Virtual instance of reference signal for positioning

Abstract

Techniques for communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a wireless node receives, from a positioning estimation entity, a configuration associated with one or more reference signal (RS-P) resources for positioning. The wireless node performs a measurement of a set of RS-P resources and derives measurement information associated with a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the measurement. The wireless node sends a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 377,468, filed on September 28, 2022, entitled “VIRTUAL INSTANCE FOR REFERENCE SIGNAL FOR POSITIONING,” and U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 18 / 450,292, filed on August 15, 2023, entitled “VIRTUAL INSTANCE FOR REFERENCE SIGNAL FOR POSITIONING,” both of which are assigned to the assignee of this patent application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

[0004] 2. Description of related technologies

[0005] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0006] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technologies, and high-density deployments of 5G enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. Summary of the invention

[0007] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0008] In one aspect, a method of operating a wireless node includes: receiving a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and sending a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0009] In one aspect, a method of operating a positioning estimation entity includes: determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and sending the configuration to a wireless node.

[0010] In one aspect, a wireless node includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; perform one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; derive measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and send a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver.

[0011] In one aspect, a positioning estimation entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and send the configuration to a wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

[0012] In one aspect, a wireless node includes: a component for receiving a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; a component for performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; a component for deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and a component for sending a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0013] In one aspect, a positioning estimation entity includes: a component for determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and a component for sending the configuration to a wireless node.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless node, cause the wireless node to: receive a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; perform one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; derive measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and send a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0015] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a positioning estimation entity, causes the positioning estimation entity to: determine a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and send the configuration to a wireless node.

[0016] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0018] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0021] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink time slot in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating various uplink channels within an example uplink time slot in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 7 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0025] Figure 8An example call flow for a New Radio (NR) based sensing procedure in which the network configures sensing parameters in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of port virtualization for a pilot signal sent by a base station to a UE according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Fig.10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a pilot signal that may be physically sent on some ports and may not be sent on a virtual port in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.11 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a pilot signal that may be physically sent on some ports and may not be sent on a virtual port in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig.12 Example neural networks in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0030] Fig.13 A beam framework according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0031] Fig.14 An exemplary process of communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0032] Fig.15 An exemplary process of communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0034] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0036] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0037] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). Generally speaking, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. Generally speaking, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0038] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0039] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0040] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0041] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. 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 multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0042] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0043] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., the AP 150 described below), and the like. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0044] Among other functions, the base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) on a backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0045] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0046] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0047] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0049] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band can be called millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, which is also called centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (sending and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming to send. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0051] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array"), which forms an RF beam that can be "steered" to point to different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together in the desired direction to increase the radiation, while canceling out in the undesired direction to suppress the radiation.

[0052] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antennas are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0053] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) the RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0054] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0055] Note that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam that receives a downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0056] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0057] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz-24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, so the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz) and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0058] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "below 6 GHz" or the like is used in this document, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used in this document, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0059] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and can be used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0060] For example, still refer to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0061] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0062] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capability (SL-UE) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between UE and base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs with sidelink capability). A wireless sidelink (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. Sidelink communications can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communications. In other cases, the sidelink communications are performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0063] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0064] It should be noted that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. In the case where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming via side link 160.

[0065] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any UE (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) can receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit a signal with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SVs 112, the transmitters can sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UEs 104 can include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SVs 112.

[0066] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0067] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from ground base stations 102, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112.

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), wait.

[0069] Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0070] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0071] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the figure can be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which are used by the SCM to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0072] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0073] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0074] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). SLP 272 can support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0075] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or may alternatively each correspond to a single server.

[0076] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0077] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that typically hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0078] The deployment of a communication system such as a 5G NR system can be arranged in a variety of ways with various components or components. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment (such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR base station, a 5GNB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0079] The aggregated base station can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. The decomposed base station can be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, the CU can be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs can be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, can be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. The DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0080] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0081] Figure 2C An example disaggregated base station architecture 250 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226) that may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both. The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via corresponding midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via corresponding fronthaul links. The RU 287 can communicate with a corresponding UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0082] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, the unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0083] In some aspects, CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 280. CU280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0084] DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 287. In some aspects, DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) depending at least in part on a functional split such as defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 285 or with control functions hosted by CU 280.

