UEs only support RTK. However, in some embodiments, the SLPP message 410 may only provide support for one positioning method (e.g., NR SL PRS RTT) or one positioning method type (e.g., NR SL PRS).

[0094] Figure 4B 4 is a block diagram 400B showing another embodiment of the structure of the SLPP message 420. Figure 4A In block diagram 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 each positioning method / type 1-M supported by the UE.

[0095] Figure 5 5 is a signal flow diagram showing four UEs (UE A, B, C, and D) participating in a SLPP positioning session 500 without the support of a location server (such as LMF). Figure 1 Sample, Figure 5 This is provided as a non-limiting example, and other embodiments may add, omit, and / or rearrange some of the illustrated operations. Here, as shown in block 505, a device and service discovery process may be performed, wherein 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 Figure 5-Figure 10 Any of ) may be followed by a potential SLPP session establishment (not shown).

[0096] After the device and service discovery process, the sidelink positioning and ranging function (SPRF) process 507 may begin, wherein the initiating UE ( Figure 5 UE B in the example of , which may act as a coordinating UE) may broadcast or multicast an SLPP request capability message, as indicated by arrow 510, to request UE positioning capabilities to UE A, C, and D. As used in the figures herein, a bidirectional arrow (such as arrow 510) 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 may be noted that alternative embodiments may similarly use unicast transmissions (e.g., separate unicast transmissions for each receiving device) to transmit messages to each of the multiple receiving devices. Note that UE B may be referred to as an "initiating UE," a "coordinating UE," an "anchor UE," a "target UE," or a "serving UE."

[0097] As indicated by arrow 515, the addressed UEs may respond by multicasting (or possibly broadcasting or unicasting) a SLPP Provide Capabilities message including the UE positioning capabilities each time. The UE positioning capabilities of each UE may include details of the UE's supported SL-PRS configurations and supported SL-PRS measurements. 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 520, distributing the determined SL-PRS configurations to the participating UEs in the session. This may be followed by UE B sending a SLPP Request Location Information message, as indicated by arrow 525, requesting specific SL-PRS measurements from UEs A, C and D. Each participating UE (including Figure 5 The initiating UE B in the block 530 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 SL-PRS measurements broadcast by the other participating UEs, as indicated by block 530. For example, at block 530a, 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 530b, 530c, and 530d, respectively. (At block 530, the other UEs have similar functionality.)

[0098] Once the measurements are complete, all UEs (except the initiating UE B) may each multicast (or possibly broadcast or unicast) a SLPP Provide Location Information message, as indicated by arrow 535, which the initiating UE B will use to determine the range and / or location of the UE group, as indicated by block 540. For example, the location / range calculation at block 540 may include obtaining location results (e.g., relative positions, directions, and / or distances) for UEs A, B, C, and D. In some cases, the initiating UE B may optionally distribute the obtained UE range / location to other UEs in the group, as indicated by dashed arrow 545. (As used herein, dashed arrows may represent optional functionality) The sending of the final SLPP Provide Location Information message by UE B may be proactively provided by other UEs, but is still permitted under the transaction rules applicable to SLPP.

[0099] Figure 5 The procedure in may be referred to as centralized UE location or "UE-assisted" UE location because one UE (UE B) obtains the location or location information of other UEs and may then send it to the other UEs.

[0100] Figure 6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating another example SLPP positioning session 600. Figure 5 500, UE B is the initiator and many of the initial operations are the same. Figure 6 , at arrow 610, each UE in the group (including the initiating UE B) may distribute (e.g., via multicast) its SL-PRS measurements to all other UEs in the group using the SLPP Provide Location Information message. This may allow each UE in the group to perform a distance or positioning calculation, as indicated by block 620. As indicated by arrow 630, each UE may then optionally send the distance or positioning calculation determined by the UE at block 620 to the other UEs in the group.

[0101] Figure 6 The procedure in may be referred to as distributed or decentralized UE location or “UE-based” UE location because each UE obtains its own and other UEs' location or location information, which may then be sent to other UEs.

[0102] In accordance with some embodiments, two or more UEs may use SLPP with location server support to support ranging and positioning in a network-assisted mode. This is possible, for example, when at least one UE is within network coverage and has access to a PLMN via subscription. In this mode, a UE with PLMN access may be assisted by a location server (e.g., LMF) in using SLPP, or may be requested by a location server to use SLPP to obtain a mobile terminal location request (MT-LR) location result. In some cases of this network-assisted mode, not all UEs may have access to a PLMN and be supported by or provided 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 group of UEs participating in a SLPP positioning session. Described in more detail below Figure 7-Figure 10 The method of how to perform positioning in this network-assisted mode is shown.

[0103] Figure 7 An example SLPP positioning session 700 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 5 and Figure 6 In the process, there may be a device and service discovery process, as shown in box 705, followed by the SPRF 710. The SPRF 710 may start with an initiating UE (UE B) multicasting (or broadcasting) a SLPP request capability message, as shown by arrow 715, to request sidelink positioning capabilities to other participating UEs, and each participating UE responds to the initiating UE (UE B) with a SLPP provide capability message, as shown by arrow 720. The initiating UE B may then request SL-PRS configuration information from the LS via an SLPP request assistance data, as indicated by arrow 725, to which the LS may respond with a SLPP provide assistance data message, as shown by arrow 735, which may have the SL-PRS configuration of 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 a SLPP provide capability message, as indicated by optional arrow 730. (As shown in FIG. 7A , FIG. 7B ) Figure 7 As indicated, this message may precede the SLPP request assistance data message of arrow 725).

[0104] The SLPP positioning session 700 may then be similar to Figure 5The SLPP positioning method 500 of the present invention is performed to distribute assistance data, perform SL-PRS measurements, and distribute location information. In particular, UE B may send the SL-PRS configuration received from the LS to other UEs in the group within a SLPP Provide Assistance Data message, as shown by arrow 740, followed by a SLPP Request Location Information message, as shown by arrow 745. The sending and measuring of the SL-PRS measurements at block 750 and the sending of the measurement results in the SLPP Provide Location Information message at arrow 755 may be similar to the previously described Figure 5 , and the corresponding operations in . As indicated by the dashed box 760, UE B may use the measurement results received from other UEs to perform distance / positioning calculations. Alternatively, UE B may provide the LS with location measurements obtained from all UEs in the group in an SLPP Provide Location Information message shown by arrow 765 for distance / positioning calculations performed at the LS, as shown by box 770. In the case where the LS performs the distance / positioning calculation, the LS may then provide the calculated distance / positioning back to the initiating UE B in an SLPP Provide Location Information message, as shown by arrow 775. The SLPP transaction initiated by UE B to the LS may be part of a positioning session between UE B and the LS (e.g., a mobile initiated location request (MO-LR) or a new supplementary service operation emulation).

[0105] Figure 8 Another example SLPP positioning session 800 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 acquisition of SL-PRS configuration and reports measurement results for the group of UEs participating in the SLPP positioning session 800. 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 1The LS may first request the sidelink positioning capabilities of UE B and possibly other UEs (e.g., UE A, C, D) from UE B via an SLPP request capabilities message, as indicated by arrow 805, to which the coordinating UE may respond with an SLPP offer capabilities message, as indicated by arrow 810. The LS may then request a location result from UE B using a supplementary service operation request, as indicated by arrow 815. According to some embodiments, the supplementary service operation request may, for example, indicate the type of location result requested (e.g., the location of the coordinating UE and / or one or more other UEs), the identity and / or address of the specific other UEs (e.g., UE A, C, D) to be involved or whether any UE may be used, whether a single location result (immediate location) set is requested or whether a deferred (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 and / or an embedded SLPP provide assistance data message, wherein the embedded request location information message indicates a specific SLPP location result or measurement to be provided by the coordinating UE, and the embedded provide assistance data message is used to provide assistance data for SLPP positioning (e.g., SL PRS configuration) to the coordinating UE.

[0106] According to some embodiments, a reason for using a supplementary service request (at arrow 815) 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, according to some embodiments, it may be possible to use an SLPP message instead (e.g., an SLPP request for location information). The target UE may then confirm or answer the supplementary service request with a supplementary service response, as shown by arrow 820 - for example, which may indicate whether any requested UEs are available (e.g., whether UE A, C, D has been discovered by target UE B). The coordinating UE then uses the operations of process 825 to perform SLPP positioning to obtain measurement and position results without further LS assistance. It can be seen that, as previously described, the operations of process 825 reflect the Figure 5 Alternatively, as described above, the coordinating UE may initiate a response Figure 6The process of operations in the SLPP positioning session 600 of the coordinating UE. At the end of process 825, the coordinating UE may optionally perform positioning calculations (as shown in box 830), in which case the coordinating UE may then provide the calculation results in an SLPP Provide Location Information message, as shown by arrow 835. Otherwise, at arrow 835, the coordinating UE may return measurements to the LS in an SLPP Provide Location Information message, in which case the LS may then determine the location (or distance and / or orientation) of the coordinating UE and / or other UEs, as indicated by box 840. In either case, the LS may then provide the location determination to an external client or AF (not shown). For delayed (periodic or triggered) location, the SLPP positioning of the coordinating UE and the return of the location results to the LS may be repeated.

[0107] Fig. 9 Shows something like Figure 8 The SLPP positioning session 900. However, in Fig. 9 In, with Figure 7 As in the example above, the LS actively assists the SLPP positioning of the four UEs. That is, as mentioned above, Fig. 9 The SLPP positioning session 900 can be similar to Figure 8 However, in Fig. 9 In the process 905, the operation shown by arrows 910, 915 and 920 may be similar to the operation described above. Figure 7 As previously described, the positioning calculation at block 925, the SLPP providing position information at arrow 930, and / or the positioning calculation at block 935 may be performed in a manner similar to Figure 8 It can be achieved by the corresponding steps.

[0108] In some embodiments, the LS may indicate to the coordinating UE whether to use the LS for such proactive assistance. For example, according to some embodiments, the LS may indicate (at arrow 940) in the supplementary service request whether there is no such Figure 8 The LS assistance shown is preferred, or whether Fig. 9 The assistance shown is preferred (or required).

[0109] It can be noted that although Figure 5-Figure 10 The procedure shown is described herein as an SLPP positioning "session", but the embodiments are not limited thereto. In an alternative embodiment, Figure 5-Figure 10The procedure shown in may not necessarily be performed in a SLPP positioning session (e.g., using an established session ID, etc.). In some embodiments, some operations of the procedure (e.g., communication between UE and LS and initiating / coordinating UE and LS) may be performed outside the SLPP positioning session, while other operations may be performed within the SLPP positioning session (e.g., communication between UEs, such as operations within the SPRF).

[0110] Depending on the desired functionality, embodiments may utilize SL positioning in conjunction with Uu positioning (eg, with one or more base stations) to provide hybrid Uu and SL positioning.

[0111] The aforementioned system architecture (for example, Figure 1-Figure 9 ) can support interactions between UEs (e.g., UE-A and UE C, UE A and UE B, or UE C and UE-D) and between UEs and 5GC. For interactions between UEs, SL signaling and messages for SL positioning and ranging can be carried on a sidelink reference point between paired UEs, which is generally referred to as a PC5 reference point, and utilizes user plane transmission, which is referred to as a PC5-U reference point. Due to different deployment scenarios and operations, the PC5 reference point may utilize different types of access technologies, including LTE-based PC5 and NR-based PC5 for V2X use, and PC5 based on 5G proximity services (ProSe). For example, in a UE with V2X capability, control signaling can be carried via LTE PC5 or NR PC5. The control signaling can manage the actual AS layer sidelink positioning and ranging signaling and measurements, including SL PRS transmission and measurements. As another example, in a UE with 5G ProSe capability, control signaling for SL positioning and ranging can be performed on the 5G ProSe PC5 reference point. The control signaling may manage the actual AS layer sidelink positioning and ranging signaling and measurements, including SL PRS transmissions and measurements.

[0112] According to the embodiments of this invention, the following reference Figure 10-15 and Fig.18Procedures for performing enhanced sidelink positioning and ranging for n UEs labeled UE 1, UE 2, ... UEn are provided. In each of these procedures, one or more of the following may be supported: (i) the LMF communicates with only one UE (UE 1) of the n UEs and not with the other UEs of the n UEs; (ii) at least one positioning result is obtained for each of the n UEs; (iii) one UE (UE 1) coordinates the sidelink positioning of the n UEs based on information received from the LMF (e.g., assistance data or request (e.g., for location measurement or location result)); (iv) all the n UEs are target UEs; and (v) positioning-related messages exchanged between the n UEs and between UE 1 and the LMF may be SLPP messages, unless otherwise specified.

[0113] Fig.10 An example of a first enhancement procedure 1000 for sidelink positioning / ranging of a group of n UEs labeled 1 to n, where n ≥ 2, and without LMF assistance (also referred to as "UE-only operation") is shown. In this example, the n UEs may all have network coverage, may have partial network coverage, or may all be out of coverage. Fig.10 The various stages shown in can be executed as follows:

[0114] Phase 1: UEs 1 to n may discover each other. This discovery may or may not be network-assisted and may use the Device and Service Discovery Function (DSDF) service in each UE.

[0115] Phase 2: A sidelink positioning / ranging session may be established between UEs 1 to n.

[0116] Phase 3: UEs 1 to n may exchange sidelink positioning / ranging capabilities - for example, using SLPP signaling.

