Positioning system and method based on carrier aggregation

Abstract

The invention provides a positioning system and method based on carrier aggregation. A user equipment (UE) may receive configuration information from a network regarding transmission of a plurality of reference signals for positioning over a plurality of component carriers. The UE may receive, from a network, a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Unit (CE) indicating an aggregation of a plurality of reference signals. The UE may transmit the plurality of reference signals to the network over the aggregated one or more of the plurality of component carriers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to positioning systems and methods based on carrier aggregation. Background Art

[0002] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a standardization organization, is currently developing a new radio interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) and the Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC). The 5G NR will consist of three main parts: 5G Access Network (5G-AN), 5G Core Network (5G GC), and User Equipment (UE). In order to facilitate the implementation of different data services and requirements, the units of 5GC (also called network functions) have been simplified, some of which are software-based and some are hardware-based so that they can be adjusted as needed. Summary of the invention

[0003] The example embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve problems associated with one or more problems existing in the prior art, as well as to provide additional features, which will become apparent when referring to the detailed description below and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to multiple embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not restrictive, and it is apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art who reads this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect is directed to the following system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium. A user equipment (UE) may receive configuration information about sending multiple reference signals for positioning through multiple component carriers from a network. The UE may receive a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating the aggregation of multiple reference signals from the network. The UE may send multiple reference signals to the network through one or more of the aggregated multiple component carriers. The MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals on multiple activated sounding reference signal (SRS) resources may be configured to be sent simultaneously on multiple component carriers.

[0005] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resources may be configured on a subset of the aggregated multiple component carriers.

[0006] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resources may be configured on all multiple component carriers that are aggregated.

[0007] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals carried on multiple activated SRS resource sets on subsets of multiple component carriers may be configured to be transmitted simultaneously. The corresponding spatial relationship of the subsets of these component carriers may also be indicated by the MAC CE.

[0008] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field and a "SUL" field. The R field and the SUL field may be configured to indicate which of the multiple component carriers carrying the SRS are configured to be transmitted simultaneously. The MAC CE may include an "R" field and a "SUL" field. The R field may be configured to indicate whether one or more component carriers are aggregated. The SUL field may be configured to indicate the number of one or more component carriers that are aggregated.

[0009] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include a "Positioning SRS Resource Set ID" field. The spatial relationship of all multiple reference signals may be indicated by the Positioning SRS Resource Set ID field. The MAC CE may include a "Resource IDi" field. When the first bit of Resource IDi is set to "1", multiple component carriers may be configured to transmit simultaneously.

[0010] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "SRS Resource Set ID" field and a "PathlossReference RS ID" field. A first component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the SRS Resource Set ID field and a second component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the Pathloss Reference RS ID field may be configured to be aggregated. The MAC CE may include an "R" field, an "SRS Resource's Cell ID" field, and / or a "ServingCell ID" field. i " field. When the R field on the first octet is set to "1", the first component carrier of the multiple component carriers associated with the SRS Resource's Cell ID field and the Serving Cell ID i A second component carrier among the plurality of component carriers associated with the field may be configured to be aggregated.

[0011] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include a first "R" field on a first octet and a second "R" field on a second octet. The first R field and the second R field may be configured to indicate one or more component carriers being aggregated. The MAC CE may include five "R" fields at the beginning of an octet and three "C" fields at the end of an octet. i " field. Each of the five R fields can be set to "0" to indicate a reserved bit. The three C i Each of the fields may be set to "1" to indicate a corresponding one of the aggregated component carriers.

[0012] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field, an "A / D" field, and / or a "Serving Cell ID" field. When the R field is set to "1" and the A / D field is set to "1", the component carrier indicated by the Serving Cell ID field may be configured to be aggregated. The configuration information may indicate that if a measurement gap (MG) is configured for the first component carrier, and the MG is not configured for other component carriers in the component carrier, the MG may be configured to be applied to one or more component carriers that are aggregated.

[0013] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that only one Positioning Reference Signal Processing Window (PPW) is valid, while other PPWs are invalid. Each of the aggregated one or more component carriers may be configured with its own PPW. The configuration information may indicate that if only one PPW is configured for a Positioning Frequency Layer (PFL), and other PFLs are not configured with PPWs, the configured PPW may be applied to all aggregated PFLs. Each of the aggregated one or more component carriers may have a first identifier for data transmission and a second identifier for positioning.

[0014] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate a timing error group (TEG) for a primary component carrier (PCC) or a primary serving cell applied to one or more aggregated component carriers. The configuration information may indicate a carrier aggregation specific TEG applied to one or more aggregated component carriers. The configuration information may include a UE capability report indicating a TEG applied to the aggregated one or more component carriers as a whole. The configuration information may indicate a phase error group (PEG) with a minimum phase error applied to all aggregated one or more component carriers. The configuration information may include a UE capability report indicating a PEG applied to all aggregated one or more component carriers.

[0015] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that when multiple PFLs are aggregated and each PFL has one MG, the MG on the first PFL may be applied, while the MGs on other PFLs are invalid. The configuration information may indicate that if a PPW is activated for a PFL, while other PPWs on the respective PFLs are not activated, the activated PPW may be applied to all aggregated PFLs.

[0016] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that if one PPW is activated for one PFL, and other PPWs on the respective PFLs are not activated, the activated PPW may be shared by other PFLs that are aggregated.

[0017] In some embodiments, a wireless communication node may determine configuration information about sending multiple reference signals for positioning over multiple component carriers. The wireless communication node may measure the multiple reference signals. The wireless communication node may report measurement results of the multiple reference signals across one or more of the aggregated multiple component carriers. The wireless communication node may send a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) having one or more "R" fields indicating the aggregation of the multiple reference signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Various example embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and only describe example embodiments of the present invention to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings should not be regarded as limiting the breadth, scope or applicability of the present invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of description, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0019] Figure 1 An example cellular communication network is shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented;

[0020] Figure 2 A block diagram showing example base station and user equipment apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 3 An example implementation of carrier aggregation based positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 4 An example implementation of carrier aggregation based positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 5 An example implementation of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (set) with a medium access control (MAC) control element (MACCE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 6 shows an example simulation of carrier aggregation based positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 An example implementation of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (set) with a medium access control (MAC) control element (MACCE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0026] Figure 8 An example implementation of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (set) with a medium access control (MAC) control element (MACCE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0027] Fig. 9 An example implementation of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (set) with a medium access control (MAC) control element (MACCE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0028] Fig.10 An example implementation of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0029] Fig.11 An example implementation of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0030] Fig.12 An example implementation of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0031] Fig.13 An example implementation of a Positioning Reference Signal Processing (PRS) resource (set) with a Medium Access Control (MAC) Controller (MACCE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0032] Fig.14 illustrates an example implementation of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0033] Fig.15 A flowchart of an example of a positioning method based on carrier aggregation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0035] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100". This example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 102"; also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment 104 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 104"; also referred to as a wireless communication device) that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cell cluster formed by cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. In Figure 1 1, BS 102 and UE 104 are respectively located within the geographical boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station, using its assigned frequency band to provide adequate radio coverage for its intended users.