[0085] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, such a configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and the CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0086] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and configuration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261 via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0087] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 259 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 259.

[0088] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0089] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2B Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in the present invention (such as a dedicated network) are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0090] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.) respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 respectively include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0091] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in different ways to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0092] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0093] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 can use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. For another example, the network entity 306 can use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0094] The transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some implementations can include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or can be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of the wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, the network transceivers 380 and 390) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0095] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally referred to as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0096] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for sending, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0097] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memory 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which when executed cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388 and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386 and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384 and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for a location component 342 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for a location component 388 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for a location component 398 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0098] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. By way of example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0099] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0100] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0101] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols may then be separated into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. The channel estimate from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme and for spatial processing. The channel estimate can be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can modulate the RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0102] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0103] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0104] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0105] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0106] The uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0107] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0108] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, are shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C Various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of , a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless cellular network, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0109] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between different logical entities.

[0110] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or combine at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by network entity", etc. However, it should be understood that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc. (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0111] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated differently from a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0112] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 4 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0113] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often referred to as tones, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Thus, for a system bandwidth of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0114] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple parameter sets (μ), for example, 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger subcarrier spacings may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5ms, the symbol duration is 33.3μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 800 with 4K FFT size.

[0115] exist Figure 4 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4 , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0116] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)). A resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4In the parameter set of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0117] Some REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink communication or downlink communication. Figure 4 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R") are illustrated.

[0118] Figure 5 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink time slot. Figure 5 In , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top. Figure 5 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the illustrated time slot length is one millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0119] In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple bandwidth parts (BWPs). A BWP is a set of contiguous RBs selected from a continuous subset of common RBs for a given parameter set on a given carrier. Typically, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, the UE can be configured to have up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, which means that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain the SSB.

[0120] refer to Figure 5, the primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth, and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information that is not sent through the PBCH (such as the system information block (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0121] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE includes one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and is transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for PDCCH.

[0122] exist Figure 5 In the example of , there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it could be just one symbol or two symbols). Unlike LTE control channels that occupy the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region (i.e., CORESET) in the frequency domain. Therefore, Figure 5 The frequency components of the PDCCH shown in FIG are illustrated as less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESETs are continuous in the frequency domain, the CORESETs do not need to be contiguous. Furthermore, the CORESETs may span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0123] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocations (persistent and non-persistent) and descriptions of downlink data sent to the UE (referred to as uplink grants and downlink grants, respectively). More specifically, the DCI indicates resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of a variety of formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH may be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0124] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of PRS is called a "PRS resource". A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0125] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of one symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, for DL-PRS, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported. Figure 5 An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans four symbols) is illustrated. That is, the positions of shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0126] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by higher layers in a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 5 ); 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0127] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used to send a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from: 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ=0,1,2,3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0128] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where one TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication on whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0129] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeated time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning opportunity", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "opportunity", "instance", or "repetition".

[0130] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to simply as a "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported by PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, and the minimum value is 24 PRBs and the maximum value is 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0131] The concept of frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRS. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE transmits its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0132] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to: PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to a downlink positioning reference signal, an uplink positioning reference signal, or a sidelink positioning reference signal, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed between the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "DL-PRS", the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., an SRS used for positioning, i.e., PTRS) may be referred to as a "UL-PRS", and the sidelink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "SL-PRS". In addition, for signals (e.g., DMRS) that can be sent in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink, these signals may be preceded by "DL," "UL," or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be different from "DL-DMRS."

[0133] Figure 6 6 is a diagram illustrating various uplink channels within an example uplink time slot. Figure 6 In , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top. Figure 6 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the illustrated time slot length is one millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0134] The random access channel (RACH), also known as the physical random access channel (PRACH), may be within one or more time slots within a frame based on the PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a time slot. The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. The physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSRs), power headroom reports (PHRs), and / or UCI.