[0117] Phase 4: Transmission and measurement of sidelink reference signals may be configured in UEs 1 to n - for example, by one coordinating UE or in a distributed manner.

[0118] Stage 5: According to the configuration of stage 4, transmission and measurement of a sidelink reference signal may be performed by each of UEs 1 to n.

[0119] Phase 6: UEs 1 to n may exchange the sidelink measurements obtained in phase 5, for example, using SLPP signaling.

[0120] Phase 7: UE 1 to n may calculate a sidelink positioning / ranging position result based on the sidelink measurements obtained in step 5 and step 6. The sidelink positioning / ranging position result may include the absolute position and / or velocity, relative position and / or velocity, distance and / or direction of UE 1 to n. The calculation may be distributed on all UEs 1 to n, or may be concentrated in one UE or several UEs.

[0121] Phase 8: UEs 1 to n may exchange the sidelink positioning / ranging position results obtained in Phase 7, for example, using SLPP signaling. Phases 5-8 or Phases 4-8 may be repeated.

[0122] The second enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include a MO-LR procedure with LMF assistance. In this procedure, the sidelink positioning / ranging of a group of two or more UEs in network coverage or partial network coverage can be initiated by the UE itself and assisted by the LMF using the 5GC-MO-LR procedure with some enhancements. The reason for reusing and enhancing the existing 5GC-MO-LR procedure is to reduce new impacts on UE, 5GCN, LCS client and AF.

[0123] Fig.11 An enhanced MO-LR procedure 1100 is shown for n UEs labeled 1 to n, where n ≥ 2. The procedure is invoked by a UE at Fig.11 In the example, it is assumed to be UE 1. According to the procedure, at least one UE (UE 1 in this example) is within the network coverage, although other UEs may or may not be within the coverage. Fig.11 The various stages shown can be performed as follows:

[0124] Phase 1: UE 1 may discover UEs 2 to n. The discovery may or may not be network assisted and may be supported by DSDF in each UE.

[0125] Phase 2: UE 1 may obtain the sidelink positioning capability of UEs 2 to n - for example, using SLPP.

[0126] Phase 3: UE 1 may send a supplementary service MO-LR request to the serving AMF of UE 1. The MO-LR request may include a request for sidelink positioning / ranging and indicate the other UEs 2 to n (e.g., by including a local tag or application layer address or ID of each of the other UEs 2 to n). The MO-LR request may indicate whether assistance data from the LMF is requested, whether position calculation assistance from the LMF is requested, and / or whether the sidelink positioning / ranging position result should be delivered to the LCS client or AF. For delivery to the LCS client or AF, details of the LCS client or AF (and possibly the GMLC) and a global identity of all UEs (e.g., an application level address or ID or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI)) may also be included. For position calculation assistance from the LMF, the preferred type of sidelink positioning / ranging position result (e.g., absolute position, relative position, relative speed, or distance / direction between UE pairs) and QoS may be included.

[0127] Phase 4: The serving AMF may select an LMF (e.g., an LMF that supports sidelink positioning / ranging) and may send a Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation to the LMF along with the information requested from the MO-LR.

[0128] Phase 5: The LMF may send a request for the capabilities of all UEs 1 to n (e.g., a SLPP request) to UE 1. The request may be sent to UE 1 via the serving AMF using the signaling connection between UE 1 and the serving AMF that was used to send the MO-LR request in phase 3.

[0129] Phase 6: UE 1 may return the capabilities it obtained in Phase 2 and the capabilities of UEs 2 to n to the LMF. This phase may occur as part of Phase 3 - for example, if a SLPP message carrying capabilities is embedded in the MO-LR request. These capabilities may include the SL RAT (e.g., NR, LTE) and the SL frequencies for sidelink positioning / ranging supported by each of UEs 1 to n.

[0130] Phase 7: If UE 1 indicated that assistance data was requested in Phase 3, UE 1 may send a request for specific assistance data to the LMF. The specific assistance data may include assistance data to enable measurements of the SL PRS or other measurements (e.g., for RTK), and / or may include assistance data to enable a UE (e.g., UE 1) to calculate a position result based on position measurements obtained by some or all of the n UEs. As with Phase 6, this phase may also occur as part of Phase 3, for example, if a SLPP message indicating the requested assistance data is embedded in the MO-LR request

[0131] Phase 8: If phase 7 occurs, the LMF may return the requested specific assistance data to UE 1. The specific assistance data may assist UE 1 to n in obtaining sidelink position measurements and / or may assist UE 1 in calculating sidelink positioning / ranging position results. The specific assistance data may be determined by the LMF based on the request for specific assistance data received from UE 1 in phase 7 and / or based on the capabilities of UE 1 to n received in phase 6.

[0132] Stage 9: If the MO-LR request at stage 3 indicates a request for position calculation assistance and / or indicates that the sidelink positioning / ranging position result is transmitted to the LCS client or AF, the LMF may send a location information request to UE 1. The requested location information may include SL position measurements and / or SL position results of one or more of UEs 1 to n.

[0133] Phase 10: UE 1 may initiate a sidelink positioning / ranging procedure between UEs 1 to n, e.g. Fig.10 This phase may be supported using any assistance data received in phase 8. As part of this phase, UEs 1 to n obtain sidelink position measurements of sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs.

[0134] Phase 11: If UE 1 did not request position calculation assistance from the LMF in Phase 3, UE 1 may calculate its own sidelink positioning / ranging position result based on the sidelink position measurement obtained in Phase 10, and may use any assistance data received in Phase 8, and may calculate the sidelink positioning / ranging position result of each of the other UEs 2 to n, which may include the absolute position, relative position, speed, direction and / or distance of one or more of UEs 1 to n. Some or all of UEs 2 to n may perform some or all of the position calculations and then transmit the position results to UE 1.

[0135] Phase 12: If UE 1 receives a request for location information in phase 9, UE 1 may send a response to the LMF and include the sidelink position measurement obtained in phase 10 or the sidelink positioning / ranging position result obtained in phase 11 (if phase 11 occurs). Phase 12 may also be performed when no request for location information is received in phase 9 to indicate to the LMF that the sidelink positioning / ranging procedure between UEs 1 to n has been completed and no further assistance from the LMF is required. In this case, little or no location information may be included in phase 12.

[0136] Phase 13: If phase 12 occurs, and if position calculation assistance is requested from the LMF in phase 3, the LMF may calculate the sidelink positioning / ranging position results of UEs 1 to n based on the sidelink position measurements received in phase 12. The sidelink positioning / ranging position results may include the absolute position, relative position, speed, direction or distance of some or all of UEs 1 to n.

[0137] Phase Nlmf may return a Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation response to the AMF and include any sidelink positioning / ranging position results received in phase 12 or calculated in phase 13.

[0138] Stage 15: If a sidelink positioning / ranging location result is received in stage 14, the AMF may send the sidelink positioning / ranging location result to the GMLC and may forward these results to the AF or LCS client if requested in stage 3. The sidelink positioning / ranging location result may include the global identity of UE 2 to n and the global identity of UE 1 received in stage 3. According to some embodiments, sending the location result and global identity of UE 2 to n to the AF or LCS client may require privacy verification for UE 2 to n or from UE 2 to n and / or from the home PLMM (HPLMN) of UE 2 to n (as well as privacy verification of UE1).

[0139] Stage 16: If stage 13 was performed, the LMF may return a supplementary service MO-LR response to UE 1 and may include any sidelink positioning / ranging position results calculated in stage 13. UE 1 may then transmit any sidelink positioning / ranging position results to UEs 2 to n.

[0140] Fig.10 The message shown in FIG. 1 as being transmitted between UEs 1 to n may be an SLPP message. Fig.10 The messages shown as being transmitted between UE1 and LMF in FIG. 1 may be supplementary service messages, if specified, or may be SLPP messages or LPP messages, where the SLPP message (or messages) are embedded in each LPP message. This same signaling convention may also be used for the following description of Figure 11-Figure 15 and Fig.18 middle.

[0141] The third enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include an MT-LR procedure with LMF assistance. In this procedure, the sidelink positioning / ranging position results of a group of two or more UEs in network coverage or partial network coverage may be requested by the LCS client or AF and assisted by the LMF using the 5GC-MT-LR procedure with some enhancements. The reason for reusing and enhancing the existing MT-LR procedure is to reduce new impacts on UE, 5GCN, LCS client, and AF.

[0142] Fig.12 An enhanced MT-LR procedure 1200 is shown as applied to n UEs 1 to n, where n ≥ 2. Typically, this may require the LCS client or AF to be aware that UEs 1 to n are adjacent or may be adjacent to each other. This may be possible in some IIoT scenarios (e.g., factories or warehouses), or when the AF or LCS client has other information indicating this. At least one UE (UE 1 in this example) must be within the network coverage, although other UEs may or may not be within the coverage.

[0143] Phase 1: The LCS client or AF can send a request to the GMLC (which can be H-GMLC) or NEF (not in Fig.12 The MT-LR procedure is initiated by sending a request to the NEF (shown in the figure), the NEF may forward the request to the GMLC, which then forwards the request to the serving AMF of UE 1, which then forwards the request to the LMF. The LCS client or AF may include the global identities (e.g., GPSI and / or application layer ID) of n UEs 1 to n in the request, and may indicate one UE (here assumed to be UE 1) as the primary target UE. If the LCS client or AF does not indicate a primary target UE that is in network coverage, the GMLC or serving AMF may select the primary target UE from UEs 1 to n. In some embodiments, the primary target UE should have network coverage and preferably have a PLMN that serves the LCS client or AF. The primary target UE may later receive the MT-LR request and coordinate sidelink positioning / ranging between other UEs. Therefore, in the initiation of the MT-LR procedure, the location request may be sent by the GMLC to the serving AMF of the primary target UE. The MT-LR location request may include the type of sidelink positioning / ranging location result requested (e.g., absolute position, relative position, speed, distance, and / or direction), QoS, and may include conditions for canceling the location request when all UEs 1 to n cannot be found for positioning. The conditions for canceling the location request may include (i) one or more specific identified UEs cannot be found, and / or (ii) the total number of discovered UEs 1-n is less than a quorum number q, where 1≤q≤n.

[0144] According to some embodiments, privacy verification may be performed for all n UEs 1 to n. If all n UEs have the same HPLMN, this may be performed by the GMLC in the initiation of the MT-LR procedure, which will now be the H-GMLC. If all n UEs are within network coverage and have the same serving AMF, privacy notification / verification for each of the UEs 1 to n may be performed by the public service AMF (if required). If some of the UEs 1 to n have different HPLMNs, are out of network coverage, or have different serving AMFs, some additional support may be used.

[0145] Phase 2: The LMF may send a supplementary service MT-LR request to the primary target UE 1 and may include the global identities of other UEs 2 to n, conditions for cancelling the location request when all UEs 1 to n cannot be found, and may include the type of sidelink positioning / ranging location result requested.

[0146] Phase 3: If not yet discovered, UE 1 may attempt to discover other UEs 2 to n. If not all UEs 2 to n are discovered, and if the conditions for canceling the location request when not all UEs 1 to n are discovered (e.g., the conditions described previously with respect to phase 1) are met, UE 1 may return a negative response in phase 5, and the procedure may terminate after the LMF returns a negative response to the LCS client or AF via the AMF and GMLC.

[0147] Phase 4: UE 1 may obtain (eg, request and receive) the sidelink positioning capabilities of UEs 2 to n, if not already obtained.

[0148] Phase 5: UE 1 may return a supplementary service MT-LR response to the LMF, indicating whether the MT-LR request can be supported, and which of UEs 2 to n have been discovered and can be used for positioning.

[0149] Phase 6: Sidelink positioning / ranging of UE 1 to n can be performed as follows Fig.11 Stages 7-13 of the MO-LR protocol are performed as described above, except that a sidelink positioning / ranging position result is always available and the LMF can be used in Fig.11 Stage 8 or stage 9 of indicates to UE 1 whether the sidelink positioning / ranging position result is to be calculated by the LMF or by UE 1 (and / or by other UEs).

[0150] Phase 7: LMF may return the sidelink positioning / ranging position results of UE 1 to n to the LCS client or AF via the serving AMF and GMLC.

[0151] The fourth enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include a periodic or triggered MT-LR procedure with LMF assistance. In this procedure, sidelink positioning / ranging results for a group of two or more UEs in network coverage or partial network coverage may be requested periodically or when certain triggering events occur at the LCS client or AF, and may be assisted by the LMF using a periodic or triggered 5GC-MT-LR procedure with some enhancements. The reason for reusing and enhancing the existing periodic or triggered MT-LR procedure may be to reduce new impacts on UEs, 5GCN and LCS clients, and AFs.

[0152] Fig.13 An enhanced periodic or triggered MT-LR procedure 1300 is shown for n UEs 1 to n, where n ≥ 2. Typically, this may require the LCS client or AF to be aware that UEs 1 to n are or may be adjacent to each other for the entire duration of the location report. This may be possible, for example, in some IIoT scenarios (e.g., factories or warehouses), or when the AF or LCS client has other information indicating this. At least one UE (UE 1 in this example) must be within network coverage, although other UEs may or may not be within coverage.