[0036] For example, BS 102 may operate at an allocated channel transmission band to provide adequate coverage for UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, wherein subframes 120 / 127 may include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which, in general, may implement the methods of the present disclosure. According to various embodiments of the present invention, such communication nodes may perform wireless and / or wired communications.

[0037] Figure 2A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) / orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signals) according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features, which need not be described in detail herein. In an illustrative embodiment, the system 200 may be used to transmit (e.g., send and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment, such as in the case of a wireless communication environment as described above. Figure 1 In a wireless communication environment 100.

[0038] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 202") and a user equipment 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is connected and interconnected to each other through a data communication bus 220 as needed. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is connected and interconnected to each other through a data communication bus 240 as needed. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 through a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmitting the data described herein.

[0039] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the system 200 may also include Figure 2 , any number of modules other than the modules shown in . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various exemplary blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logics relevant to the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented with hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps will be generally described according to their functions. Whether this function is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Personnel familiar with the concepts described in the present invention can implement this function in a suitable manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0040] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternately couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, in some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternately couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Instead, the operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization between changes in duplex direction with minimal guard times.

[0041] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with an appropriately configured RF antenna arrangement 212 / 232 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, etc. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to application to specific standards and related protocols. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or other wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variants thereof.

[0042] According to various embodiments, BS 202 may be, for example, an evolved node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto base station, or a pico base station. In some embodiments, UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, etc. Processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented or implemented using a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0043] In addition, the steps of the methods or algorithms associated with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in firmware, in software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, so that the processor modules 214 and 236 can read information from the memory modules 216 and 234 and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 214 and 236. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively.

[0044] The network communication module 218 generally refers to the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of the base station 202, which can realize two-way communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, but not limited to, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network. In this way, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). The terms "configured for", "configured to" and their variants used herein for a specific operation or function refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and / or arranged to perform a specific operation or function.

[0045] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "OSI model") is a concept and logical layout that defines network communications for systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) to openly interconnect and communicate with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a conceptual set of services provided to its upper and lower layers. The OSI model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer data packet transmission by using different layer protocols. The OSI model may also be referred to as a seven-layer OSI model or a seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be a media access control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, the third layer may be a radio link control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, the fourth layer may be a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, the fifth layer may be a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, the sixth layer may be a non-access stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is other layers.

[0046] A number of preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings so that a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the present invention. For a person of ordinary skill in the art, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of this solution. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the method disclosed herein is merely an example method. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of the steps of the disclosed method or process can be rearranged within the scope of this solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present the various steps or behaviors in an example order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present invention is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0047] 2. Positioning system and method based on carrier aggregation

[0048] The demand for positioning is growing. For example, in a parking lot (especially an underground parking lot), it is not easy to find a car (especially during busy hours). The fifth generation mobile communication system (e.g., 5G, new radio access technology, or 5G-NR) can provide methods for positioning (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS from a base station (e.g., gNB)) and / or sounding reference signals (SRS from a user equipment (UE)) on the wireless side. However, PRS / SRS may be bandwidth-limited (e.g., can only be transmitted within a carrier, e.g., within 100 MHz). The positioning accuracy may be proportional to the bandwidth of the measured reference signal. If the bandwidth of PRS / SRS can be expanded, the positioning accuracy can be improved. The present disclosure relates to extending the PRS / SRS bandwidth (e.g., using carrier aggregation (CA)).

[0049] The present disclosure relates to how to utilize large bandwidth to perform positioning radio communications. Figure 3 In the downlink (DL) shown, a positioning reference signal (PRS) may be transmitted by one or more gNBs. To achieve "good" positioning accuracy, multiple gNBs (e.g., three base stations) may be used. A UE may measure at least one PRS. The UE may report the measurement results to the network (e.g., a location management function (LMF) in a core network (CN) or 5G CN (5GC)). The network element may include at least one of a gNB, a CN, or a UE.

[0050] In such Figure 4In the uplink (UL) shown, a sounding reference signal (SRS) may be sent by a UE. One or more gNBs (e.g., more gNBs) may measure the SRS. The one or more gNBs may report the measurement results to a network (e.g., LMF).

[0051] Both the PRS and SRS used for positioning are sent in the carrier wave, so the positioning accuracy is limited.

[0052] For data transmission, the aggregation of multiple component carriers (CCs) (e.g., carrier aggregation (CA)) can be introduced to achieve high bandwidth. CA can be aggregation within a frequency band (intra-band CA) or aggregation between frequency bands (inter-band CA). The principle of CA can also be applied to PRS and SRS to achieve the purpose of positioning. The present disclosure can provide a method for improving positioning accuracy after CA is performed.

[0053] Embodiment 1:

[0054] This embodiment uses UL-SRS as the description object. This principle can also be applied to DL-PRS. The network (e.g., gNB) can configure one (or more) SRS resources (sets) for positioning for the UE on one carrier (or multiple carriers). If two (or more) SRSs from different carriers are transmitted at the same time, this situation can be called CA of SRS for positioning. However, this situation has not yet occurred.

[0055] The network (e.g., gNB) can Figure 5The media access control (MAC) control element (CE, MAC CE) shown is used to activate / deactivate one (or more) SRS resources (sets). In the horizontal direction, it can be 8 bits of an octet. In the vertical direction, it can be a bit field used for different functions. "A / D" can indicate whether the indicated semi-persistence (SP) positioning SRS resource set is activated or deactivated. "Positioning SRS Resource Set'sCell ID" can be the identifier of the serving cell of the positioning SRS resource. "Positioning SRS Resource Set's BWPID" can be the UL bandwidth part (bandwidth part, BWP) ID as an indicator of the coding point on the downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI). "R" can represent a reserved bit (for example, set to "0"). "S" can indicate whether the field Spatial Relation for Resource IDi for the i-th positioning SRS resource in the positioning SRS resource set exists. "C" may indicate whether an octet containing (one or more) Resource Serving Cell ID fields and (one or more) Resource BWP ID fields is present in the Spatial Relation for Resource IDi field. "SUL" may indicate whether the MAC CE is applicable to a normal UL (NUL) carrier or a supplementary UL (SUL) carrier configuration. "Positioning SRS Resource Set ID" may indicate the SP positioning SRS resource set. The field "Spatial Relation for Resource IDi" may represent the spatial relationship of the i-th resource ID.