[0135] In one aspect, Figure 6The reference signal carried on the RE marked with "R" in the figure can be an SRS. The SRS sent by the UE can be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for the transmitting UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effect of scattering, attenuation, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0136] The set of REs used for transmission of SRS is called "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of SRS signals and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0137] The transmission of the SRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size 'N', the SRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of one symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 1 , the illustrated SRS is comb-tooth-4 on four symbols. That is, the position of the shaded SRS RE indicates the SRS resource configuration of comb-tooth-4.

[0138] Currently, SRS resources with a comb size of Comb-2, Comb-4, or Comb-8 can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb patterns. 1 symbol Comb-2: {0}; 2 symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 2 symbol Comb-4: {0,2}; 4 symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4 symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 6 ); 8-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0139] Generally speaking, as described above, the UE sends the SRS so that the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) can measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between two types of SRS, the former may be referred to as "SRS for communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS for positioning" or "positioning SRS" in this article.

[0140] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for "SRS for positioning" (also known as "UL-PRS"), such as a new staggering pattern within the SRS resource (in addition to a single symbol / comb-2), a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a larger number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a larger number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" are to be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be sent outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Moreover, the SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and sent only within the active BWP. In addition, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for the SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). There may also be open-loop power control and no closed-loop power control, and comb-8 (i.e., SRS sent every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources through the same transmit beam for UL-AoA. All of these are features outside the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI)).

[0141] NR supports a variety of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. Figure 7Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure illustrated by scenario 710, the UE measures the difference between the arrival times (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurements), and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurement results, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the position of the UE.

[0142] For DL-AoD positioning illustrated by scenario 720, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the position of the UE based on the determined angle and the known position of the transmitting base station.

[0143] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) sent by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE sends one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-to-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the position of the UE.

[0144] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angles of the receive beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0145] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include: Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. The time difference is called the received-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be made or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundary of the received signal and the transmitted signal. The two entities may then transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., calculated as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurements to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning illustrated by scenario 730, a first entity (e.g., a UE or a base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity. RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy, as illustrated by scenario 740.

[0146] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers of the detected neighboring base stations, the estimated timing, and the signal strength. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0147] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include: an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive time slots including PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots including PRS, a silent sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using assistance data.

[0148] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may also include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8μs.

[0149] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, a position, a fix, a position fix, a fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, a postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0150] Figure 8 An example call flow 800 for an NR-based sensing procedure (eg, a dual-station sensing procedure) in which the network configures sensing parameters is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 8 A network coordinated sensing procedure is illustrated, but the sensing procedure may be coordinated through a side link channel.

[0151] At stage 805, a sensing server 870 (e.g., inside or outside the core network) transmits a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 822 (e.g., a serving gNB for UE 804). The request may be for a list of serving cells and any neighboring cells for UE 804. At stage 810, the gNB 822 transmits the requested information to the sensing server 870. At stage 815, the sensing server 870 transmits a request for sensing capabilities to the UE 804. At stage 820, the UE 804 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 870. At stage 825, the sensing server 870 transmits a configuration to the UE 804 indicating reference signals (RS) to be sent for sensing. The reference signals for sensing may be sent by the serving cell and / or neighboring cells identified at stage 810. At stage 830, the sensing server 870 transmits a request for sensing information to the UE 804. The UE 804 then measures the transmitted reference signal and, at stage 835 , transmits the measurements or any sensing results determined from the measurements to the sensing server 870 .

[0152] In one aspect, communication between the UE 804 and the sensing server 870 may be via the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP). Communication between the sensing server 870 and the gNB may be via the NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa).

[0153] Position estimation and sensing rely on learning various aspects of the channel. For example, position estimation can be based on first arrival path delay, angle, phase, etc. Sensing can be based on these parameters and other parameters (such as multipath information). Due to the large number of antenna pairs in massive MIMO and mmW channels, the underlying channel is high-dimensional with a potentially sparse representation. Machine learning (ML) based methods are able to reconstruct unobserved high-dimensional data from sparse low-dimensional observations. To address this issue, "virtual" SSB and CSI-RS ports can be used, as described below for Figures 9 to 11 A virtual port is a CSI-RS / SSB port known to the UE, but for which no resources are sent, or resources are sparsely sent. In one aspect, the UE uses measurements from a subset of real ports to derive measurements for the virtual port. The relationship between the real port and the virtual port is obtained directly via signaling or via data-driven learning (i.e., ML).