[0153] Phase 1: The LCS client or AF can forward the request to the GMLC (which can be the H-GMLC) or NEF ( Fig.13 GMLC sends a request to UE 1 (not shown) to initiate a periodic or triggered MT-LR procedure, and GMLC then forwards the request to UE 1's serving AMF, which then forwards the request to LMF. Fig.12 As described in Stage 1 of the LCS Client or AF, the LCS Client or AF may include additional information in the Location Request. The primary target UE (here UE 1) may also include additional information in the Location Request. Fig.12is selected as described in stage 1 of . For triggered location reporting, different trigger events may be supported. Some examples of different trigger events are as follows: (i) an area event trigger, where any one UE (or all UEs) enters, stays in, or leaves an area; (ii) an area event trigger, where a single combined position of all n UEs 1 to n (e.g., the average position of the centroid or "center of gravity" of the n individual positions of the n UEs 1 to n) enters, stays in, or leaves an area; (iii) a motion event trigger, where any one UE (or all UEs) moves more than a threshold distance from a previous position; (iv) a motion event trigger, where a single combined position of all n UEs 1 to n (e.g., the average position of the centroid or "center of gravity" of the n individual positions of the n UEs 1 to n) moves more than a threshold distance; and (v) a distance trigger, where a particular type of distance rises above a threshold, falls below a threshold, and / or increases or decreases by more than a threshold amount. The specific type of distance in (v) can be the maximum distance of all distances between all pairs of UEs 1 to n, the minimum distance of all distances between all pairs of UEs 1 to n, the minimum distance between any UE and each of the other n-1 UEs (there are n minimum distances corresponding to the n UEs, and a trigger occurs when any of the n minimum distances crosses a threshold), the average distance between all pairs of UEs, or the maximum distance between any UE and each of the other n-1 UEs (there are n maximum distances corresponding to the n UEs, and a trigger occurs when any of the n maximum distances crosses a threshold).

[0154] It can be noted that the privacy verification in the process 1300 can be performed by Fig.12 The manner described in procedure 1200 is supported.

[0155] Phase 2: If Fig.12 In phases 2-6 of the UE 1 to n, the LMF may initiate MT-LR sidelink positioning / ranging of UEs 1 to n. When all UEs 1 to n are not found, the LMF may verify whether the conditions for canceling the location request are met (in this case, the location request is canceled by the LMF), and the capabilities of UEs 1 to n may be obtained, but an immediate sidelink positioning / ranging position result may not always be obtained.

[0156] Phase 3: LMF may send a supplementary service LCS periodically triggered invocation request to UE 1, and include the event trigger provided in Phase 1, the global IDs of UEs 2 to n, and indicate the sidelink positioning / ranging of UEs 1 to n.

[0157] Stage 4: UE 1 may establish a periodic or triggered sidelink positioning session with UEs 2 to n, which may enable UEs 2 to n to participate in detecting triggering events of stage 7 (e.g., events affecting some or all of UEs 2 to n) and accelerate sidelink positioning / ranging of stage 8 by pre-configuring UEs 2 to n.

[0158] Phase 5: UE 1 may return an LCS periodic triggered invocation response to the LMF and may indicate which of UEs 2 to n may support periodic or triggered sidelink positioning / ranging.

[0159] Phase 6: The LMF may send confirmation to the LCS client or AF via GMLC only or via the serving AMF and GMLC whether the periodic or triggered sidelink positioning / ranging is successfully activated in UE 1 (and UEs 2 to n).

[0160] Phase 7: UE 1 may wait for an event to be detected (e.g., by UE 1 or by one of the other UEs 2 to n), may obtain sidelink positioning / ranging measurements, and may be able to calculate a sidelink positioning / ranging position result, and may then send a supplementary service event report to the LMF, and may receive an event report confirmation back from the LMF. Here, the detection of an event by UE 1 may depend on the detection of an event associated with one or more of UEs 1 to n, and the calculation of any sidelink positioning / ranging measurements and position results may require interaction between UEs 1 to n (e.g., using SLPP).

[0161] Phase 8: If the sidelink positioning / ranging position results for UE 1 to n were requested as part of Phase 7 but were not provided to the LMF, the LMF may perform sidelink positioning / ranging for UE 1 to n, e.g. Fig.11 Stages 5-13.

[0162] Phase 9: The LMF may send an event report to the LCS client or AF (e.g., via the GMLC) and may include any sidelink positioning / ranging position results obtained in phase 7 or phase 8. If the LMF provides sidelink positioning / ranging results for only some of UEs 1 to n (e.g., in several consecutive event reports), the GMLC or LCS client or AF may cancel the periodic or triggered sidelink positioning / ranging.

[0163] Phase 10: Phases 7-9 may be repeated until periodic or triggered sidelink positioning / ranging is cancelled or the maximum duration or maximum number of event reports is reached.

[0164] The fifth enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include a SL-MO-LR procedure for ranging between target UEs with the assistance of LMF. The procedure may enable the UE to request assistance from the LMF to obtain sidelink positioning / ranging location information of itself and one or more other target UEs. The procedure may be similar to Fig.11 The MO-LR procedure shown, but with some differences and additional details.

[0165] Fig.14 The SL-MO-LR procedure 1400 is shown so that a UE designated as UE 1 obtains sidelink positioning / ranging position results of UE 1 and one or more other UEs designated as UE 2, UE 3, ... UE n with the assistance of the LMF in the serving PLMN of UE 1. The sidelink positioning / ranging position results may include the absolute position, relative position, speed or distance and direction between the paired UEs. According to the present disclosure, the embodiments may utilize the following described Fig.14 Any combination of the operations described in stages 1-21.

[0166] As Fig.14 As a prerequisite for the fifth enhanced procedure, UE 1 may be within the coverage area and registered with the serving PLMN. UEs 2 to n may or may not be within the coverage area. If within the coverage area, they may or may not be registered with the same serving PLMN as UE 1.

[0167] Phase 1: Procedures and signaling specified for ProSe or V2X may be used to provide ranging / SL positioning service authorization and policy / parameter provisioning to one or more of UE 1 and UE 2 to n (e.g., by PCF or serving AMF).

[0168] Phase 2: UE 1 may discover UEs 2 to n. In some embodiments, the discovery may use direct discovery. When discovering UEs 2 to n, UE 1 may also receive (from UEs 2 to n) an application layer ID and / or a global ID (e.g., GPSI) of UEs 2 to n.

[0169] Phase 3: A secure multicast and / or unicast link may be established between UEs 1 to n so that UE 1 can exchange sidelink positioning messages with each of UEs 2 to n via PC5-U, and UEs 2 to n may be able to exchange sidelink positioning messages with each other via PC5-U.

[0170] Phase 4: UE 1 may notify UEs 2 to n of its intention to perform ranging / SL positioning of UEs 2 to n using the multicast and / or unicast links established in Phase 3. Each of UEs 2 to n verifies whether ranging / SL positioning can be allowed, including whether ranging / SL positioning results can be delivered to the LCS Client or AF (if used), based on any service authorization and policy / parameter provision received in Phase 1. Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for ranging / S1 positioning may also be agreed.

[0171] Phase 5: UE 1 may use the multicast and / or unicast links established in Phase 3 to obtain the sidelink positioning capability of UEs 2 to n.

[0172] Phase 6: Based on the sidelink positioning capabilities of UE 1, the sidelink positioning capabilities of UEs 2 to n received in phase 5, the QoS requirements agreed in phase 4, the ranging / SL positioning service authorization and policies / parameters received in phase 1, and whether the positioning results will be transmitted to the LCS client or AF, UE 1 can determine whether it should obtain assistance for sidelink positioning / ranging of UEs 1 to n from the LMF. If so, phases 7-21 can be performed. Otherwise, UE 1 can only perform phases 15 and 16 without the assistance of the LMF.

[0173] Phase 7: If UE 1 is in CM-IDLE state, UE 1 may initiate a UE-triggered service request to establish a signaling connection with UE 1's serving AMF.

[0174] Phase 8: UE 1 may send a supplementary service SL-MO-LR request in a UL NAS TRANSPORT message to UE 1's serving AMF. The S1-MO-LR request may indicate the other UEs 2 to n (using local or global identities), indicate any assistance data requested, may indicate whether position calculation assistance from the LMF is requested, and may indicate whether the position result should be delivered to the LCS client or AF. For delivery to the LCS client or AF, details (e.g., address) of the LCS client or AF (and possibly the GMLC) and the global identity of all UEs may also be included. For position calculation assistance from the LMF, the preferred type of sidelink positioning / ranging position result (e.g., absolute position, relative position, velocity, or distance and direction between pairs of UEs) and QoS may be included.

[0175] Phase 9: The serving AMF may select an LMF (e.g., an LMF that supports sidelink positioning / ranging) and send the Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation and the information from the SL-MO-LR request to the LMF.

[0176] Phase 10: LMF may send a request for the capabilities of all UEs 1 to n to UE 1.

[0177] Phase 11: UE 1 may return the capabilities it obtained in Phase 5 and the capabilities of UEs 2 to n to the LMF.

[0178] Stage 12: If UE 1 indicates requesting assistance data in stage 8, UE 1 may send a request for specific assistance data to the LMF. The specific assistance data may include assistance data to enable measurement of SL PRS or other measurements (e.g., for RTK), and / or may include assistance data to enable a UE (e.g., UE 1) to calculate a position result based on position measurements obtained by some or all of the n UEs.

[0179] According to some embodiments, if UE 1 includes a message including the capabilities of UE 1 to n in the SL-MO-LR request of stage 8, stages 10 and 11 may be included as part of stage 8. If UE 1 includes a message including a request for specific assistance data in the SL-MO-LR request of stage 8, stage 12 may be included as part of stage 8.

[0180] Phase 13: If phase 12 occurs, the LMF may return the requested specific assistance data to UE 1. The specific assistance data may help UEs 1 to n obtain sidelink position measurements in phase 15, and / or may help UE 1 calculate sidelink positioning / ranging position results in phase 16.

[0181] Stage 14: If the MO-LR request of stage 8 indicates a request for position calculation assistance and / or indicates that the sidelink positioning / ranging position result is to be transmitted to the LCS client or AF, the LMF may send a location information request to UE 1.

[0182] Phase 15: UE 1 may initiate a sidelink positioning / ranging procedure between UEs 1 to n, wherein UEs 1 to n obtain sidelink position measurements and UEs 2 to n transmit their sidelink position measurements to UE 1. For example, this may be as follows: Fig.10 Stages 4 through 6 occur as described.

[0183] Phase 16: If UE 1 did not request position calculation assistance from the LMF in phase 8, UE 1 may calculate sidelink positioning / ranging position results for itself and each of UEs 2 to n based on the sidelink position measurements obtained in phase 15 and may use the assistance data received in phase 13. The sidelink positioning / ranging position results may include absolute position, relative position, speed or distance and direction between pairs of UEs 1 to n. According to some embodiments, some or all of UEs 2 to n may calculate position results as part of phase 15 and transmit these results to UE 1 to assist phase 16.

[0184] Phase 17: If UE 1 receives a request for location information in phase 14, UE 1 may send a response to the LMF and include the sidelink location measurement results obtained in phase 15 or the sidelink positioning / ranging position results obtained in phase 16 (if phase 16 is performed). Phase 17 may also be performed when no request for location information is received in phase 14 to indicate to the LMF that the sidelink positioning / ranging procedure between UEs 1 to n has been completed and no further assistance from the LMF is required. In this case, UE 1 may include little or no location information in phase 17.

[0185] Phase 18: If phase 17 occurs, and if position calculation assistance from the LMF is requested in phase 8, the LMF may calculate the sidelink positioning / ranging position results of UEs 1 to n based on the sidelink position measurements received in phase 17. The sidelink positioning / ranging position results may include absolute position, relative position, speed, or distance and direction between pairs of UEs 1 to n.

[0186] Phase 19: The LMF may return a Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation response to the AMF and may include any sidelink positioning / ranging position results received in phase 17 or calculated in phase 18.

[0187] Stage 20: If a sidelink positioning / ranging location result is received in stage 19, the AMF may send the sidelink positioning / ranging location result to the GMLC and, if requested in stage 8, to the AF or LCS client. The sidelink positioning / ranging location result may include the global identity of UE 1 to n received in stage 8. According to some embodiments, sending the location result and global identity of UE 1 to n to the AF or LCS client may involve privacy verification from UE 1 to n and / or from the HPLMN of UE 1 to n.

[0188] Stage 21: The LMF may return a supplementary service SL-MO-LR response to UE 1 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message, which, if stage 18 was performed, may include any sidelink positioning / ranging position results calculated in stage 18. UE 1 may then transmit any sidelink positioning / ranging position results to UEs 2 to n.

[0189] The sixth enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include a SL-MT-LR procedure for ranging between target UEs. The procedure may enable the LCS client or AF to request and obtain sidelink positioning / ranging location information of two or more target UEs.

[0190] Fig.15 The SL-MT-LR procedure 1500 is shown, which is used to enable the LCS client or AF to obtain the sidelink positioning / ranging position results of a group of n UEs (n≥2) UE1, UE 2, ... UE n. The sidelink positioning / ranging position results may include absolute position, relative position, speed, or distance and direction between UE pairs. According to the present disclosure, the embodiments can utilize the following description Fig.15 Any combination of the operations described in stages 1-20.

[0191] According to some embodiments, as Fig.15 A prerequisite for the sixth enhanced process is that at least one of the n target UEs (here assumed to be UE 1) can be within the coverage area and registered with the serving PLMN.