[0056] A higher layer (e.g., a location management function (LMF), a gNB, a radio resource control (RRC) layer, or an RRC of a gNB) may configure multiple carriers / cells / serving cells for a UE for PRS reception (or SRS transmission). A carrier / cell / serving cell may have multiple PRS / SRS resources (or resource sets). In some embodiments, a higher layer may configure the association between carriers that may be aggregated. Optionally, the carrier used for SRS / PRS (i.e., positioning) may be different from the carrier used for communication (i.e., the carrier used for the physical shared channel carrying data). Optionally, a carrier (or cell) may have two IDs: one for data transmission (e.g., serving cell ID, carrier ID, physical cell identity (PCI)), and the other for positioning (e.g., for SRS / PRS transmission / reception). Optionally, the same carrier (or cell) may have two IDs: one for data transmission and the other for positioning, and the two related signals / channels may even be transmitted simultaneously. Optionally, the ID may be a physical layer ID (e.g., PCI for data transmission, physical ID for positioning). Optionally, the ID may be configured by a higher layer (e.g., RRC of a gNB, for example, configured as PCI+Offset, where PCI may be the PCI used for data transmission and Offset may be an integer, such as 1010).

[0057] If the field "R" is set to a non-reserved bit (for example, set to "1"), multiple carriers can be transmitted simultaneously (for example, CA or bandwidth aggregation). If the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs can be transmitted on multiple carriers simultaneously (for example, CA of SRS). Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple SRS resources can be transmitted simultaneously on multiple carriers. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple SRS resource sets can be transmitted simultaneously on multiple carriers. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated / deactivated SRS resource sets can be transmitted simultaneously on multiple carriers. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated / deactivated SRS resource sets can be activated simultaneously on multiple carriers.

[0058] In some embodiments, if a UE is configured with multiple carriers (e.g., 3) and the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated SRS resource sets can be transmitted simultaneously on all carriers (e.g., all 3 carriers). Optionally, if a UE is configured with multiple carriers (e.g., 3) and the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated SRS resource sets can be transmitted simultaneously on a subset of these carriers (e.g., carrier #1 and #2, or carrier #2 and #3, or carrier #1 and #3). In some embodiments, the network (e.g., gNB) can configure which sets of carriers are aggregated (e.g., carrier sets {carrier #1, carrier #2}, {carrier #2, carrier #3} configured by higher layer signaling). An indication can indicate which set is to be aggregated (e.g., by higher layer signaling, MAC CE with the "R" field set to "1", or downlink control information).

[0059] In some embodiments, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated SRS resource sets may be transmitted simultaneously on multiple carriers having a spatial relationship, the spatial relationship of these carriers being as indicated in the MAC CE. A carrier may be a cell or a serving cell. The cell or serving cell may be a carrier. Alternatively, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated SRS resource sets may be transmitted simultaneously on multiple carriers having the same spatial relationship, the spatial relationship of these carriers being as indicated in the MAC CE.

[0060] The field "SUL" can play the same function as the field "R". For example, if a UE is configured with multiple carriers (for example, 3) and the field "SUL" is set to "1", multiple SRSs on multiple activated SRS resource sets can be transmitted simultaneously on a subset of the carriers (for example, carriers #1 and #2, or carriers #2 and #3, or carriers #1 and #3). Optionally, as shown in the following table, the combination of the field "R" and the field "SUL" can provide more functions than the field "R". The combination of the field "R" and the field "SUL" can indicate which carriers carrying SRS can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0061]

[0062] Table 1

[0063] SRS / PRS aggregation may be the same as CA of SRS / PRS, carrier aggregation, or carrier aggregation of SRS / PRS. In some embodiments, there may be some fields "R" in the field "Spatial Relation for Resource IDi". These fields "R" may be used to indicate which carriers carrying SRS may be transmitted simultaneously. Optionally, the field "R" (and / or other fields, e.g., "SUL") may indicate that the carrier indicated by the field "Positioning SRS Resource Set's Cell ID" may not be carrier aggregated, while other carriers may be aggregated (e.g., because the carrier may be too busy). For example, for a UE configured with three intra-band contiguous carriers (where carrier #1 is indicated by the field "Positioning SRS Resource Set's Cell ID"), carrier #2 and carrier #3 may be aggregated. SRS on carrier #2 and carrier #3 may be transmitted simultaneously (e.g., CA of SRS).

[0064] In some embodiments, the field "R" may indicate whether the (carriers carrying) SRS are aggregated, and the field "SUL" may indicate the number of aggregated carriers (e.g., "0" indicates that the first two carriers are aggregated, and "1" indicates that all carriers are aggregated). Optionally, after carrier aggregation (e.g., the field "R" is set to "1"), the spatial relationship of all SRSs on the SRS resource (set) may follow the spatial relationship of the SRS indicated by the "Positioning SRS Resource Set ID" field. Optionally, the UE may be configured with multiple PFLs / carriers for PRS / SRS. Optionally, only one PPW may be configured for these PFLs / carriers (e.g., on the first PFL, or on the PFL with cell ID=0). Optionally, only one PPW may be configured for one PFL / carrier, while other PFLs / carriers may not be configured with PPWs, and the PPW may be applicable to all these PFLs / carriers. Optionally, only one PPW may be configured for one PFL / carrier, while other PFL / carriers may not be configured with PPWs. Then, when all these PFL / carriers are aggregated, the PPW may be applied to all these PFL / carriers. Optionally, only one PPW may be configured for one PFL / carrier, while other PFL / carriers may not be configured with PPWs. Then, when all these PFL / carriers are transmitting, the PPW may be applied to all these PFL / carriers. Optionally, when these multiple PFL / carriers are aggregated, the PPW may be applied to all these PFL / carriers. Optionally, when these multiple PFL / carriers are transmitting simultaneously, the PPW may be applied to all these PFL / carriers.

[0065] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may indicate which PELs / carriers / cells are associated for aggregation. Alternatively, the MAC CE may indicate which PFLs / carriers / cells are associated for simultaneous transmission.

[0066] The UE may transmit SRS on multiple carriers indicated in the above MAC CE. One or more gNBs may receive SRS of multiple carriers from the UE. The gNB may measure positioning related information (e.g., timing related information). The gNB may report the measurement results to the network (e.g., LMF). The network (e.g., LMF) may calculate the position of the UE.

[0067] In this way, SRS carrier aggregation can be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the spatial relationship of SRS resources. Figure 6 As shown, by using SRS carrier aggregation, the positioning accuracy can be improved from 0.386m@CDF=90% to 0.195m@CDF=90%. The simulation settings can be: carrier frequency=3.5GHz, CC1=CC2=100MHz, indoor factory with sparse clutter and high base station height (InF-SH).

[0068] Embodiment 2:

[0069] This embodiment uses UL-SRS as a description object. This principle can also be applied to DL-PRS.

[0070] The network (e.g., gNB) can Figure 7 The MAC CE shown indicates the spatial relationship of the SRS resource (set). The "Resource Serving Cell IDi" field may indicate the identifier of the serving cell where the resource used for deriving the spatial relationship for the i-th SRS resource is located. The "Resource IDi" field may contain the identifier of the resource used for deriving the spatial relationship for the i-th SRS resource.