[0154] Fig. 9900 is a block diagram illustrating an example of port virtualization of a pilot signal 916 sent by a base station 902 to a UE 904 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The base station 902 and the UE 904 may communicate on an underlying channel 910 (e.g., channel H) having a dimension equal to the product of the number of configured TX antennas at the base station 902 and the number of RX antennas at the UE 904.

[0155] As shown, the base station 902 may configure the antenna ports used for communication with the UE 904 to be (1) ports 922 (which may also be referred to as “physical ports”) on which pilot signals are sent or (2) virtual ports 924 on which no pilot signals are sent to the UE 904. The base station 902 may send information indicating such configuration to the UE 904. In some aspects, the base station 902 may also send information indicating a relationship between a first subset of the set of antenna ports for the channel 910 (e.g., TX physical ports 922) and a second subset of the set of antenna ports for the channel 910 (e.g., TX virtual ports 924) to the UE 904. Correspondingly, UE 904 may receive information indicating at least one of: a port 922 on which physical pilot signal transmission is configured, a virtual port 924 on which no physical pilot signal is sent to UE 904, and / or information indicating a relationship between port 922 on which physical pilot signal 916 is sent and virtual port 924 on which no pilot signal is sent to UE 904 when pilot signal 916 is sent (or associated with) on physical port 922.

[0156] Potentially, the information indicating the relationship between the port 922 and the virtual port 924 may be based on historical data observed from previous transmissions of pilot signals. For example, in the historical data set, some or all of the virtual ports may have been configured as physical ports (signal transmission occurred on the physical ports) for transmitting an earlier set of pilot signals. In another example, some or all of the physical ports may have been configured as virtual ports (no signal transmission occurred on the virtual ports) for transmitting an earlier set of pilot signals from other ports that were previously configured as physical ports.

[0157] Either or both of the base station 902 and / or the UE 904 may collect and process such historical data to determine the relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924. Additionally or alternatively, information indicating the relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924 may be preconfigured in the UE 904 or the base station 902.

[0158] In some aspects, the base station 902 may also send beamforming information, and the UE 904 may also receive beamforming information, which indicates at least one of the following: a directional beam of the base station 902 corresponding to the TX physical port 922 and the TX virtual port 924, or a relationship between the TX physical port 922 and the TX virtual port 924.

[0159] In the case where the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924 are configured separately, the base station 902 can send a pilot signal 916 to the UE 904 on the TX physical port 922. The pilot signal may include a CSI-RS and / or an SSB. The UE 904 can correspondingly receive the pilot signal 916 on the RX antenna 926 through the underlying channel 910 (e.g., channel H). No pilot signal 916 can be sent on the virtual port 924.

[0160] The UE 904 may measure a first set of values ​​corresponding to the TX physical port 922 based on receiving the pilot signal 916 on the RX antenna 926. For example, the UE 904 may detect the pilot signal 916, such as an RS for the UE 904 (e.g., a CSI-RS scrambled with a code or other information indicating that the RS is for the UE) and / or an SSB broadcast in a cell operated by a base station (e.g., an SSB with an identifier associated with the cell) on some or all of the RX antennas 926. The UE 904 may measure the energy used to receive each pilot signal 916 on at least one RX antenna 926 to obtain a value corresponding to the pilot signal, for example, to obtain RSRP or SNR.

[0161] The UE 904 may also derive a second set of values ​​corresponding to the virtual port 924 of the channel 910 based on receiving the pilot signal 916 on the RX antenna 926. For example, the UE 904 may estimate the second set of values ​​associated with the virtual port 924 using the pilot signal 916 sent by the base station 902 on the physical port 924, e.g., based on the relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 922.