[0192] Phase 1: The LCS client or AF (via the Network Exposure Function (NEF)) may send an LCS service request to the (H)GMLC to obtain sidelink positioning / ranging position results for n target UEs, each of which may be identified by a GPSI and / or SUPI. The request may include the required QoS, the required position results (e.g., absolute position, relative position, velocity, or distance and direction between pairs of UEs), and other attributes. The (H)GMLC or NEF may authorize the LCS client or AF to use the LCS service. If the authorization fails, the remaining phases may be skipped and the (H)GMLC or NEF responds to the LCS client or AF with a service authorization failure. In some cases, the (H)GMLC may derive at least some of the GPSIs and / or SUPIs of the n target UEs, and possibly the QoS, from other GPSIs and / or SUPIs provided by the LCS client or AF, or from subscription data in or accessible to the (H)GMLC, or from other data provided by the LCS client or AF.

[0193] The LCS client or AF may indicate a preferred ranking of the n target UEs to assist in determining the primary target UE in stage 3. The (H)GMLC may modify any preferred order provided by the LCS client or AF. For example, the (H)GMLC may prioritize UEs where the PLMN of the (H)GMLC is the UE's home PLMN (HPLMN). In addition, an application layer ID may be included for each of the n target UEs to enable discovery of the UE in stage 12. The request may also include a condition for canceling the location request when all n target UEs cannot be found for positioning. The conditions for canceling the location request may include: (i) one or more specific target UEs cannot be found; and / or (ii) the total number of discovered target UEs is less than a quorum q, where 2≤q≤n.

[0194] The LCS client or AF may determine before stage 1 that the n target UEs are all in proximity to each other and may obtain their application layer IDs and / or global IDs. For example, one or more of the n target UEs may communicate with the LCS client or AF (e.g., using an application protocol such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP Secure (HTTPS)), and may provide the LCS client or AF with the application layer IDs and / or global IDs of all n target UEs, an approximate (rough) relative or absolute position of each of the n target UEs, and / or may indicate whether the n target UEs have performed mutual discovery (e.g., where one target UE has discovered the other n-1 target UEs). This may enable the LCS client or AF to provide an LCS service request in stage 1 and know in advance that the n target UEs are in proximity to each other.

[0195] Phase 2: (H)GMLC may invoke Nudm_SDM_Get service operation to the UDM of each of the n target UEs to obtain the privacy settings of the UE identified by its GPSI or SUPI. The UDM may return the target UE privacy settings for the UE. (H)GMLC may check the UE LCS privacy profile. If positioning of any of the n target UEs is not allowed, phases 3-19 may be skipped.

[0196] Phase 3: The (H)GMLC may invoke the Nudm_UECM_Get service operation to the UDM for each of the n target UEs (which may be in different PLMNs if the UE is roaming), one at a time and may be invoked sequentially according to the preference order in Phase 1 (if such order is included), and include the GPSI or SUPI of each UE queried in the service operation for that UE. If any of the target UEs are within coverage and have registered with the serving PLMN, the UDM may return the network address of the current serving AMF and additionally return the address of the visited GMLC (V-GMLC) for the UE that is roaming. Once the UDM returns the serving PLMN and AMF information for one of the n target UEs or the serving PLMN and AMF information for one of the n target UEs, indicating that one of the target UEs is served by the PLMN of the (H)GMLC, the (H)GMLC may stop the Nudm_UECM_Get service operation to the UDM. This one UE may be considered the primary target UE and may be considered UE 1 here. According to some embodiments, the UDM may be aware of the serving AMF address when the UE registers with the AMF, and / or be aware of the serving V-GMLC address when the UE registers with the AMF.

[0197] Phase 4: This phase may be skipped for non-roaming situations. In the case of roaming, in Phase 3, the (H)GMLC may receive the address of the V-GMLC (and the network address of the current serving AMF) from the UDM; otherwise, based on the VPLMN identity included in the AMF address received in Phase 3, the (H)GMLC may use the Network Repository Function (NRF) to select an available V-GMLC in the VPLMN that serves the UE. The (H)GMLC may then send a positioning request to the V-GMLC by invoking the Ngmlc_Location_ProvideLocation service operation to the V-GMLC. In the case when the (H)GMLC does not receive the address of the V-GMLC, or when the address of the V-GMLC is the same as the address of the (H)GMLC, or when both PLMN operators agree, the (H)GMLC may send a location service request message to the serving AMF. In this case, Phase 4 may be skipped. (H)GMLC may also provide the LCS Client Type of the AF (if received in phase 1), or the LCS Client Type of the LCS Client, and other attributes to be sent to the AMF in phase 5.

[0198] Phase 5: In the case of roaming, the V-GMLC may first authorize the location request from the (H)GMLC, PLMN or the country. Otherwise, an error response may be returned. The (H)GMLC or V-GMLC may call the Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo service operation to the AMF to request the sidelink positioning / ranging location results of n target UEs. The service operation may include the SUPI of UE 1, the application layer ID and client type of the n UEs, and may also include the required LCS QoS, the required location results (e.g., absolute position, relative position, speed, or distance and direction between UE pairs), and other attributes received or determined in Phase 1. According to some embodiments, the location request forwarded in Phase 4 and Phase 5 may also carry the results of the privacy check in Phase 2 and an indication of privacy-related actions.

[0199] Phase 6: If UE 1 is in the Connection Management (CM) Idle state, the AMF may initiate a network-triggered service request procedure to establish a signalling connection with UE 1.

[0200] If the signaling connection establishment fails, phases 7-17 may be skipped.

[0201] Phase 7: If the indicator of the privacy check related action indicates that UE 1 can be notified or be notified with privacy verification, and if UE 1 supports LCS notification (for example, according to the UE capability information provided by UE 1 to the AMF), the serving AMF may send a Notification Invocation message to UE 1, indicating the identity of the LCS client, the type of location request and whether privacy verification is required.

[0202] Phase 8: If phase 7 has occurred, UE 1 may notify the user of UE 1 of the location request and, if privacy verification is requested, may wait for the user to grant or deny permission. UE 1 may then return a notification result to the AMF, indicating whether the LCS request is granted or denied if privacy verification is requested. If the user does not respond after a predetermined time period, the AMF may infer a "no response" status. The AMF may return an error response in phase 18 and, if roaming, the V-GMLC may forward to the (H)GMLC in phase 19 if privacy verification is requested and the UE 1 user denies permission or does not respond, where an indication is received from the (H)GMLC indicating that the location request is prohibited and phases 9-17 are skipped. In accordance with some embodiments, for example, if some or all other target UEs have the same serving AMF as UE 1, the AMF may perform notification or privacy checks (as in phases 7 and 8) for some or all other target UEs 2 to n. For other UEs that are out of network coverage or have a different serving PLMN or a different serving AMF than UE 1, the AMF may send a Notification Invoke message to each UE via UE 1 (which may act as a relay), and UE 1 may return (e.g. relay) the Notification Result from each UE to the AMF. Alternatively, privacy verification by UE 1 on behalf of all UEs may be possible (e.g., if all n target UEs belong to a common organization).

[0203] Stage 9: The serving AMF may select an LMF (e.g., an LMF that supports sidelink positioning / ranging) and send a Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation to the LMF using the information received in stage 5.

[0204] Phase 10: The LMF may send the SL-MT-LR request as a supplementary service message to the serving AMF using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation and identifying the correlation ID of the LMF or location request (for example, the correlation ID may have been allocated by the AMF and sent to the LMF in phase 9). The SL-MR-LR request may include the application layer IDs of the other UEs 2 to n, the conditions for cancelling the location request when all UEs 2 to n cannot be discovered, and the type of sidelink positioning / ranging location result requested.

[0205] Phase 11: The serving AMF may forward the SL-MT-LR request and the Routing ID equal to the Correlation ID to UE 1 using the DL NAS TRANSPORT message.

[0206] Phase 12: UE 1 may attempt to discover other UEs 2 to n using their application layer IDs, and if not yet discovered. If not all UEs 2 to n are discovered, and if the conditions for canceling the location request are met when not all n target UEs are discovered, UE 1 may return a negative response in phase 14, and the procedure may terminate after LMF returns a negative response to the LCS client or AF via AMF and GMLC.

[0207] Stage 13: UE 1 may acquire (eg, request and receive) the sidelink positioning capability of the discovered target UE if not already acquired.

[0208] Stage 14: UE 1 may return a supplementary service SL-MT-LR response to the serving AMF in a UL NAS TRANSPORT message and include the routing ID received in stage 11. The SL-MT-LR response may indicate whether the SL-MT-LR request can be supported and which of UEs 2 to n have been discovered and are available for positioning.

[0209] Phase 15: The serving AMF may forward the SL-MT-LR response to the LMF indicated by the Routing ID received in Phase 14 and may include a Correlation ID equal to the Routing ID.

[0210] Phase 16: Sidelink positioning / ranging of UE 1 and other discovered target UEs can be as follows Fig.14 The same procedure is followed as described for SL-MO-LR in stages 10-18, except that the sidelink positioning / ranging position result is always available and the LMF is Fig.14 Phase 13 or phase 14 of the UE 1 indicates that the sidelink positioning / ranging position result will be sent to the LMF ( Fig.14 Phase 18) or UE 1 ( Fig.14 Stage 16) calculation.

[0211] Phase 17-20: The LMF may return the sidelink positioning / ranging position results to the LCS Client or AF via the serving AMF, V-GMLC (if included), (H)GMLC and, in the case of AF, the NEF.

[0212] Fig.16 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE 1600 (eg, UE 105), which may be used as described above (eg, in association with previously described figures, with respect to UEs, mobile devices, etc.). It should be noted that Fig.16 It is intended only to provide a general description 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.16The embodiments may be implemented by one or more hardware and / or software components as shown.

[0213] The illustrated UE 1600 includes hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 1605 (or may be in communication as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1610, 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. The processor 1610 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Fig.16 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1620, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communications may be provided in the processor 1610 and / or the wireless communication interface 1630 (discussed below). The UE 1600 may also include one or more input devices 1670, 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 1615, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0214] UE 1600 may also include a wireless communication interface 1630, 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 a Bluetooth device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, a WAN device and / or various cellular devices, etc.), and / or the like, which may enable UE 1600 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. As described herein, the wireless communication interface 1630 may allow, for example, communication with other UEs (e.g., using S1 signaling), TRPs of the network, and / or measurement (e.g., sending and receiving) data and signaling via eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, access points, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP. The communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1632 that send and / or receive wireless signals 1634. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1632 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 1632 can use beams (eg, Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Digital and / or analog beamforming techniques can be used to perform beamforming using corresponding digital and / or analog circuits. The wireless communication interface 1630 may include such circuits.

[0215] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1630 may include a separate receiver and transmitter, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with other UEs, base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs), and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The UE 1600 may communicate with different data networks including 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 CDMA2000®, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), and the like. CDMA2000® includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. 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). CDMA2000® is described in documents from a consortium 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.

[0216] UE 1600 may also include sensors 1640. Sensors 1640 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 location-related measurements and / or other information.

[0217] Embodiments of UE 1600 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1680 that is capable of receiving signals 1684 from one or more GNSS satellites using antenna 1682 (which may be the same as antenna 1632). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or combine the techniques described herein. GNSS receiver 1680 may use conventional techniques to extract the position of UE 1600 from GNSS satellites of a GNSS system such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), India's IRNSS, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1680 can be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)), which can be associated with or capable of being used with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geo Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), etc.

[0218] It should be noted that although the GNSS receiver 1680 Fig.16 1610, DSP 1620, and / or a processor within the wireless communication interface 1630 (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 position of the GNSS receiver by using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), a weighted least squares method (WLS), a particle filter, or the like. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors, such as the processor 1610 or the DSP 1620.

[0219] UE 1600 may also include and / or communicate with memory 1660. Memory 1660 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible memory, 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, and / or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0220] The memory 1660 of the UE 1600 may also include software elements (not shown). Fig.16 ), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries and / or other code, such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more programs described for the above methods may be implemented as codes and / or instructions in memory 1660 that can be executed by UE 1600 (and / or processor 1610 or DSP 1620 within UE 1600). Then, in some embodiments, such codes and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adjust a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0221] Fig.17 1700, which may be used in whole or in part to provide the functionality of one or more components and / or devices described in the embodiments herein (including location servers such as LMF, AMF, NEF, and GMLC). This may include, for example, computer servers, personal computers, personal electronic devices, etc. It should be noted that Fig.17 It is intended only to provide a general description of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Fig.17 It is generally shown how to implement various system elements in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. In addition, it can be noted that Fig.17 The components shown may be localized to a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices, which may be located in different geographical locations.

[0222] The computer system 1700 is shown as including hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus 1705 (or can communicate as appropriate). The hardware elements can include a processor 1710, which can 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 methods described herein. The computer system 1700 can also include one or more input devices 1715, which can include but are not limited to a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, a microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1720, which can include but are not limited to a display device, a printer, etc.

[0223] The computer system 1700 may also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1725, 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 are programmable, flash-updatable, and / or similar devices. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc. As described herein, such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be sent to one or more devices via a hub.

[0224] The computer system 1700 may also include a communication subsystem 1730, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 1733, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, universal serial bus (USB), etc.). The wireless communication interface 1733 may include one or more wireless transceivers, which may send and receive wireless signals 1755 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 1750. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1730 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 1700 to communicate with any device on any or all communication networks described herein, including user equipment (UE), base stations and / or other transmission reception points (TRPs) and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1730 may be used to receive and send messages and data, as described in the embodiments of this document.