[0071] In some embodiments, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple carriers (e.g., CA) for SRS can be transmitted simultaneously. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", multiple carriers indicated by the field "Resource Serving Cell IDi" (note: a carrier can be a cell, and a cell can be a carrier) can be transmitted simultaneously. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", SRS on multiple carriers indicated by the field "Resource Serving Cell IDi" can be transmitted simultaneously. Optionally, if the field "R" is set to "1", SRS on SRS resources (sets) on multiple carriers indicated by the field "Resource Serving Cell IDi" can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first bit (or the leftmost bit) of the "Resource IDi" field may be used to indicate the CA of the SRS. Alternatively, the first two bits (or the leftmost two bits) of the "Resource IDi" field may be used to indicate the CA of the SRS. Optionally, if the first bit of the "Resource IDi" field is set to "1", multiple carriers (e.g., CA) for the SRS may be transmitted simultaneously.

[0073] In some embodiments, as shown in Table 2, the first two bits of the "Resource ID i " field may be used to indicate that multiple carriers for SRS may be transmitted simultaneously.

[0074]

[0075]

[0076] Table 2

[0077] In this way, SRS carrier aggregation can be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the spatial relationship of SRS resources.

[0078] Embodiment 3:

[0079] This embodiment uses UL-SRS as a description object. This principle can also be applied to DL-PRS.

[0080] The network (e.g. gNB) can Figure 8The MAC CE shown indicates the SRS path loss reference RS (resource) ID. The "Pathloss Reference RS ID" field can indicate the path loss reference RS ID. The SRS indicated by the "SRS Resource SetID" field can be aggregated with the SRS on the carrier (or cell) indicated by the "Pathloss Reference RS ID" field. Optionally, the SRS indicated by the "SRS Resource Set ID" field can be aggregated with the SRS on the carrier (or cell) associated with the "PathlossReference RS ID" field. Optionally, the SRS indicated by the "SRS ResourceSet ID" field and the SRS on the carrier (or cell) associated with the "Pathloss Reference RS ID" field can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0081] In some embodiments, for the aggregated SRS (resources) indicated by the MAC CE, the same path loss reference (e.g., the same as indicated by the "SRS Resource Set ID") may be applied to these SRS (resources). In this way, SRS carrier aggregation may be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the spatial relationship of the SRS resources.

[0082] Embodiment 4:

[0083] This embodiment uses UL-SRS as a description object. This principle can also be applied to DL-PRS.

[0084] The network (e.g., gNB) can Fig. 9 The MAC CE shown indicates the spatial relationship of the SRS (with the RS resource ID on the cell / carrier). The "Resource Serving Cell IDi" field may indicate the identity of the serving cell where the resource used to derive the spatial relationship for the i-th SRS resource ID is located. The cell (or carrier) associated with the "SRS Resource's Cell ID" and the cell (or carrier) associated with the "Resource Serving Cell Idi" may be aggregated. Optionally, the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "SRS Resource's Cell ID" and the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "Resource ServingCell Idi" may be aggregated.

[0085] Optionally, if the field "R" on the first octet (Oct 1) is set to "1", the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "SRSResource'sCell ID" and the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "Resource Serving Cell Idi" can be aggregated. Optionally, if the field "R" on the second octet (Oct 2) is set to "1", the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "SRS Resource's Cell ID" and the SRS on the cell (or carrier) associated with the "Resource Serving Cell Idi" can be aggregated (for example, these SRSs can be transmitted simultaneously). Optionally, for the aggregated SRS (resources) indicated by the MAC CE, these SRS (resources) can apply the same spatial relationship (for example, the same as indicated by "Resource ID 0"). Optionally, as shown in Table 3, the field "R" on the first octet (Oct 1) and the field "R" on the second octet (Oct 2) may indicate that a subset of cells (or carriers) may be aggregated.

[0086]

[0087]

[0088] Table 3

[0089] In this way, SRS carrier aggregation can be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the spatial relationship of SRS resources.

[0090] Embodiment 5:

[0091] This example embodiment may be applied to UL-SRS and / or DL-PRS.

[0092] The network (e.g. gNB) can Fig.10 The MAC CE shown indicates simultaneous transmission of SRS / PRS. Field "R" may indicate a reserved bit (e.g., set to "0"). Field "C0", field "C1", and field "C2" may be used for the first carrier (or cell, or serving cell), the second carrier (or cell, or serving cell), and the third carrier (or cell, or serving cell), respectively.

[0093] If the field "C0" (or "C1", or "C2") is set to "1", the carrier can be aggregated. Otherwise, the carrier cannot be aggregated. Optionally, if the field "C0" (or "C1", or "C2") is set to "1", the SRS (or PRS) on the carrier can be aggregated. Optionally, if the field "C0" (or "C1", or "C2") is set to "1", the SRS (or PRS) resource (set) on the carrier can be activated, and the SRS (or PRS) on the carrier can be aggregated. The SRS / PRS on the carrier indicated by the field "C0" (or "C1", or "C2") can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0094] In some embodiments, the network (e.g., gNB) may indicate simultaneous transmission of SRS / PRS via MAC CE in the form of RRRRRC2C1R, where C0 may be aggregated (or transmitted simultaneously), or RRRRC3C2C1C0, or RRRC4C3C2C1C0, or RRRC4C3C2C1R, or RRC5C4C3C2C1C0, or RRC5C4C3C2C1R, RC6C5C4C3C2C1C0, or RC6C5C4C3C2C1R.

[0095] In some embodiments, the network (e.g., gNB) may Fig.11 The MAC CE shown indicates simultaneous SRS / PRS transmission. The MAC CE can support 8 carrier aggregations for positioning.

[0096] The network (e.g., gNB) can indicate SRS / PRS simultaneous transmission via a MAC CE of the form C7C6C5C4C3C2C1R. In this configuration, carrier C0 can be aggregated. This MAC CE can support 8 carrier aggregation for positioning. Optionally, the network (e.g., gNB) can indicate SRS / PRS simultaneous transmission via a MAC CE of the form C7C6C5C4C3C2C1R. In this configuration, carrier C0 can be aggregated. This MAC CE can support 8 carrier aggregation for positioning. Fig.12 The MAC CE shown indicates simultaneous SRS / PRS transmission. The MAC CE can support 16 carrier aggregations for positioning.

[0097] Optionally, one or more fields may be replaced by an "R" field. For example, field "C0" may be replaced by an "R" field (a reserved bit, set to "0"). For another example, field "C 14 ” and “C 15 " may be replaced by an "R" field. Optionally, the MAC CE may indicate an association between carriers that can be aggregated. Optionally, the field "R" may indicate which carriers / cells may be aggregated.

[0098] By this method, SRS / PRS carrier aggregation (three or more carriers) can be indicated with greater flexibility. Therefore, positioning accuracy can be improved.