[0162] In some aspects, the UE 904 may include a neural network 906, such as a neural network having a plurality of activation functions 908 (e.g., sigmoid functions). The neural network may include, for example, one or more fully connected layers and / or one or more convolutional layers, or the neural network may include another type of neural network and / or machine learning algorithm. The neural network 906 may be trained to output a second set of values. For example, the neural network 906 may include a weight matrix that is trained based on training data including a received pilot signal as input and a set of values ​​at the output. In some aspects, the neural network 906 may be trained based on a relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924. In some other aspects, the neural network 906 may be trained based on training data including another set of pilot signals on the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924. For example, the training data for training the neural network 906 may be based on data observed from one or more previous sets of pilot signals transmitted on at least a portion of the set of antenna ports 922, 924 and / or based on information indicating a relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924.

[0163] The UE 904 may obtain a second set of values ​​as an output of the neural network 906 based on providing the pilot signal 916 sent on the physical port 922 as an input to the neural network 906. For example, the UE 904 may obtain an output of the neural network 906 indicating a second set of values, and the UE may associate each value in the second set of values ​​with a corresponding virtual port in the virtual ports 924. In some aspects, the UE 904 may determine information to report to the base station 902 based on the second set of values ​​output from the neural network 906. For example, the UE 904 may obtain the second set of values ​​as an output of the neural network 906, and then the UE may generate a CSI report (e.g., RI, PMI, CQI) using one or both of the first set of values ​​and the second set of values, or the UE 904 may select or identify one or more antenna ports corresponding to one or more directional beams of the base station 902 based on the first set of values ​​and the second set of values.

[0164] Then, the UE 904 may report information associated with the channel 910 to the base station 902 based on the first set of values ​​and the second set of values. For example, in the case where the pilot signal 916 includes a CSI-RS, the UE 904 may send the CSI associated with the channel 910 to the base station 902 based on the first set of values ​​and the second set of values. In another example where the pilot signal 916 includes an SBS, the UE 904 may send information indicating at least one directional beam corresponding to at least one of the physical antenna port 922 and / or the virtual antenna port 924 based on the first set of values ​​and the second set of values. In such an example, the UE 904 may also report information indicating at least one directional beam to the base station 902 based on the received beamforming information, the beamforming information indicating at least one of the following: a directional beam of the base station 902 corresponding to the physical port 922 and / or the virtual port 924, or a relationship between the physical port 922 and the virtual port 924.

[0165] Fig.10 1000 is a block diagram of an example of a pilot signal that may be physically sent on some ports and may not be sent on a virtual port according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the pilot signal sent by the base station to the UE on a first subset of a set of antenna ports may include CSI-RS 1016. The CSI-RS 1016 may be sent on one or more subcarriers in at least one symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) of a resource grid for each antenna port in the first subset of antenna ports. In the illustrated aspect, the CSI-RS 1016 may occupy three subcarriers in the first symbol of a time slot. For example, the CSI-RS 1016 may occupy a first subcarrier (e.g., subcarrier index 0), a fifth subcarrier (e.g., subcarrier index 9), and a ninth subcarrier (e.g., subcarrier index 8).

[0166] exist Fig. 9 In the context of , the base station 902 may send CSI-RS 1016 on each of the TX physical ports 922. The UE 904 may then receive the CSI-RS 1016 on the RX antenna 926 over the underlying channel 910. However, the base station 902 may not send CSI-RS 1016 on the TX virtual ports 924, and therefore, the UE 904 may not receive CSI-RS from the base station 902 on the RX antenna 926 associated with any of the virtual ports 924. Instead, the UE 904 may use the CSI-RS 1016 sent by the base station 902 on the TX physical ports 922 (and received on the RX antenna 926) to determine (e.g., infer or approximate) an estimate of the CSI-RS on the TX virtual ports 924 at some or all of the RX antennas 926.

[0167] The UE 904 may then use the combination of the measurement and the estimate as a whole to generate a CSI (e.g., PMI, RI, CQI) or other channel estimate associated with the underlying channel 910. In other words, the UE 904 may view the estimate as a measurement observed from transmissions on both the TX physical port 922 and the TX virtual port 924, even though no CSI-RS is transmitted on the TX virtual port 924.