[0225] In many embodiments, the computer system 1700 also includes a working memory 1735, which may include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 1735 may include an operating system 1740, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more applications 1745, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more of the processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions that may 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 adjust a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0226] The set of these instructions and / or codes may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device 1725 described above. In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system, such as the computer system 1700. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., a removable medium such as an optical disk), and / or provided in an installation package so that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer having the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that can be executed by the computer system 1700, and / or may take the form of source code and / or installable code that, when compiled and / or installed on the computer system 1700 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installers, compression / decompression utilities, etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

[0227] The periodically triggered Sidelink Mobile Terminal Terminated Location Request (SL-MT-LR) procedure may be used to estimate the relative position or distance and / or direction between UEs periodically or after certain triggering events.

[0228] The seventh enhanced procedure for sidelink positioning / ranging may include a periodic or triggered SL-MT-LR procedure for ranging between target UEs. This procedure may enable the LCS client or AF to request and obtain sidelink positioning / ranging location information of two or more target UEs whenever a triggering event or a periodic event is detected by the UE.

[0229] Fig.18 A periodic or triggered SL-MT-LR procedure according to some embodiments is shown to enable the LCS client or AF to obtain ranging / sidelink location results for a group of n UEs (n≥2), i.e., UE 1, UE 2, ...UEn, periodically or upon certain triggering events. In this presentation, the GMLC determines one UE among the n UEs, designated as UE 1 (e.g., the primary target UE), and one or more other UEs, designated as UE 2, UE 3, ...UE n (n≥2) (e.g., target, reference or positioning UEs). Based on the service request, the ranging / sidelink positioning location results may include an absolute position, relative position, distance, direction, speed, and relative speed associated with the UE. According to some embodiments, when at least one of the n UEs is within coverage and registered to the serving PLMN, the ranging / sidelink positioning location results may be used. Fig.18 The following paragraphs describe the procedures in Fig.18 Details of the various stages of the procedure are given in the .

[0230] According to some embodiments, as Fig.18A prerequisite for the seventh enhanced procedure is that at least one of the n target UEs (here assumed to be UE 1) can be within the coverage area and registered to the serving PLMN.

[0231] Phase 1: The LCS client or AF (through NEF) may send an LCS service request to the (H)GMLC to obtain ranging / sidelink positioning position results for n UEs, each of which may be identified by GPSI or SUPI. The request may include the required QoS, the required position results (e.g., absolute position, relative position, speed and / or distance and / or direction relative to the UE).

[0232] The service request may further include periodic or triggered event parameters. For periodic location, the LCS service request may include the time interval between consecutive location reports and the total number of reports. For triggered location, the LCS service request may include details of the triggering event, the duration of the event report, the minimum and maximum time intervals between consecutive event reports, the maximum event sampling interval, whether the position estimate should be included in the event report, whether only one or more location reports are required, or any combination thereof. The trigger event may be one of the following: (i) a ranging event with a distance threshold and a threshold type (e.g., type a, b, c, or d): a trigger event occurs if the range (e.g., distance) between at least one of the n UEs and each of the other n-1 UEs is such that any range of one UE is less than the threshold (type a), any range of one UE exceeds the threshold (type b), all ranges of one UE are less than the threshold (type c), or all ranges of one UE exceed the threshold (type d); (ii) a radial velocity event with a radial velocity threshold and a threshold type (e.g., type a, b, c, or d): a trigger event occurs if the radial velocity between at least one of the n UEs and each of the other n-1 UEs is such that any radial velocity of the UE is less than the threshold (type a), any radial velocity of the UE exceeds the threshold (type b), all radial velocities of one UE are less than the threshold (type c), or all radial velocities of one UE exceed the threshold (type d). Note that the radial velocity between the first UE and the second UE may be equal to the rate of change of the range (i.e., distance) between the first UE and the second UE. Other possible trigger event types may be for Fig.13 as described in Phase 1.

[0233] The LCS client or AF may indicate a preferred ranking of the n target UEs to assist in determining the primary target UE in stage 3. The (H)GMLC may modify any preferred order provided by the LCS client or AF. For example, the (H)GMLC may give priority to UEs whose PLMN of the (H)GMLC is the UE's home PLMN (HPLMN). The request may also include conditions for cancelling the location request when all n target UEs cannot be found for positioning. Conditions for cancelling the location request may include: (i) one or more specific target UEs cannot be found; and / or (ii) the total number of target UEs found is less than a quorum q, where 2≤q≤n.

[0234] The LCS client or AF may determine before stage 1 that the n target UEs are all in proximity to each other and may obtain their application layer IDs and / or global IDs. For example, one or more of the n target UEs may communicate with the LCS client or AF (e.g., using an application protocol such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP Secure (HTTPS)), and may provide the LCS client or AF with the application layer IDs and / or global IDs of all n target UEs, an approximate (rough) relative or absolute position of each of the n target UEs, and / or may indicate whether the n target UEs have performed mutual discovery (e.g., one target UE has discovered other n-1 target UEs). This may enable the LCS client or AF to provide an LCS service request in stage 1 and know in advance that the n target UEs are in proximity to each other.

[0235] (H)GMLC or NEF can authorize the LCS client or AF to use the LCS service. If the authorization fails, the remaining stages can be skipped, and the (H)GMLC or NEF can respond to the LCS client or AF that the service authorization failed.

[0236] Furthermore, the LCS client or AF may include an application layer ID for each of the n UEs to enable discovery of the UE in stage 12 .

[0237] Phase 2: (H)GMLC may invoke Nudm_SDM_Get service operation to the UDM of each of the n UEs to obtain the privacy settings of the UE identified by its GPSI or SUPI. The UDM may return the UE privacy settings of the UE. (H)GMLC checks the UE LCS privacy profile.

[0238] Phase 3: (H)GMLC may invoke Nudm_UECM_Get service operation to the UDM of each of the n UEs (GPSI or SUPI available) one at a time using the GPSI or SUPI of each UE. In some embodiments, (H)GMLC may invoke Nudm_UECM_Get service operation to the UDM of each of the n target UEs one at a time and according to the preference order in Phase 1 (if such order is included). If any target UE is within coverage and has registered with the serving PLMN, the UDM may return the network address of the current serving AMF and additionally return the address of the visited GMLC (V-GMLC) of the UE that is roaming. Once the UDM returns the serving PLMN and AMF information for one of the n target UEs or the serving PLMN and AMF information for one of the n target UEs, indicating that one of the target UEs is served by the PLMN of the (H)GMLC, the (H)GMLC may stop the Nudm_UECM_Get service operation to the UDM. This one UE may be considered as the primary target UE and may be considered as UE 1 here. According to some embodiments, the UDM may be aware of the serving AMF address when the UE registers with the AMF, and / or be aware of the serving V-GMLC address when the UE registers with the AMF.

[0239] According to some embodiments, when the UE registers with the AMF, the UDM may be aware of the serving AMF address. When the UE registers with the AMF, the UDM may also be aware of the serving V-GMLC address.

[0240] Phase 4: This phase may be skipped for non-roaming cases. In the case of roaming, in Phase 3, the (H)GMLC may receive the address of the V-GMLC (and the network address of the current serving AMF) from the UDM; otherwise, the (H)GMLC may select an available V-GMLC in the VPLMN based on the VPLMN identity contained in the AMF address received in Phase 3 using the NRF service. The (H)GMLC then sends a location request to the V-GMLC by invoking the Ngmlc_Location_ProvideLocation service operation to the V-GMLC. The (H)GMLC may also include a contact address of the (H)GMLC (which may be referred to as a notification target address and may be a uniform resource identifier (URI)) and a location deferral request (LDR) reference number (which may be referred to as a notification correlation ID) for event reporting in Phases 24-31. The LDR reference number may be assigned by the (H)GMLC based on predefined rules (e.g., the operator's policy), or may be assigned by the NEF. In the case that the (H)GMLC does not receive the address of the V-GMLC, or when the address of the V-GMLC is the same as the address of the (H)GMLC, or when both PLMN operators agree, the (H)GMLC may send a location service request message to the serving AMF. In this case, phase 4 may be skipped. The (H)GMLC may also provide the AF's LCS client type, if received in phase 1, or the LCS client type and other attributes of the LCS client to be sent to the AMF in phase 5.

[0241] Phase 5: In the case of roaming, the V-GMLC may first authorize the location request from the PLMN GMLC or the country. Otherwise, an error response may be returned. The (H)GMLC or V-GMLC may invoke the Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo service operation to the AMF to request periodic or triggered sidelink positioning / ranging location results for n UEs. The service operation may include the SUPI of UE 1, the application layer ID of the UE participating in the procedure determined by the (H)GMLC or V-GMLC, the LCS client type, and may include the required LCS QoS, the required location results (e.g., relative position, speed or distance and direction associated with the UE), periodic or triggered event parameters, other attributes received or determined in phases 1 and 4, or any combination thereof.

[0242] According to some embodiments, the location request may be sent to a V-GMLC for roaming in phase 4 and to an AMF, which is the serving AMF of UE 1, in phase 5.

[0243] Phase 6: If UE 1 is in CM IDLE state, the AMF may initiate a network-triggered service request procedure to establish a signaling connection with UE 1.

[0244] If the signaling connection establishment fails, phases 7-17 may be skipped.

[0245] Phase 7-8: NAS location notification call request and return result exchange can be performed, for example, Fig.15 as described in stages 7 and 8.

[0246] Stage 9: The serving AMF may select the LMF serving UE 1 (e.g., an LMF supporting ranging / sidelink positioning for periodic and triggered location) and may send an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation to the LMF with the information received in stage 5, such as the required location result (e.g., relative position, velocity or distance and direction between the UE pair) and periodic or triggered event parameters.

[0247] Phase 10: The LMF may send a periodically triggered SL-MT-LR request as a supplementary service message to the serving AMF using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation and identifying the correlation ID of the LMF or location request (for example, where the correlation ID may have been allocated by the AMF and sent to the LMF in phase 9). The LCS periodically triggered SL-MT-LR request may include a delay routing identifier, which may be the identification of the LMF when the LMF is to act as the serving LMF, or may be a default LMF identification otherwise. The LCS periodically triggered SL-MT-LR request may indicate the access type allowed for the event reporting of phase 24 (for example, one or more of NR, LTE, WiFi, NR or LTE satellite access), and may include the QoS of phase 24 and the location results allowed or required for each location event reported. The LCS periodically triggered SL-MT-LR request may also include the application layer ID of UE 1 to n, the contact address of the (H)GMLC, and the LDR reference number.

[0248] Phase 11: The serving AMF may forward the periodically triggered SL-MT-LR request and the immediate route ID equal to the correlation ID to UE 1 using a DL NAS TRANSPORT message. According to some embodiments, the delayed route identifier may be global (e.g., an IP address, a universally unique identifier (UUID) or a URI) or may be local. The delayed route identifier may be used for routing in phases 24 and 25. The immediate route identifier included by the AMF in phase 11 may be used for routing in phases 14 and 15.

[0249] Phase 12: UE 1 may try to discover other UEs 2 to n using their application layer IDs, if not already discovered.

[0250] Stage 13: UE 1 may obtain the sidelink positioning capability of the discovered UE if not already obtained.

[0251] Stage 14: UE 1 may return a supplementary service periodically triggered SL-MT-LR response to the serving AMF in a UL NAS TRANSPORT message and may include the immediate routing ID received in stage 11. The periodically triggered SL-MT-LR response may indicate whether periodic or triggered SL-MT-LR requests can be supported and which of UEs 2 to n have been discovered and can be used for positioning.

[0252] Phase 15: The serving AMF may forward the periodically triggered SL-MT-LR response to the LMF indicated by the immediate routing ID received in phase 14 and may include a correlation ID equal to the immediate routing ID.

[0253] Phase 16: Ranging / sidelink positioning of UE 1 and other discovered UEs can be performed as for Fig.14 Stages 10-18 are performed as described for SL-MO-LR, except that ranging / sidelink position fix results are always available and LMF can be Fig.14 Phase 13 or phase 14 of the process indicates to UE 1 that the ranging / sidelink positioning result will be sent by the LMF ( Fig.14 Phase 18) or UE 1 ( Fig.14 According to some embodiments, ( Fig.18 Phase 16 of the process may enable the LMF to obtain the capabilities and initial location results of UEs 1 to n.

[0254] Phase 17-20: The LMF may return the initial sidelink positioning / ranging position result to the LCS Client or AF via the serving AMF, V-GMLC (if included), (H)GMLC and, in the case of AF, the NEF.

[0255] Phase 21: UE 1 to n may periodically perform sidelink positioning / ranging to support phases 22 and 24. According to some embodiments, UE 1 to n may perform sidelink positioning / ranging at intervals of the maximum event sampling interval provided in phase 1.

[0256] Stage 22: UE 1 may monitor for the occurrence of the triggering or periodic events requested in stage 11. For triggering events, UE 1 may monitor the requested events at intervals equal to or less than the maximum event sampling interval. UE 1 may detect an event trigger when any one or more of the following events occurs: (i) the requested aperiodic triggering event has been detected and the minimum reporting time interval has elapsed since the last report (if this is not the first event report); (ii) the requested periodic positioning event has occurred; or (iii) the maximum reporting time for the aperiodic triggering event has expired (from the last event report sent in stage 24, or from the event report if this is the first event). When a triggering or periodic event is detected, and if UE 1 is camped on or connected to (or otherwise accessible to) an access type allowed by the LMF in stage 11, UE 1 may proceed to stage 23. If UE 1 cannot access an allowed access type, then, based on the requirements received from the LMF in stage 11, UE 1 may skip reporting the triggering event, or may report the triggering event later when an allowed access type becomes available.