[0099] Embodiment 6:

[0100] This embodiment uses DL-PRS as the description object. This principle can also be applied to UL-SRS.

[0101] The network (e.g., gNB) can Fig.13 The MAC CE shown indicates which PRS processing window (PPW) on the serving cell / carrier is activated / deactivated. The field "numEntry" may indicate the number of ("Serving Cell ID" + "PPW ID" + "A / D" in eight bits) entries. The "Serving Cell ID" field may indicate which PPW on which serving cell may be activated / deactivated. The "PPW ID" field may indicate which PPW may be activated / deactivated (e.g., activated by setting the field "A / D" to "1").

[0102] One gNB can configure multiple (temporally) non-overlapping PPWs (e.g., 4 PPWs). If the first "R" field (or the second "R" field, or the sixth "R" field, or other "R" fields) is set to "1", the PRS may be aggregated. Alternatively, if the first "R" field is set to "1", the PRS indicated by the field "Serving Cell ID" may be aggregated. Alternatively, if the first "R" field is set to "1" and the field "A / D" is set to "1", the PRS indicated by the field "Serving Cell ID" may be aggregated.

[0103] In some embodiments, the PPW may be configured for one carrier (e.g., the first serving cell indicated by the "Serving Cell ID" field), while there is no PPW (e.g., not configured) on other carriers. In this case, the PPW may be applied to all aggregated carriers (or cells). Optionally, as in the previous example, the aggregated carriers may be indicated by one or more "R" fields. These carriers may share the same PPW. Optionally, in this case, the PPW association between carriers (cells) may be given (e.g., indicated by one or more "R" fields on the MAC CE).

[0104] In some embodiments, for aggregated carriers (or cells), (only) one PPW (e.g., the PPW of the first carrier is selected, or the PPW indicated by the MAC CE, or the PPW indicated by the "R" field on the MAC CE) may be applied to these carriers. Optionally, for aggregated carriers (or cells) used for PRS, (only) one PPW may be valid (e.g., the first PPW, the PPW with PPW ID=0), while other PPWs may be invalid. This may be indicated by the "R" field. Optionally, for aggregated carriers (or cells) used for PRS, (only) one PPW may be valid (e.g., the first PPW, the PPW with PPW ID=0), while other PPWs may be invalid even if configured.

[0105] In some embodiments, when multiple PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells are aggregated and each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell is configured with a PPW, if one PPW is activated for one PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell (e.g., indicated by field "A / D" being set to "1" or field "R" being set to "1"), and other PPWs on each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell are not activated (e.g., indicated by field "A / D" being set to "0" or field "R" being set to "0"), then the activated PPW may be applied to all aggregated PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells. In some embodiments, when multiple PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells are aggregated and each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell is configured with a PPW, if one PPW is activated for one PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell, and other PPWs on each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell are not activated, then the activated PPW may be shared by other aggregated PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells.

[0106] In some embodiments, when multiple PFLs / carriers are aggregated, a carrier aggregation specific PPW is applied to all aggregated carriers. Within the PPW, all PFLs / carriers configured for the UE may be measured. Optionally, within the PPW, all PFLs / carriers configured for the UE may be measured simultaneously. Optionally, within the PPW, all PFLs / carriers aggregated for the UE may be measured. Optionally, within the PPW, all PFLs / carriers aggregated for the UE may be measured simultaneously.

[0107] The carrier aggregation specific PPW may include at least one of the following: PPW ID, the number of aggregated PFL / carriers / cells / serving cells (e.g., 3 carriers), a list of aggregated PFL / carriers / cells / serving cell IDs, PPW offset (e.g., relative to system frame number (SFN) 0, SFN #0, time slot #0), PPW length (e.g., 20 time slots), PPW repetition period (e.g., 40ms), PPW type (e.g., intra-band, inter-band), priority of other DL signals / channels or priority of PRS (e.g., which signal can be processed first and which can be discarded if a conflict occurs). In this way, SRS carrier aggregation can be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the spatial relationship of SRS resources.

[0108] Embodiment 7:

[0109] When the UE performs positioning related measurements (e.g., time difference of arrival (TDOA)), the UE may use a timing error group (TEG). A TEG may be a group of antennas / multiple antennas. In some embodiments, a TEG may have one antenna. Different TEGs may have different antennas / multiple antennas. A TEG may include an Rx TEG for receiving, a Tx TEG for transmitting, and / or an Rx-Tx TEG for receiving and transmitting.

[0110] When two or more carriers are aggregated, the same TEG may be applied to all these aggregated carriers. Optionally, when measuring all aggregated carriers (or the aggregated carriers as a whole), the network (e.g., LMF) may request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to apply the same TEG. Optionally, a TEG with the smallest timing error may be selected / applied for all aggregated carriers. Optionally, a TEG indicated by the network (e.g., gNB) may be selected / applied for all carriers. Optionally, a TEG indicated by the network by a TEG ID (e.g., Rx TEG ID for reception / measurement, Tx TEG ID for transmission) may be selected / applied for all carriers. Optionally, a TEG may be indicated by the network (e.g., gNB) for all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the network (e.g., gNB) may indicate a TEG with the smallest timing error for all aggregated carriers.

[0111] In some embodiments, for each carrier / cell, the UE may select an Rx TEG for PRS measurement, and each Rx TEG may be different. Alternatively, for each carrier / cell, the UE may select a Tx TEG for SRS transmission, and each Tx TEG may be different.

[0112] In some embodiments, the TEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the TEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to the entire aggregated carrier. Optionally, for PRS reception, the Rx TEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, for SRS transmission, the Tx TEG of the carrier / cell with the highest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers, where the frequency may be determined by the absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN).

[0113] In some embodiments, the TEG of the carrier / cell with the largest bandwidth may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the TEG of the carrier / cell with the smallest bandwidth may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the TEG of the carrier / cell at the center of the aggregated carrier may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the TEG of the primary component carrier / cell (PCC, primary serving cell) may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the TEG of the first carrier / cell (e.g., the carrier with carrier ID=0, or the carrier with the lowest carrier ID) (e.g., a carrier aggregation-specific TEG) may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, a TEG of aggregated carriers (e.g., a carrier aggregation-specific TEG) may be defined (and applied), the timing error of which is the timing error on the aggregated carriers measured under the TEG. Optionally, a carrier aggregation-specific TEG may be applied to all aggregated carriers.

[0114] In some embodiments, the TEG with the closest timing error may be selected / applied for the aggregated carrier / cell. For example, for the three carriers to be aggregated, the timing errors of the TEGs of the three carriers are 0.15ns, 0.11ns, and 0.18ns, respectively (where the closest / most central / most concentrated value is 0.15ns). A TEG with a timing error of 0.15ns (the closest one) may be selected / applied for the aggregated carrier / cell.