[0168] The UE 904 may report (e.g., transmit) CSI or other channel estimates associated with the underlying channel 910 to the base station 902. The base station 902 may process the CSI or other channel estimates associated with the underlying channel 910 as valid for the entire channel 910 (including the TX virtual port 924), even if no CSI-RS is transmitted on the virtual port. For example, based on the CSI or other reporting information received from the UE 904, the base station 902 may estimate the underlying channel 910 in a high dimension of (the number of TX physical ports 922+the number of TX virtual ports 924)×(the number of RX antennas 926), and / or may configure communications with the UE 904, such as by scheduling data transmission to the UE 904 over the underlying channel 910 and / or by configuring a data rate, code rate, and / or modulation order for data transmission.

[0169] Fig.11 1100 is another example of a pilot signal that may be physically sent on some ports and may not be sent on a virtual port according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the pilot signal sent by the base station to the UE on a first subset of the set of antenna ports may include SSB 1116. SSB 1116 may include PSS, SSS, and potentially some broadcast information on PBCH. For the aforementioned antenna ports in the first subset of antenna ports, the resource grid may include SSB 1116 sent on the BWP configured (and active) for UE 904 in multiple symbols of the time slot. For example, SSB 1116 may occupy 20 RBs in the configured BWP of the channel bandwidth in the frequency domain, while in the time domain, SSB 1116 may occupy four symbols, such as the third symbol to the sixth symbol (e.g., symbol index 2 to 5) or another symbol set.

[0170] exist Fig. 9In the context of , the base station 902 may send SSBs 1116 on each of the TX physical ports 922. The UE 904 may then receive the SSBs 1116 on the RX antenna 926 over the underlying channel 910. However, the base station 902 may not send the SSBs 1116 on the TX virtual port 924, and therefore, the UE 904 may not receive the SSBs from the base station 902 on the RX antenna 926. Instead, the UE 904 may use the SSBs 1116 sent by the base station 902 on the TX physical port 922 to determine (e.g., infer or approximate) an estimate of the SSBs on the TX virtual port 924.

[0171] The UE 904 may then use the combination of the measurements and the estimates as a whole to identify or select at least one directional beam, such as a “best” or “recommended” directional beam, for use with the underlying channel 910. In other words, the UE 904 may view the estimates as measurements observed from SSB transmissions from the TX virtual port 924, even if no SSBs are transmitted from the TX virtual port 924.

[0172] The UE 904 may select or identify a directional beam by measuring or estimating the RSRP and / or SNR of the SSBs across both the TX physical ports and the TX virtual ports. That is, the UE 904 may measure the RSRP and / or SNR of the SSBs 1116 transmitted from the TX physical port 922. The UE 904 may also use the SSBs 1116 transmitted on the TX physical port 922 to determine an estimate of the RSRP and / or SNR values ​​corresponding to each of the TX virtual ports 924, e.g., as if the SSBs were transmitted on those TX virtual ports 924.

[0173] The UE 904 may compare the values ​​and estimates of RSRP and / or SNR across all ports 922, 924. The UE 904 may select one or more of all ports 922, 924 based on the comparison. For example, the UE 904 may select one or more of all ports 922, 924 that have the highest RSRP and / or SNR relative to other ports.

[0174] The UE 904 may report (e.g., send) information indicating at least one directional beam of the base station 902, which may be indexed by at least one of the physical port 922 and / or the virtual port 924. The at least one directional beam may correspond to at least one of the ports 922, 924 for which one or more of the highest RSRP and / or SNR values ​​are measured or estimated.

[0175] The UE 904 may report (e.g., transmit) information indicating the selected directional beams (corresponding to one or more of the physical ports 922 and / or virtual ports 924 associated with the underlying channel 910) to the base station 902. The base station 902 may assume that the reported information associated with the underlying channel 910 corresponds to a directional beam having the best or recommended quality for communicating with the UE 904 on the underlying channel 910, even if no SSB is transmitted on the virtual port 924. For example, based on the information received from the UE 904, the base station 902 may configure one or more serving or active beams and / or one or more candidate beams for communicating with the UE 904 on the underlying channel 910 having a high dimension corresponding to (the number of TX physical ports 922+the number of TX virtual ports 924)×(the number of RX antennas 926).