[0257] Phase 23: If in CM-IDLE state, UE 1 may perform a UE-triggered service request to establish a signalling connection with the AMF.

[0258] Stage 24: UE 1 may send a Supplementary Service Event Report message to the serving AMF (which may be different from the serving AMF in stages 11-16) using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation and may include the Delayed Routing ID received in stage 11. The event report may indicate the type of event being reported (e.g., whether it is a normal event or expiration of the maximum reporting interval) and may include the location result obtained in stage 21. UE 1 may also include the (H)GMLC contact address, the LDR reference number, whether the location result is to be reported and, if so, the location QoS to be reported in the event report, or any combination thereof.

[0259] Stage 25: The AMF may forward the event report to the LMF indicated by the Delay Routing ID received in stage 24 and may include a Correlation ID equal to the Delay Routing ID.

[0260] Phase 26: When the LMF receives the event report, if it is able to process the event report, the LMF may update the status of the event report (e.g., the number of event reports received so far from UE 1 and / or the duration of the event reports so far), and may return a supplementary service confirmation of the event report to the serving AMF using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation, together with the correlation ID identifying the LMF. The confirmation may optionally include a new delayed routing identifier indicating a new serving LMF or a default (any) LMF.

[0261] Phase 27: The serving AMF may forward the Event Report Ack and the Immediate Routing ID equal to the Correlation ID to UE 1 using a DL NAS TRANSPORT message. If UE 1 does not receive any response from the LMF after a predefined time, for example, the current LMF does not support delayed location requests (for temporary or permanent reasons) or due to some radio access failure, UE 1 may resend the report one or more times. According to some embodiments, in phase 26, including a new delayed routing identifier in the Event Report Ack may be used to change the serving LMF (for example, if the UE moves to an area or access type that is better supported by a different LMF, or if the serving LMF is overloaded), or to make the default LMF the serving LMF.

[0262] Phase 28: If the location result is for event reporting and is not received in phase 25, the LMF may initiate ranging / sidelink positioning of UEs 1 to n in phase 16.

[0263] Phases 29-31: The LMF may return the event report and any position results obtained in phases 25 or 28 to the LCS client or AF via the serving AMF, V-GMLC (if included), (H)GMLC and, in the case of AF, the NEF.

[0264] Phase 32: UE 1 to n may continue to periodically perform sidelink positioning / ranging, as in phase 21.

[0265] Phase 33: UE 1 may continue to monitor further periodic or triggering events as in phase 22, and may initiate phases 23-31 each time a periodic or triggering event is detected. For example, another periodic or triggering event may be detected at each of the consecutive different times, so that phases 23-31 may be performed at each of the consecutive different times.

[0266] So far, the description of sidelink positioning has either not indicated a specific positioning method, or has assumed and referred to positioning based on SL PRS transmissions and measurements by participating UEs. However, the procedures described herein for SL positioning of multiple UEs for MO-LR, MT-LR, or periodic or triggered MT-LR requests may instead use other positioning methods. In some embodiments, these may be radio access technology (RAT) independent positioning methods. These other positioning methods may include: real-time kinematics (RTK); transmission and measurement of WiFi signals by participating UEs; and transmission and measurement of ultra-wideband (UWB) signals by participating UEs. For example, when performing sidelink positioning of multiple UEs using RTK, each of the multiple UEs may measure and obtain carrier phase measurements of global navigation satellite (GNSS) signals (e.g., GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, or BeiDou). The carrier phase measurements obtained by the multiple UEs may then be provided to at least one UE (e.g., UE 1) of the multiple UEs, where the at least one UE determines position results for the multiple UEs based on the carrier phase measurements obtained by the multiple UEs. The use of RTK (or WiFi or UWB) rather than SL PRS has little impact on how MO-LR, MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR requests for SL positioning of multiple UEs are supported, except that there is no longer a requirement for the SL PRS configuration to be sent to the UE and transmitted or measured, but other assistance data may be sent to the UE, such as the configuration for WiFi or UWB signals to be sent or measured, or details of the GNSS signals to be measured (but not sent) for RTK. There is also no longer a need to send and measure SL PRS, but WiFi signals or UWB signals may be sent and measured, or in the case of RTK, RTK signals may be measured (although not sent). These changes will require changes to the Figure 10-Figure 15 and Fig.18 Some changes are made, but it is also possible to remain in the phase specific to MO-LR, MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR requests for SL positioning of multiple UEs.

[0267] Fig.19 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of a method 1900 performed at a location server for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs (e.g., UE 105) according to an embodiment. For example, the location server may include an LMF (e.g., LMF 120) as described herein. Aspects of method 1900 may reflect the functionality of a location server as described in various embodiments herein, such as Figure 11-Figure 15 and Fig.18 For execution Fig.19 The functional components and / or structures of one or more blocks shown may include software and / or hardware components of a computer system, such as Fig.17Computer system 1700.

[0268] The functions at block 1910 include receiving a request for location-related information of a plurality of UEs, the request being associated with a first UE of the plurality of UEs, the request being based on one of: (i) a mobile originated location request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or (ii) a mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client (e.g., external client 130, LCS client, or AF). Means and / or structures for performing the functions at block 1910 may include one or more processors 1710, memory 1735, communication subsystem 1730, and / or other components of computer system 1700, such as the processor 1710, memory 1735, communication subsystem 1730, and / or other components of computer system 1700. Fig.17 As described.

[0269] The function at block 1920 includes obtaining capability information of each UE in the plurality of UEs from a first UE in the plurality of UEs. The means and / or structure for performing the functions at block 1920 may include one or more processors 1710, memory 1735, communication subsystem 1730, and / or other components of computer system 1700, such as Fig.17 As described.

[0270] The functions at block 1930 include obtaining location related information. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 1930 may include one or more processors 1710, memory 1735, communication subsystem 1730 and / or other components of computer system 1700, such as Fig.17 As described.

[0271] The function at block 1940 includes sending location-related information, wherein the sending includes one of the following: sending location-related information to a first UE based on (i) MO-LR in response to a request for location-related information, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of multiple UEs; or sending location-related information to an external client based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR in response to a request for location-related information, wherein the location-related information is based on sidelink positioning of multiple UEs. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 1940 may include one or more processors 1710, memory 1735, communication subsystem 1730, and / or other components of computer system 1700, such as Fig.17 As described.

[0272] As described herein, embodiments may include one or more of the following features. In some embodiments, a location server may not communicate with any UE in a plurality of UEs other than a first UE for sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs. The location-related information may include one or more location results for sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs, wherein the location result includes one of: a distance between a pair of UEs in the plurality of UEs; a direction between a UE and another UE in the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE in the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE relative to a location of another UE in the plurality of UEs; a speed of a UE in the plurality of UEs; and a speed of a UE relative to a speed of another UE in the plurality of UEs. In such embodiments, the location-related information may include at least one location result for each of the plurality of UEs. Additionally or alternatively, obtaining the location-related information may include sending a request for a location measurement to the first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs based on the request for the location measurement, wherein the first UE obtains the location measurement based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; receiving the location measurement from the first UE; and calculating the location-related information based on the location measurement. According to some embodiments, obtaining location-related information may include sending a request for location-related information to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based on the request for location-related information, wherein the first UE obtains location-related information based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; and receiving location-related information from the first UE.

[0273] Additionally or alternatively, an embodiment may include one or more of the following features. According to some embodiments, each of the plurality of UEs may include a target UE. The request may be based on (i) an MO-LR sent by the first UE, wherein the location-related information includes assistance data. Such an embodiment may further include receiving a request for specific assistance data from the first UE; determining the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and / or capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; and sending the specific assistance data to the first UE, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs. The request for location-related information may include an application layer identity of each of the plurality of UEs. The request may be based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR is received by the GMLC, wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of: a preferred ranking of the UEs of the plurality of UEs indicated in the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client; the first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or the first UE is served by the home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC. According to some embodiments, the request may be based on a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR includes a periodic event or a triggering event, the triggering event being based on a distance or a relative speed of a UE among a plurality of UEs. Such an embodiment may further include obtaining location-related information at each of the consecutive different times; and sending location-related information to the external client in an event report at each of the consecutive different times. According to some embodiments, the request may be based on (ii) an MT-LR sent by an external client or a periodic or triggered MT-LR. An embodiment may further include, before obtaining the capability information, sending a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities of other UEs among the multiple UEs, so that the first UE can discover the other UEs among the multiple UEs based on the identities of the other UEs among the multiple UEs; and receiving an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response from the first UE, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered the other UEs among the multiple UEs, and whether the other UEs among the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0274] Some embodiments may further include, before obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs, sending a capability request for the capability information of each of the multiple UEs to the first UE, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs is in response to the capability request.

[0275] Fig. 20 2 is a diagram of an embodiment of a method 2000 for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs performed at a first UE (eg, UE 105) according to an embodiment. Aspects of the method 2000 may reflect the functionality of the UE described in various embodiments herein, such as Figure 10-15 and Fig.18 For execution Fig. 20 The functional components and / or structures of one or more blocks shown in the figure may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as Fig.16 UE1600.

[0276] The functions at block 2010 include performing operations including one of: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server (e.g., LMF 120), or (ii) receiving a MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information from a location server. Means and / or structure for performing the functions at block 2010 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0277] The functions at block 2020 include discovering other UEs in the plurality of UEs. This may involve the discovery process described herein, which may be governed by applicable wireless standards. The means and / or structure for performing the functions at block 2020 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0278] The functions at block 2030 include obtaining capability information for each of the plurality of UEs. This may involve capability exchange, as described herein. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 2030 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0279] The functions at block 2040 include sending capability information of each UE in the plurality of UEs to the location server. The means and / or structure for performing the functions at block 2040 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630 and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0280] The functionality at block 2050 includes receiving a message from a location server based at least in part on capability information of each of the plurality of UEs. The means and / or structure for performing the functionality at block 2050 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0281] The functionality at block 2060 includes coordinating sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based at least in part on the message. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 2060 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0282] The functions at block 2070 include obtaining location measurements, location results, or both based on the sidelink positioning of multiple UEs. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 2070 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630, and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0283] The functions at block 2080 include sending the location measurement or location result to the location server when the message includes a request for the location measurement or location result, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement. The components and / or structures for performing the functions at block 2080 may include one or more processors 1610, memory 1660, wireless communication interface 1630 and / or other components of UE 1600, such as Fig.16 As described.

[0284] As described herein, according to some embodiments, location-related information may include location results, wherein the location results include one or more distances between a pair of UEs in a plurality of UEs; a direction between a UE in a plurality of UEs and another UE; a location of a UE in a plurality of UEs; a location of a UE relative to a location of another UE in a plurality of UEs; a speed of a UE in a plurality of UEs; or a speed of a UE relative to a speed of another UE in a plurality of UEs. The location results may include at least one location result for each of the plurality of UEs. According to some embodiments, each of the plurality of UEs includes a target UE.

[0285] As described herein, embodiments may include one or more of the following features. In some embodiments, the location server may not communicate with any UE in the multiple UEs other than the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs. According to some embodiments, the message may include a request for a location measurement or a location result, and method 2000 may further include sending the location measurement or the location result to the location server in response to the request for the location measurement or the location result. According to some embodiments, the operation performed by the first UE includes (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, and wherein the location-related information includes assistance data. Such an embodiment may also include sending a request for specific assistance data to the location server, wherein the location server determines the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for the specific assistance data and / or capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs; and receiving specific assistance data from the location server in a message, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0286] According to some embodiments, the operations performed by the first UE include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, wherein the MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information includes an application layer identity of each UE of the multiple UEs, and wherein discovering other UEs of the multiple UEs is based on the application layer identity of each UE of the multiple UEs.

[0287] According to some embodiments, the operations that the first UE may perform include: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, wherein the method further includes: obtaining an application layer identity of each of the multiple UEs based on discovering other UEs among the multiple UEs; and including the application layer identity of each of the multiple UEs in the MO-LR request for location-related information.

[0288] Additionally or alternatively, embodiments may include one or more of the following features. According to some embodiments, the first UE may perform operations including the following: (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request; wherein a separate request for MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client (e.g., external client 130, LCS client, or AF) is received by a GMLC (e.g., GMLC 125), and wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of: a preferred ranking of UEs among a plurality of UEs indicated in the request for MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR; the first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or the first UE is served by the home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC.

[0289] According to some embodiments, the operations that the first UE may perform include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, the MT-LR request including a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a triggering event, the triggering event being based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs in a plurality of UEs. Some embodiments may further include detecting a periodic event or a triggering event at each of the consecutive different times; obtaining a location measurement or a location result at each of the consecutive different times; and sending the location measurement or the location result in an event report to a location server at each of the consecutive different times.

[0290] According to some embodiments, the operations that the first UE may perform include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, wherein the method further includes sending an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response to a location server, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs of the multiple UEs, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the other UEs of the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0291] Some embodiments may further include, prior to obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs, receiving a request for capability information of each of the multiple UEs from a location server, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs is in response to the request for capability information.

[0292] It will be clear to those skilled in the art that substantial changes may be made depending on 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 used.