[0115] When the UE (or gNB, or TRP) reports the measurement results of the aggregated carriers, the UE may attach the Rx TEG ID. In some embodiments, the UE may report its capabilities on the TEG of the carrier aggregation (e.g., the TEG ID of the aggregated carriers and their timing errors). Optionally, the UE may report its TEG capabilities on the entire aggregated carriers (e.g., the TEG ID and the timing errors on these aggregated carriers). Optionally, the UE may report its capabilities on the number of carriers it can measure on the aggregated PRS (e.g., 2 carriers). Optionally, the UE may report its capabilities on the number of carriers it can send on the aggregated SRS. Optionally, the UE may report its capabilities on the total bandwidth of the aggregated PRS / SRS (e.g., 100+100+100=300MHz, 3 consecutive 100MHz). In some embodiments, the UE may report its capabilities on the measurement period of the carrier aggregation (e.g., how many PRS symbols it can process in a time period).

[0116] With this method, by selecting / indicating an appropriate TEG, PRS / SRS with carrier aggregation can be measured / transmitted with minimal timing error, thereby ensuring that positioning accuracy can be achieved with minimal error.

[0117] Embodiment 8:

[0118] When the UE performs positioning related measurements (e.g., time difference of arrival TDOA), the UE may use a phase error group (PEG). A PEG may be a group of antennas / multiple antennas. In some embodiments, a PEG may have one antenna. Different PEGs may have different antennas / multiple antennas. A PEG may include an Rx PEG for receiving, a Tx PEG for sending, and / or an Rx-Tx PEG for receiving and sending.

[0119] When two or more carriers are aggregated, the same PEG may be applied to all of these aggregated carriers. Optionally, the network (e.g., LMF) may request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to apply the same PEG when measuring all aggregated carriers.

[0120] In some embodiments, a PEG with minimum phase error may be selected / applied for all aggregated carriers. Optionally, a PEG indicated by the network (e.g., gNB) may be selected / applied for all carriers. Optionally, a PEG indicated by the network via a PEG ID (e.g., Rx PEG ID for reception / measurement, Tx PEG ID for transmission) may be selected / applied for all carriers. Optionally, a PEG may be indicated by the network (e.g., gNB) for all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the network (e.g., gNB) may indicate a PEG with minimum phase error for all aggregated carriers.

[0121] Optionally, for each carrier / cell, the UE may select an Rx PEG for PRS measurement, and each Rx PEG may be different. Optionally, for each carrier / cell, the UE may select a Tx PEG for SRS transmission, and each Tx PEG may be different. Optionally, for each carrier / cell, the gNB (or TRP) may select a Tx PEG for PRS transmission, and each Tx PEG may be different.

[0122] Optionally, the PEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to the entire aggregated carriers. Optionally, the PEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, for PRS reception, the Rx PEG of the carrier / cell with the lowest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, for SRS transmission, the Tx PEG of the carrier / cell with the highest frequency may be applied to all aggregated carriers, where the frequency may be determined by the ARFCN. Optionally, the PEG of the carrier / cell with the largest bandwidth may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the PEG of the carrier / cell with the smallest bandwidth may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the PEG of the carrier / cell at the center of the aggregated carrier may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, the PEG of the PCC (or primary serving cell) may be applied to all aggregated carriers.

[0123] Optionally, a PEG (e.g., a carrier aggregation specific PEG) of the first carrier / cell (e.g., a carrier with carrier ID=0, or a carrier with the lowest carrier ID) may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Optionally, a PEG (e.g., a carrier aggregation specific PEG) of aggregated carriers may be defined (and applied), the phase error of which is the phase error on the aggregated carriers measured under the TEG. Optionally, a carrier aggregation specific PEG may be applied to all aggregated carriers.

[0124] In some embodiments, a PEG with the closest phase error may be selected / applied for the aggregated carrier / cell. For example, for the 3 carriers to be aggregated, the phase errors of the PEGs of the 3 carriers may be 0.14Rad, 0.12Rad, 0.19Rad (where the closest / most central / most concentrated value is 0.14Rad). A PEG with a phase error of 0.14Rad (the closest one) may be selected / applied for the aggregated carrier / cell. When the UE (or gNB, or TRP) reports the measurement results of the aggregated carrier, the UE may attach the Rx PEG ID.

[0125] In some embodiments, the UE may report its capabilities in the PEG of carrier aggregation (e.g., PEG ID and phase error on these aggregated carriers). With this method, by selecting / indicating the appropriate PEG, PRS / SRS with carrier aggregation can be measured / transmitted with minimal phase error. Therefore, it is ensured that positioning accuracy can be achieved with minimal error.

[0126] Embodiment 9:

[0127] This embodiment uses DL-PRS as the description object. This principle can also be applied to UL-SRS.

[0128] The network (e.g., gNB) can Fig.14 The MAC CE shown in the figure indicates which PRS measurement gap (MG) on the serving cell / carrier is activated / deactivated. In addition, the UE can send a MAC CE of this format to request a measurement gap (MG). The field "Positioning MG ID" can indicate the identifier of a pre-configured positioning measurement gap.

[0129] If the first 'R' field (or the second 'R' field, or the third 'R' field) is set to '1', the PRS may be aggregated.

[0130] Optionally, the "R" field may indicate carrier aggregation of PRS, as shown in the following tables (Table 4 and Table 5).

[0131]

[0132] Table 4

[0133]

[0134] Table 5

[0135] In some embodiments, if the "R" field is set to "1" and the "A / D" field is set to "1", the PRS may be aggregated. Optionally, if the "R" field is set to "1", the PRS associated with the field "Positioning MG ID" may be aggregated. Optionally, if the "R" field is set to "1" and the "A / D" field is set to "1", the PRS associated with the field "Positioning MG ID" may be aggregated. Optionally, the code point may indicate which carriers carrying the PRS may be transmitted simultaneously.

[0136] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with multiple PFLs / carriers for PRS / SRS. Optionally, only one MG may be configured for these PFLs / carriers (e.g., on the first PFL, or on the PFL with cell ID=0). Optionally, only one MG may be configured for a PFL / carrier, while other PFLs / carriers may not be configured with MGs, and the MG may be applied to all these PFLs / carriers. Optionally, only one MG may be configured for a PFL / carrier, while other PFLs / carriers may not be configured with MGs, and when all these PFLs / carriers are aggregated, the MG may be applied to all these PFLs / carriers. Optionally, only one MG may be configured for a PFL / carrier, while other PFLs / carriers may not be configured with MGs, and when all these PFLs / carriers are transmitted, the MG may be applied to all these PFLs / carriers. Optionally, when these multiple PFLs / carriers are aggregated, the MG may be applied to all these PFLs / carriers. Optionally, when these multiple PFLs / carriers are transmitted simultaneously, the MG may be applied to all these PFLs / carriers.