[0176] Machine learning can be used to generate models that can be used to facilitate various aspects associated with data processing. One particular application of machine learning involves generating measurement models for processing reference signals used for positioning (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)), such as feature extraction, reporting of reference signal measurements (e.g., selecting which extracted features to report), etc.

[0177] Machine learning models are generally categorized as supervised or unsupervised. Supervised models can be further subdivided into regression models or classification models. Supervised learning involves learning a function that maps inputs to outputs based on example input-output pairs. For example, given a training data set with two variables, age (input) and height (output), a supervised learning model can be generated that predicts a person's height based on their age. In a regression model, the output is continuous. An example of a regression model is linear regression, which simply tries to find the line that best fits the data. Extensions of linear regression include multiple linear regression (e.g., finding the plane of best fit) and polynomial regression (e.g., finding the curve of best fit).

[0178] Another example of a machine learning model is a decision tree model. In a decision tree model, a tree structure is defined as having multiple nodes. Decisions are used to move from the root node at the top of the decision tree to the leaf nodes (i.e., nodes that do not have additional child nodes) at the bottom of the decision tree. In general, a higher number of nodes in a decision tree model is associated with a higher decision accuracy.

[0179] Another example of a machine learning model is a decision forest. Random forest is an ensemble learning technique built on top of decision trees. Random forest involves creating multiple decision trees using a bootstrapped dataset of the original data and randomly selecting a subset of variables at each step of the decision tree. The model then selects the mode of all predictions of each decision tree. By relying on a "majority decision" model, the risk of error from a single tree is reduced.

[0180] Another example of a machine learning model is a neural network (NN). A neural network is essentially a network of mathematical equations. A neural network accepts one or more input variables and produces one or more output variables by passing through the network of equations. In other words, a neural network receives a vector of inputs and returns a vector of outputs.

[0181] Fig.12 An example neural network 1200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The neural network 1200 includes an input layer 'i' that receives 'n' input(s) (illustrated as "input 1", "input 2", and "input n"), one or more hidden layers (illustrated as hidden layers 'h1', 'h2', and 'h3') for processing the inputs from the input layer, and an output layer 'o' that provides 'm' output(s) (labeled as "output 1" and "output m"). The number of inputs 'n', hidden layers 'h', and outputs 'm' may be the same or different. In some designs, the hidden layer 'h' may include a linear function and / or an activation function, with the nodes of each successive hidden layer (illustrated as circles) processing the linear function and / or activation function of the nodes from the previous hidden layer.

[0182] In a classification model, the output is discrete. An example of a classification model is logistic regression. Logistic regression is similar to linear regression, but is used to model the probability of a limited number of results (usually two). In essence, a logistic equation is created in such a way that the output value can only be between '0' and '1'. Another example of a classification model is a support vector machine. For example, for two categories of data, a support vector machine will find a hyperplane or boundary between the two categories of data that maximizes the margin between the two categories. There are many planes that can separate the two categories, but only one plane can maximize the margin or distance between these categories. Another example of a classification model is naive Bayes based on Bayes' theorem. Other examples of classification models include decision trees, random forests, and neural networks, which are similar to the above examples, except that the output is discrete rather than continuous.

[0183] Unlike supervised learning, unsupervised learning is used to draw inferences and find patterns based on input data without reference to labeled results. Two examples of unsupervised learning models include clustering and dimensionality reduction.

[0184] Clustering is an unsupervised technique that involves grouping or clustering of data points. Clustering is often used for customer segmentation, fraud detection, and document classification. Common clustering techniques include k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, mean shift clustering, and density-based clustering. Dimensionality reduction is the process of reducing the number of random variables under consideration by obtaining a set of principal variables. In simpler terms, dimensionality reduction is the process of reducing the dimensionality of a feature set (or, in simpler terms, reducing the number of features). Most dimensionality reduction techniques can be categorized as feature elimination or feature extraction. An example of dimensionality reduction is called principal component analysis (PCA). In the simplest sense, PCA involves projecting higher dimensional data (e.g., three dimensions) into a smaller space (e.g., two dimensions). This produces data of lower dimensionality (e.g., two dimensions instead of three dimensions) while retaining all the original variables in the model.