[0293] With reference to the accompanying drawings, a component that may include a memory may include a non-temporary machine-readable medium. The terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" used herein 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 involve providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, a machine-readable medium may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many embodiments, a computer-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take a variety of 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 a hole pattern, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or box, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0294] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may appropriately omit, replace or add various programs or components. For example, features described with respect to 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 implemented with hardware and / or software. In addition, technology is developing, so many elements are examples, and the scope of this disclosure is not limited to those specific examples.

[0295] It has proven convenient to sometimes refer to signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digits, etc., primarily for reasons of commonality. However, it should be understood that all of these or similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise stated, it is apparent from the above discussion that it should be understood that throughout the specification discussion, the use of terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating", "determining", "ascertaining", "identifying", "correlating", "measuring", "performing", etc. refers to the actions or processes of a specific device, such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Therefore, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or converting signals, typically represented as physical electronic, electrical or magnetic quantities within a memory, register or other information storage device, transmission device or display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0296] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include multiple meanings, which are expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, which are used in an inclusive sense, and A, B, or C, which are used in an exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, 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", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, for example, A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0297] Having described several embodiments, various modifications, alternative structures, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be merely components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Furthermore, many steps may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0298] Item 1: A method performed at a location server for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple user equipments (UEs), the method comprising: receiving a request for location-related information of the multiple UEs, the request being associated with a first UE among the multiple UEs, the request being based on one of: a mobile originated location request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or a mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) sent by an external client, or a periodic or triggered MT-LR; obtaining capability information of each of the multiple UEs from the first UE among the multiple UEs; obtaining location-related information; and sending location-related information, wherein the sending comprises one of: sending location-related information to the first UE in response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; or sending location-related information to the external client in response to a request for location-related information based on (ii) MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR, wherein the location-related information is based on sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0299] Item 2: The method of Item 1, wherein the location server does not communicate with any UE among the multiple UEs except the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0300] Item 3: A method according to any one of items 1-2, wherein the location-related information includes one or more location results of sidelink positioning of multiple UEs, wherein the location results include one or more of the following: the distance between a pair of UEs among multiple UEs; the direction between one UE and another UE among multiple UEs; the location of one UE among multiple UEs; the location of one UE relative to the location of another UE among multiple UEs; the speed of one UE among multiple UEs; or the speed of one UE relative to the speed of another UE among multiple UEs.

[0301] Item 4: A method according to Item 3, wherein the location-related information includes at least one location result for each of the multiple UEs.

[0302] Item 5: A method according to Item 3, wherein obtaining location-related information includes: sending a request for location measurement to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based on the request for location measurement, wherein the first UE obtains the location measurement based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; receiving the location measurement from the first UE; and calculating the location-related information based on the location measurement.

[0303] Item 6: A method according to Item 3, wherein obtaining location-related information includes: sending a request for location-related information to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based on the request for location-related information, wherein the first UE obtains location-related information based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; and receiving location-related information from the first UE.

[0304] Item 7: A method according to any one of items 1-6, wherein each UE of the multiple UEs is a target UE.

[0305] Item 8: A method according to any one of items 1-7, wherein the request is based on (i) a MO-LR sent by the first UE, wherein the location-related information includes assistance data.

[0306] Item 9: The method according to Item 8 also includes receiving a request for specific auxiliary data from a first UE; determining the specific auxiliary data based at least in part on the request for specific auxiliary data and capability information of each UE among multiple UEs; and sending specific auxiliary data to the first UE, wherein the specific auxiliary data enables sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0307] Item 10: A method according to any one of items 1-9, wherein the request for location-related information includes an application layer identity of each UE in the multiple UEs.

[0308] Item 11: A method according to any one of items 1-10, wherein the request is based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR is received by the GMLC, wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of the following: a preferred ranking of UEs of multiple UEs indicated in the MT-LR sent by the external client or the periodic or triggered MT-LR; the first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or the first UE is served by the same home PLMN as the PLMN of the GMLC.

[0309] Item 12: A method according to any one of items 1-11, wherein the request is based on a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR includes a periodic event or a triggering event, and the triggering event is based on the distance or relative speed of UEs among the multiple UEs.

[0310] Item 13: The method according to Item 12 further includes obtaining location-related information at each of the consecutive different times; and sending location-related information to an external client in an event report at each of the consecutive different times.

[0311] Item 14: A method according to any one of items 1-13, wherein the request is based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, and also includes: before obtaining the capability information, sending a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities of other UEs among the multiple UEs, so that the first UE can discover the other UEs among the multiple UEs based on the identities of the other UEs among the multiple UEs; and receiving an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response from the first UE, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered the other UEs among the multiple UEs, and whether the other UEs among the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0312] Item 15: The method according to any one of items 1-14 also includes, before obtaining the capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs, sending a capability request for the capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs to the first UE, wherein obtaining the capability information of each UE in the multiple UEs is in response to the capability request.

[0313] Item 16: A method for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs, performed at a first UE among multiple UEs, the method comprising: performing an operation including one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving a MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information from a location server; discovering other UEs among multiple UEs; obtaining capability information of each UE among multiple UEs; sending the capability information of each UE among multiple UEs to a location server; receiving a message from the location server, the message being based at least in part on the capability information of each UE among multiple UEs; coordinating sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based at least in part on the message; obtaining location measurement, location result, or both based on the sidelink positioning of multiple UEs; and when the message includes a request for location measurement or location result, sending the location measurement or location result to the location server, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

[0314] Item 17: The method of Item 16, wherein the location server does not communicate with any UE among the multiple UEs except the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0315] Item 18: A method according to any one of Items 16-17, wherein the location-related information includes a location result, wherein the location result includes one or more of the following: the distance between a pair of UEs among multiple UEs; the direction between one UE and another UE among multiple UEs; the location of one UE among multiple UEs; the location of one UE relative to the location of another UE among multiple UEs; the speed of one UE among multiple UEs; or the speed of one UE relative to the speed of another UE among multiple UEs.

[0316] Item 19: The method of Item 18, wherein the location result includes at least one location result for each of the plurality of UEs.

[0317] Item 20: A method according to any one of items 18-19, wherein each UE of the plurality of UEs is a target UE.

[0318] Item 21: A method according to any one of Items 16-20, wherein the message includes a request for a location measurement or a location result, and further includes sending the location measurement or the location result to a location server in response to the request for the location measurement or the location result.

[0319] Item 22: The method according to any one of items 16-21, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, and wherein the location-related information includes assistance data.

[0320] Item 23: The method according to Item 22 also includes sending a request for specific auxiliary data to a location server, wherein the location server determines the specific auxiliary data based at least in part on the request for the specific auxiliary data and capability information of each UE among multiple UEs; and receiving the specific auxiliary data from the location server in a message, wherein the specific auxiliary data enables sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

[0321] Item 24: A method according to any one of items 16-23, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request; the MT-LR request for location-related information or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes an application layer identity of each UE in a plurality of UEs; and discovering other UEs in a plurality of UEs is based on the application layer identity of each UE in a plurality of UEs.

[0322] Item 25: A method according to any one of items 16-24, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, and wherein the method also includes: obtaining an application layer identity of each UE in the multiple UEs based on discovering other UEs in the multiple UEs; and including the application layer identity of each UE in the MO-LR request for location-related information.

[0323] Item 26: A method according to any one of items 16-25, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein a separate request for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client is received by the GMLC, wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of: a preferred ranking of UEs of multiple UEs indicated in the request for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR; the first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or the first UE is served by the same home PLMN as the PLMN of the GMLC.

[0324] Item 27: A method according to any one of items 16-26, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, the MT-LR request including a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a triggering event, the triggering event being based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among the multiple UEs.

[0325] Item 28: The method according to Item 27 also includes detecting periodic events or trigger events at each of the consecutive different times; obtaining location measurements or location results at each of the consecutive different times; and sending location measurements or location results to a location server in an event report at each of the consecutive different times.

[0326] Item 29: A method according to any one of items 16-28, wherein the operation performed by the first UE includes (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the method further includes sending an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response to a location server, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs among the multiple UEs, and wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the other UEs among the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0327] Item 30: The method according to any one of items 16-29 also includes, before obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs, receiving a request for capability information of each of the multiple UEs from a location server, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs is in response to the request for capability information.

[0328] Item 31: A location server for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple user equipments (UEs), the location server 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: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a request for location-related information of the multiple UEs, the request being associated with a first UE among the multiple UEs, the request being based on one of the following: a mobile originated location request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or a mobile terminated location request (MT-LR) sent by an external client, or a periodic or triggered MO-LR. T-LR; obtaining capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs from a first UE among the multiple UEs via one or more transceivers; obtaining location-related information; and sending location-related information via one or more transceivers, wherein the sending comprises one of the following: sending location-related information to the first UE in response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; or sending location-related information to an external client in response to a request for location-related information based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, wherein the location-related information is based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0329] Item 32: A location server according to Item 31, wherein one or more processors are configured not to communicate with any UE among the multiple UEs except the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0330] Item 33: A location server according to any one of items 31-32, wherein one or more processors are configured to include one or more location results of sidelink positioning of multiple UEs in location-related information, wherein the location results include one or more of the following: the distance between a pair of UEs among the multiple UEs; the direction between one UE and another UE among the multiple UEs; the position of one UE among the multiple UEs; the position of one UE relative to the position of another UE among the multiple UEs; the speed of one UE among the multiple UEs; or the speed of one UE relative to the speed of another UE among the multiple UEs.

[0331] Item 34: A location server according to Item 33, wherein, in order to obtain location-related information, one or more processors are configured to obtain at least one location result for each of a plurality of UEs.

[0332] Item 35: A location server according to Item 33, wherein each UE among the multiple UEs is a target UE.

[0333] Item 36: A location server according to Item 33, wherein, in order to obtain location-related information, one or more processors are configured to send a request for location measurement to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based on the request for location measurement, wherein the first UE obtains location measurement based on the sidelink positioning of multiple UEs; receives location measurement from the first UE; and calculates location-related information based on the location measurement.

[0334] Item 37: A location server according to any one of items 31-36, wherein, in order to obtain location-related information, one or more processors are configured to send a request for location-related information to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of multiple UEs based on the request for location-related information, wherein the first UE obtains location-related information based on the sidelink positioning of multiple UEs; and receive location-related information from the first UE.

[0335] Item 38: A location server according to any one of items 31-37, wherein, in order to obtain the location-related information, in response to a request based on (i) the MO-LR sent by the first UE, the one or more processors are configured to obtain assistance data.

[0336] Article 39: A location server according to Article 38, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive a request for specific assistance data from a first UE; determine the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and capability information of each UE in a plurality of UEs; and send the specific assistance data to the first UE, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

[0337] Item 40: A location server according to any one of items 31-39, wherein, in order to receive a request for location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to receive an application layer identity of each UE in the plurality of UEs.

[0338] Item 41: A location server according to any one of items 31-40, wherein, in order to receive a periodic or triggered MT-LR request sent by an external client, one or more processors are configured to receive a request including a periodic event or a triggered event, and the trigger event is based on the distance or relative speed of a UE among multiple UEs.

[0339] Item 42: A location server according to Item 41, wherein one or more processors are further configured to: obtain location-related information at each of the consecutive different times; and send location-related information to an external client in an event report at each of the consecutive different times.

[0340] Item 43: A location server according to any one of items 31-42, wherein, in response to a request based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, one or more processors are configured to, before obtaining capability information, send a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities of other UEs among the multiple UEs, so that the first UE can discover other UEs among the multiple UEs based on the identities of the other UEs among the multiple UEs; and receive an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response from the first UE, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs among the multiple UEs, and whether other UEs among the multiple UEs can be used for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0341] Item 44: A location server according to any one of Items 31-43, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to, before obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs, send a capability request for the capability information of each of the multiple UEs to the first UE, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs is in response to the capability request.

[0342] Item 45: A first UE among multiple UEs for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs, the first 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: perform operations including one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving a MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information from a location server; discovering other UEs among the multiple UEs; obtaining capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs; sending capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs to the location server; receiving a message from the location server, the message being based at least in part on the capability information of each UE among the multiple UEs; coordinating sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs based at least in part on the message; obtaining location measurements, location results, or both based on the sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs; and when the message includes a request for a location measurement or a location result, sending the location measurement or the location result to the location server, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

[0343] Item 46: A first UE according to Item 45, wherein the location-related information includes a location result, wherein the location result includes one or more of: a distance between a pair of UEs among multiple UEs; a direction between one UE and another UE among multiple UEs; a location of one UE among multiple UEs; a location of one UE relative to a location of another UE among multiple UEs; a speed of one UE among multiple UEs; or a speed of one UE relative to a speed of another UE among multiple UEs.

[0344] Item 47: The first UE according to Item 46, wherein the location result includes at least one location result for each UE in the plurality of UEs.

[0345] Item 48: A first UE according to any one of items 45-47, wherein each UE of the plurality of UEs is a target UE.

[0346] Item 49: A first UE according to any one of items 45-48, wherein, in order to receive a message, one or more processors are configured to receive a request for a location measurement or a location result, and wherein the one or more processors are also configured to send the location measurement or the location result to a location server in response to the request for the location measurement or the location result.

[0347] Item 50: A first UE according to any one of items 45-49, wherein, in order to perform operations including (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to request assistance data.