[0137] In some embodiments, when aggregating these multiple PFLs / carriers (each with one MG), the MG on the first PFL / carrier may be applied (e.g., valid) while the MG on other PFLs / carriers may be invalid (e.g., not applied).

[0138] In some embodiments, when multiple PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells are aggregated and each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell is configured with an MG, if one MG is activated for one PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell (for example, indicated by setting field “A / D” to “1” or field “R” to “1”), and other MGs on each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell are not activated (for example, indicated by setting field “A / D” to “0” or field “R” to “0”), then the activated MG can be applied to all aggregated PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells.

[0139] In some embodiments, when multiple PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells are aggregated and each PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell is configured with a MG, if one MG is activated for one PFL / carrier / cell / serving cell, and other MGs on the respective PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells are not activated, the activated MG may be shared by other aggregated PFLs / carriers / cells / serving cells.

[0140] When multiple PFLs / carriers are aggregated, a carrier aggregation specific MG may be applied to all aggregated carriers. Within the MG, all PFLs / carriers configured for the UE may be measured. Optionally, within the MG, all PFLs / carriers configured for the UE may be measured simultaneously. Optionally, within the MG, all PFLs / carriers aggregated for the UE may be measured. Optionally, within the MG, all PFLs / carriers aggregated for the UE may be measured simultaneously.

[0141] In some embodiments, the carrier aggregation specific MG may include at least one of the following: MG ID, the number of aggregated PFL / carriers / cells / serving cells (e.g., 3 carriers), a list of aggregated PFL / carriers / cells / serving cell IDs, MG offset (e.g., relative to system frame number 0, SFN#0, time slot #0), MG length (e.g., 10 time slots), MG repetition period (e.g., 20ms), MG type (e.g., intra-band, inter-band), or other DL signal / channel priorities or PRS priorities (e.g., which signal will be processed first).

[0142] In this way, PRS carrier aggregation can be indicated without increasing signaling overhead, while still maintaining the measurement gap of PRS.

[0143] It should be understood that one or more features of the above-described embodiments are not exclusive to a particular embodiment, but may be combined in any manner (eg, in any priority and / or order, concurrently or otherwise).

[0144] Fig.15 A flowchart of a positioning method 1500 based on carrier aggregation is shown. The method 1500 may be used in conjunction with the present invention. Figure 1-Figure 14 In some embodiments, the method 1500 may be implemented by any one or more components and devices described in detail. In general, in some embodiments, the method 1500 may be performed by a first wireless communication device (e.g., a UE). According to different embodiments, more, fewer, or different operations may be performed in the method 1500. At least one aspect of the operation is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium.

[0145] A user equipment (UE) may receive configuration information about transmitting multiple reference signals for positioning over multiple component carriers from a network. The UE may receive a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating aggregation of multiple reference signals from the network. The UE may send multiple reference signals over one or more component carriers aggregated to the multiple component carriers of the network. The MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals on multiple activated SRS resources may be configured to be transmitted simultaneously on multiple component carriers.

[0146] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals on multiple activated SRS resources may be configured to be aggregated on a subset of multiple component carriers.

[0147] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an 'R' field. When the R field is set to '1', multiple reference signals on multiple activated SRS resources may be configured to be aggregated on all multiple component carriers.

[0148] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field. When the R field is set to "1", multiple reference signals on multiple activated SRS resource sets may be configured to be transmitted simultaneously on subsets of multiple component carriers. The corresponding spatial relationship of the component carrier subsets may also be indicated by the MAC CE.

[0149] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field and a "SUL" field. The R field and the SUL field may be configured to indicate which of the multiple component carriers carrying the SRS are configured to transmit simultaneously. The MAC CE may include an "R" field and a "SUL" field. The R field may be configured to indicate whether one or more component carriers are aggregated. The SUL field may be configured to indicate the number of one or more component carriers that are aggregated.

[0150] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include a "Positioning SRS Resource Set ID" field. The spatial relationship of all multiple reference signals may be indicated by the Positioning SRS Resource Set ID field. The MAC CE may include a "Resource IDi" field. When the first bit of Resource IDi is set to "1", multiple component carriers may be configured to transmit simultaneously.

[0151] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "SRS Resource Set ID" field and a "PathlossReference RS ID" field. A first component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the SRS Resource Set ID field and a second component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the Pathloss Reference RS ID field may be configured to be aggregated. The MAC CE may include an "R" field, an "SRS Resource's Cell ID" field, and / or a "ServingCell ID" field. i" field. When the R field on the first octet is set to "1", the first component carrier of the multiple component carriers associated with the SRS Resource's Cell ID field and the Serving Cell ID i A second component carrier among the plurality of component carriers associated with the field may be configured to be aggregated.

[0152] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include a first "R" field on a first octet and a second "R" field on a second octet. The first R field and the second R field may be configured to indicate one or more component carriers being aggregated. The MAC CE may include five "R" fields at the beginning of an octet and three "C" fields at the end of an octet. i " field. Each of the five R fields can be set to "0" to indicate a reserved bit. The three C i Each of the fields may be set to '1' to indicate a corresponding one of the aggregated component carriers.

[0153] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an "R" field, an "A / D" field, and / or a "Serving Cell ID" field. When the R field is set to "1" and the A / D field is set to "1", the component carrier indicated by the Serving Cell ID field may be configured to be aggregated. The configuration information may indicate that if a measurement gap (MG) is configured for the first component carrier and no MG is configured for other component carriers in the component carrier, the MG may be configured to be applied to one or more component carriers that are aggregated.

[0154] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that only one PPW is valid and the other PPWs are invalid. Each of the one or more aggregated component carriers may be configured with its own PPW. The configuration information may indicate that if only one PPW is configured for one PFL and the other PFLs are not configured with a PPW, the configured PPW may be applied to all aggregated PFLs. Each of the aggregated one or more component carriers may have a first identifier for data transmission and a second identifier for positioning.

[0155] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate a TEG for a primary component carrier (PCC) or a primary serving cell applied to one or more aggregated component carriers. The configuration information may indicate a carrier aggregation specific TEG applied to one or more aggregated component carriers. The configuration information may include a UE capability report indicating a TEG applied to the aggregated one or more component carriers as a whole. The configuration information may indicate a PEG with minimum phase error applied to all aggregated one or more component carriers. The configuration information may include a UE capability report indicating a PEG applied to all aggregated one or more component carriers.

[0156] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that when multiple PFLs are aggregated and each PFL has one MG, the MG on the first PFL may be applied, while the MGs on other PFLs are invalid. The configuration information may indicate that if a PPW is activated for a PFL, while other PPWs on the respective PFLs are not activated, the activated PPW may be applied to all aggregated PFLs.

[0157] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that when multiple PFLs are aggregated and each PFL has one MG, the MG on the first PFL may be shared by other aggregated PFLs, while the MG on other PFLs is invalid. The configuration information may indicate that if a PPW is activated for a PFL, and other PPWs on each PFL are not activated, the activated PPW may be shared by other aggregated PFLs.