[0348] Item 51: A first UE according to Item 50, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: send a request for specific assistance data to a location server, wherein the location server determines the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for the specific assistance data and capability information of each UE among a plurality of UEs; and receive the specific assistance data from the location server in a message, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

[0349] Item 52: A first UE according to any one of Items 45-51, wherein, in order to perform operations including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, one or more processors are configured to receive an application layer identity of each of a plurality of UEs in an MT-LR request for location-related information or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request; and the one or more processors are configured to discover other UEs in the plurality of UEs based on the application layer identity of each of the plurality of UEs.

[0350] Item 53: A first UE according to any one of items 45-52, wherein one or more processors are configured to, before performing an operation including (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information: obtain an application layer identity of each of the multiple UEs based on discovering other UEs in the multiple UEs; and include the application layer identity of each of the multiple UEs in the MO-LR request for location-related information.

[0351] Item 54: A first UE according to any one of items 45-53, wherein, in order to perform operations including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, one or more processors are configured to receive a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a triggering event, which is based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among multiple UEs.

[0352] Item 55: A first UE according to any one of items 45-54, wherein one or more processors are further configured to: detect periodic events or trigger events at each of the consecutive different times; obtain location measurements or location results at each of the consecutive different times; and send location measurements or location results to a location server in an event report at each of the consecutive different times.

[0353] Item 56: A first UE according to item 55, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, after performing an operation including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, send an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response to a location server, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs among the multiple UEs, and wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the other UEs among the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

[0354] Item 57: A first UE according to any one of items 45-56, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to, before obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs, receive a request for capability information of each of the multiple UEs from a location server, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the multiple UEs is in response to the request for capability information.

[0355] An apparatus having components for performing the method described in any one of items 1-30.

[0356] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions including code for performing the method of any one of items 1-30.

Claims

1. A method for supporting sidelink positioning of a plurality of user equipments (UEs) performed at a location server, the method comprising: A request for location-related information of a plurality of UEs is received, the request being associated with a first UE of the plurality of UEs, the request being based on one of: (i) a Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or (ii) Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR) sent by an external client or a periodic or triggered MT-LR; obtaining capability information of each of the plurality of UEs from a first UE among the plurality of UEs; Obtain location-related information; as well as Sending location-related information, wherein the sending includes one of the following: In response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, sending location-related information to a first UE, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs; or In response to a request for location related information based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, sending location related information to the external client, wherein the location related information is based on sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The location server does not communicate with any UE among the multiple UEs except the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The location-related information includes one or more location results of the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs, wherein the location results include one or more of the following: a distance between a pair of UEs among the plurality of UEs; A direction between one UE and another UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of one of the plurality of UEs relative to a location of another UE; a speed of a UE among the plurality of UEs; or The speed of one UE among multiple UEs relative to the speed of another UE.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The location-related information includes at least one location result of each UE among the plurality of UEs.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Obtaining location-related information includes: sending a request for a location measurement to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs based on the request for the location measurement, wherein the first UE obtains the location measurement based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; receiving location measurements from the first UE; and Position-related information is calculated based on the position measurements.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Obtaining location-related information includes: sending a request for location-related information to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs based on the request for the location-related information, wherein the first UE obtains the location-related information based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; and Location-related information is received from the first UE.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Each of the plurality of UEs includes a target UE.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The request is based on (i) a MO-LR sent by the first UE, wherein the location-related information includes assistance data.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: receiving a request for specific assistance data from the first UE; determining specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; as well as Specific assistance data is sent to a first UE, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The request for location-related information includes an application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The request is based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR is received by a GMLC, wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of: A preference ranking of UEs of a plurality of UEs indicated in a MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client; The first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or The first UE is served by a home PLMN which is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The request is based on a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR includes a periodic event or a triggered event, and the triggered event is based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among the plurality of UEs.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Obtaining location-related information at each of the consecutive different times; as well as At each of the successive different times, location-related information is sent to the external client in an event report.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The request is based on (ii) an MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client, and further includes: Before obtaining the capability information, sending a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities of other UEs in the plurality of UEs, so that the first UE can discover the other UEs in the plurality of UEs based on the identities of the other UEs in the plurality of UEs; and An MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response is received from the first UE, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs of the plurality of UEs and whether the other UEs of the plurality of UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, before obtaining the capability information of each of the plurality of UEs, sending a capability request for the capability information of each of the plurality of UEs to the first UE, wherein: Capability information of each of the plurality of UEs is obtained in response to the capability request.

16. A method, performed at a first UE among a plurality of UEs, for supporting sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs, the method comprising: Perform an action that includes one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location related information from a location server; Discovering other UEs among multiple UEs; Obtaining capability information of each UE among a plurality of UEs; sending capability information of each UE in a plurality of UEs to a location server; receiving a message from a location server, the message based at least in part on capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; coordinating sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs based at least in part on the message; Obtaining position measurements, position results, or both based on sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; and When the message includes a request for a location measurement or a location result, the location measurement or the location result is sent to the location server, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The location server does not communicate with any UE among the multiple UEs except the first UE for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The location-related information includes the location result, wherein the location result includes one or more of the following: a distance between a pair of UEs among the plurality of UEs; A direction between one UE and another UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of one of the plurality of UEs relative to a location of another UE; a speed of a UE among the plurality of UEs; or The speed of one UE among multiple UEs relative to the speed of another UE.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The location results include at least one location result for each UE of a plurality of UEs.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein: Each of the plurality of UEs includes a target UE.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The message includes a request for a location measurement or a location result and also includes sending the location measurement or the location result to a location server in response to the request for the location measurement or the location result.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The operations performed by the first UE include (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, and wherein the location-related information includes assistance data.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising: sending a request for specific assistance data to a location server, wherein the location server determines the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; and Specific assistance data is received in the message from a location server, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein: The operations performed by the first UE include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request; The MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location related information includes an application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs; as well as Discovering other UEs of the plurality of UEs is based on an application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein: The operation performed by the first UE includes (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, and wherein the method further includes: Based on discovering other UEs in the plurality of UEs, obtaining an application layer identity of each UE in the plurality of UEs; and An application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs is included in the MO-LR request for location related information.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein: The operations performed by the first UE include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein a separate request for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client is received by a GMLC, wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of the following: a preference ranking of the plurality of UEs indicated in a request to the MT-LR or a periodic or triggered MT-LR; The first UE has a home PLMN that is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC; or The first UE is served by a home PLMN which is the same as the PLMN of the GMLC.

27. The method of claim 16, wherein: The operations performed by the first UE include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, wherein the MT-LR request includes a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a triggering event, and the triggering event is based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among the multiple UEs.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising: detecting a periodic event or a triggering event at each of the successive different times; obtaining a position measurement or position result at each of the successive different times; as well as At each of the successive different times, a location measurement or location result is sent in an event report to a location server.

29. The method of claim 16, wherein: The operations performed by the first UE include (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the method further includes sending an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response to a location server, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs among the multiple UEs, and wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the other UEs among the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

30. The method of claim 16, further comprising, before obtaining the capability information of each of the plurality of UEs, receiving a request for capability information of each of the plurality of UEs from a location server, wherein Obtaining capability information for each of the plurality of UEs is responsive to the request for capability information.

31. A location server for supporting sidelink positioning of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), the location server comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; as well 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: Receiving, via one or more transceivers, a request for location-related information for a plurality of UEs, the request being associated with a first UE of the plurality of UEs, the request being based on one of: (i) a Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or (ii) Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR) sent by an external client or a periodic or triggered MT-LR; obtaining, via one or more transceivers, capability information of each of the plurality of UEs from a first UE of the plurality of UEs; Obtain location-related information; and Transmitting the location-related information via one or more transceivers, wherein the transmitting comprises one of: In response to a request for location-related information based on (i) MO-LR, sending location-related information to a first UE, wherein the location-related information supports sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs; or In response to a request for location related information based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, sending location related information to the external client, wherein the location related information is based on sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

32. The location server of claim 31, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to not communicate with any UE of the plurality of UEs other than the first UE for sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

33. The location server of claim 31, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to include one or more location results of sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs in the location-related information, wherein the location results include one or more of the following: a distance between a pair of UEs among the plurality of UEs; A direction between one UE and another UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of one of the plurality of UEs relative to a location of another UE; a speed of a UE among the plurality of UEs; or The speed of one UE among multiple UEs relative to the speed of another UE.

34. The location server of claim 33, wherein: To obtain location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to obtain at least one location result for each UE of the plurality of UEs.

35. The location server of claim 33, wherein: To obtain location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to: sending a request for a location measurement to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs based on the request for the location measurement, wherein the first UE obtains the location measurement based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; receiving location measurements from the first UE; and Position-related information is calculated based on the position measurements.

36. The location server of claim 33, wherein: To obtain location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to: sending a request for location-related information to a first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs based on the request for the location-related information, wherein the first UE obtains the location-related information based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; and Location-related information is received from the first UE.

37. The location server of claim 31, wherein: Each of the plurality of UEs includes a target UE.

38. The location server of claim 31, wherein: To obtain the location-related information, in response to a request based on (i) the MO-LR sent by the first UE, the one or more processors are configured to obtain assistance data.

39. The location server of claim 38, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to: receiving a request for specific assistance data from the first UE; determining specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; as well as Specific assistance data is sent to a first UE, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of multiple UEs.

40. The location server of claim 31, wherein: To receive the request for location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to receive an application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs.

41. The location server of claim 31, wherein: To receive a periodic or triggered MT-LR based request sent by an external client, the one or more processors are configured to receive a request including a periodic event or a triggered event, the triggering event being based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among the plurality of UEs.

42. The location server of claim 41, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to: obtaining location-related information at each of the successive different times; and At each of the successive different times, location-related information is sent to the external client in an event report.

43. The location server of claim 31, wherein: In response to a request based on (ii) the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client, the one or more processors are configured to: Before obtaining the capability information, sending a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities of other UEs in the plurality of UEs, so that the first UE can discover the other UEs in the plurality of UEs based on the identities of the other UEs in the plurality of UEs; as well as An MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response is received from the first UE, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs of the plurality of UEs and whether the other UEs of the plurality of UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs.

44. The location server of claim 31, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to send a capability request for capability information of each of the plurality of UEs to the first UE before obtaining capability information of each of the plurality of UEs, wherein obtaining capability information of each of the plurality of UEs is responsive to the capability request.

45. A first UE among multiple UEs for supporting sidelink positioning of multiple UEs, the first UE comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; as well 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: Perform an action that includes one of the following: (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information to a location server, or (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location related information from a location server; Discovering other UEs among multiple UEs; Obtaining capability information of each UE among a plurality of UEs; sending capability information of each UE in a plurality of UEs to a location server; receiving a message from a location server, the message based at least in part on capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; coordinating sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs based at least in part on the message; Obtaining position measurements, position results, or both based on sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs; and When the message includes a request for a location measurement or a location result, the location measurement or the location result is sent to the location server, wherein when the first UE sends the location measurement to the location server, the location server calculates the location result based on the location measurement.

46. ​​The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: The location-related information includes the location result, wherein the location result includes one or more of the following: a distance between a pair of UEs among the plurality of UEs; A direction between one UE and another UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE among the plurality of UEs; a location of one of the plurality of UEs relative to a location of another UE; a speed of a UE among the plurality of UEs; or The speed of one UE among multiple UEs relative to the speed of another UE.

47. The first UE according to claim 46, wherein: The location results include at least one location result for each UE of a plurality of UEs.

48. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: Each of the plurality of UEs includes a target UE.

49. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: To receive the message, the one or more processors are configured to receive a request for a location measurement or a location result, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to send the location measurement or the location result to a location server in response to the request for the location measurement or the location result.

50. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: To perform operations including (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information, the one or more processors are configured to request assistance data.

51. The first UE according to claim 50, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to: sending a request for specific assistance data to a location server, wherein the location server determines the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for specific assistance data and capability information of each of the plurality of UEs; and Specific assistance data is received in the message from a location server, wherein the specific assistance data enables sidelink positioning of a plurality of UEs.

52. The first UE of claim 45, wherein: To perform operations including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, the one or more processors are configured to receive an application layer identity of each of the plurality of UEs in the MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request for location-related information; as well as The one or more processors are configured to discover other UEs in the plurality of UEs based on an application layer identity of each UE in the plurality of UEs.

53. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: The one or more processors are configured, prior to performing operations including (i) sending a MO-LR request for location-related information: Based on discovering other UEs in the plurality of UEs, obtaining an application layer identity of each UE in the plurality of UEs; and An application layer identity of each UE of the plurality of UEs is included in the MO-LR request for location related information.

54. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: To perform operations including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, the one or more processors are configured to receive a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a triggering event, and the triggering event is based on a distance or a relative speed of UEs among the multiple UEs.

55. The first UE according to claim 54, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to: detecting a periodic event or a triggering event at each of the successive different times; obtaining a position measurement or position result at each of the successive different times; as well as At each of the successive different times, a location measurement or location result is sent in an event report to a location server.

56. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to send an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response to a location server after performing operations including (ii) receiving an MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered other UEs of the multiple UEs, and wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the other UEs of the multiple UEs are available for sidelink positioning of the multiple UEs.

57. The first UE according to claim 45, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to receive a request for capability information of each of the plurality of UEs from a location server before obtaining the capability information of each of the plurality of UEs, wherein obtaining the capability information of each of the plurality of UEs is responsive to the request for the capability information.

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