[0158] In some embodiments, a wireless communication node may determine configuration information regarding multiple reference signals for positioning sent over multiple component carriers. The wireless communication node may measure the multiple reference signals. The wireless communication node may report measurement results of the multiple reference signals on one or more of the aggregated multiple component carriers. The wireless communication node may transmit a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) having one or more "R" fields indicating the aggregation of the multiple reference signals.

[0159] Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented only in an exemplary and not limiting manner. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided so that those of ordinary skill in the art can understand the exemplary features and functions of the present invention. However, such personnel will understand that the present invention is not limited to the example architectures or configurations shown, but can use a variety of alternative architectures and configurations to implement the present invention. In addition, as those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0160] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using names such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements may be used, or that the first element must be located before the second element in some manner.

[0161] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols such as those referenced in the description above may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0162] It will be further understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that any of the various schematic logic blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of design code or programs containing instructions (for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various schematic components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally according to their functions. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0163] In addition, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which may include: a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may further include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0164] If the function is implemented in software, the function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that can enable a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. By way of example and in a non-limiting manner, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0165] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it is obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0166] In addition, memory or other storage devices and communication components can be used in embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the embodiment of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any appropriate functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains can be used without departing from the present invention. For example, the function illustrated as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller can be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, reference to a specific functional unit is only a reference to an appropriate device for providing the described function, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0167] Various modifications to the embodiments described in the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method for positioning, comprising: A user equipment UE receives configuration information from a network, wherein the configuration information is about sending a plurality of reference signals for positioning through a plurality of component carriers; The UE receives a medium access control MAC control element CE from the network, where the MAC CE indicates aggregation of the multiple reference signals; and The UE sends the multiple reference signals to the network through one or more aggregated component carriers among the multiple component carriers.

2. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an “R” field, and wherein, when the R field is set to “1”, the multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resources are configured to be simultaneously transmitted on the multiple component carriers.

3. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an "R" field, and wherein, when the R field is set to "1", the multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resources are configured to a subset of the multiple component carriers, and the subset of the multiple component carriers is configured to be aggregated.

4. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an “R” field, and wherein, when the R field is set to “1”, the multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resources are configured on all of the multiple component carriers, and all of the multiple component carriers are configured to be aggregated.

5. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an "R" field, wherein, when the R field is set to "1", the multiple reference signals located on multiple activated SRS resource sets are configured to subsets of the multiple component carriers and are configured to be sent simultaneously, and wherein the corresponding spatial relationship of the subsets of the component carriers is also indicated by the MAC CE.

6. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an “R” field and a “SUL” field, wherein the R field and the SUL field are configured to indicate which component carriers of the plurality of component carriers carrying SRS are configured to be transmitted simultaneously.

7. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an “R” field and a “SUL” field, the R field being configured to indicate whether the one or more component carriers are aggregated, and the SUL field being configured to indicate the number of the one or more component carriers being aggregated.

8. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes a "Positioning SRSResource SetID" field, and wherein all spatial relationships of the multiple reference signals are indicated by the Positioning SRS Resource Set ID field.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes a "ResourceIDi" field, and wherein, when the first bit of the Resource IDi is set to "1", the multiple component carriers are configured to be transmitted simultaneously.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an "SRS Resource Set ID" field and a "Pathloss Reference RS ID" field, and a first component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the SRS Resource Set ID field and a second component carrier among the multiple component carriers indicated by the Pathloss Reference RS ID field are configured to be aggregated.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an "R" field, an "SRSResource's CellID" field, and a "Serving CellIDi" field, wherein, when the R field on the first eight-bit group is set to "1", the first component carrier among the multiple component carriers associated with the SRS Resource's Cell ID field and the second component carrier among the multiple component carriers associated with the Serving Cell IDi field are configured to be aggregated.

12. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes a first “R” field on a first octet and a second “R” field on a second octet, and wherein the first R field and the second R field are configured to indicate one or more component carriers that are aggregated.

13. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes five "R" fields at the beginning of the octet and three "C" fields at the end of the octet. i " field, wherein each of the five R fields is set to "0" to indicate a reserved bit, and wherein the three C i Each of the fields is set to '1' to indicate a corresponding one of the aggregated component carriers.

14. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC CE includes an "R" field, an "A / D" field, and a "Serving Cell ID" field, and wherein, when the R field is set to "1" and the A / D field is set to "1", the component carrier indicated by the Serving Cell ID field is configured to be aggregated.

15. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that, when a measurement gap MG is configured for a first component carrier among the component carriers and no MG is configured for other component carriers among the component carriers, the MG is configured to be applied to one or more aggregated component carriers.

16. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that only one PPW is valid and other PPWs are invalid, and wherein each of the aggregated one or more component carriers is configured with a respective PPW.

17. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that in the case that only one PFL is configured for one PPW and other PFLs are not configured with PPWs, the configured PPW is applied to all aggregated PFLs.

18. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: Each component carrier in the aggregated one or more component carriers has a first identifier for data transmission and a second identifier for positioning.

19. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates a TEG, where the TEG is used for a primary component carrier or a primary serving cell, where the primary serving cell is used for one or more aggregated component carriers.

20. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates a carrier aggregation specific TEG, where the carrier aggregation specific TEG is used for one or more component carriers being aggregated.

21. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information includes a UE capability report, the UE capability report indicating a TEG, the TEG being used for the aggregated one or more component carriers as a whole.

22. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates a PEG that is used for all aggregated one or more component carriers and has a minimum phase error.

23. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information includes a UE capability report, the UE capability report indicating a PEG, the PEG being used for all aggregated one or more component carriers.

24. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that when a plurality of PFLs are aggregated and each PFL has one MG, the MG on the first PFL is applied, and the MGs on other PFLs are invalid.

25. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that when there is an activated PPW for a PFL and other PPWs on other PFLs are not activated, the activated PPW is applied to all aggregated PFLs.

26. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuration information indicates that when there is an activated MG for a PFL, and other MGs on other PFLs are not activated, the activated MG is applied to all aggregated PFLs.

27. A wireless communication method, comprising: By a wireless communication node, determining configuration information, the configuration information being about sending a plurality of reference signals for positioning through a plurality of component carriers; measuring, by the wireless communication node, the plurality of reference signals; and The wireless communication node reports measurement results of the multiple reference signals, where the multiple reference signals are carried on one or more aggregated component carriers among the multiple component carriers.

28. The wireless communication method according to claim 27, further comprising: The wireless communication node sends a medium access control MAC control element CE, where the MAC CE has one or more "R" fields, where the "R" field indicates aggregation of the multiple reference signals.

29. A wireless communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein: The processor is configured to read code from the memory and execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

30. A computer program product comprising computer readable program medium code stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 28.

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