[0185] Regardless of which machine learning model is used, at a high level, a machine learning module (e.g., implemented by a processing system such as processor 332, 384, or 394) may be configured to iteratively analyze training input data (e.g., measurements of reference signals to / from various target UEs) and associate the training input data with an output data set (e.g., a set of possible or probable candidate locations for the various target UEs) so that the same output data set can be determined later when provided with similar input data (e.g., from other target UEs at the same or similar locations).

[0186] Fig.13 A beam frame 1300 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.13 In this scenario, the beams corresponding to set A are not transmitted, but the UE reports some parameters (such as RSRP) associated with the beams of set A derived from actual measurements of the beams of set B. In this scenario, the beams of set A can be considered as virtual resources. Fig.13 As shown, measurements for the set B beams may be provided as input to a neural network 1310, which provides derived parameters (e.g., RSRP) for the set A beams.

[0187] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to virtual ports (or resources) for RS for positioning (RS-P) (such as DL-PRS, UL-SRS for positioning (UL-SRS-P), and SL-SRS for positioning (SL-SRS-P)). For example, a wireless node (e.g., UE, gNB / TRP, O-RAN component (such as RU), etc.) can be configured with multiple types of RS-P resources, which can generally be classified as physical resources or virtual resources (e.g., as described above in Figures 9 to 11 Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improved positioning estimation and / or sensing, reduced positioning estimation and / or sensing latency, etc.

[0188] In some aspects of the present disclosure, physical resources (or ports) are measured directly by wireless nodes. Virtual resources (or ports) of the first type are not sent. However, the relationship between these physical resources and virtual resources may be included in the specification and / or signaling. Virtual resources (or ports) of the second type ("semi-physical" resources) are sparsely sent (i.e., with a periodicity / incidence much lower than the periodicity / incidence of physical resources). It is expected that measurement reports on virtual resources of the second type (or semi-physical resources) will be more frequent than the actual transmission frequency. For example, physical resources may be sent with a periodicity of 40ms and semi-physical resources may be sent with a periodicity of 640ms, and reports on semi-physical resources may occur every 40ms (or a number less than 640ms).

[0189] Fig.14 An exemplary process 1400 of communicating according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.14 Process 1400 is performed by a wireless node (such as UE 302, or a network component (such as BS / gNB 304) or an O-RAN component (such as RU / CU / DU)).

[0190] refer to Fig.14 At 1410, a wireless node (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver 380, etc.) receives a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity. In one aspect, the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources. In another aspect, the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources. For example, the set of RS-P resources may include a set of physical resources.

[0191] refer to Fig.14 At 1420, the wireless node (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, positioning component 342 or 388, processor 332 or 384, etc.) performs one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources. For example, the one or more measurements may include RSRP measurements, RSRQ measurements, RTT-related measurements, TDOA-related measurements, multipath measurements, etc.

[0192] refer to Fig.14 At 1430, the wireless node (e.g., positioning component 342 or 388, processor 332 or 384, etc.) derives measurement information associated with a first virtual instance of one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources. In one aspect, the deriving of 1430 can be based on the one or more measurements being provided as input to an ML function (e.g., a neural network).

[0193] refer to Fig.14 At 1440, the wireless node (eg, transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver 380, etc.) sends a measurement report including measurement information to the positioning estimation entity. For example, the measurement report may be sent to the positioning estimation entity.

[0194] Fig.15 An exemplary process 1500 of communicating according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.15 Process 1500 is performed by a positioning estimation entity, which may correspond to an LMF (e.g., integrated at the network entity 306 or a network component for RAN integrated LMF such as at BS 304 for network-assisted positioning estimation) or to a UE (e.g., for UE-based positioning estimation via a target UE or a sidelink / anchor UE).

[0195] refer to Fig.15 At 1510, a positioning estimation entity (e.g., positioning component 342 or 388 or 398, processor 332 or 384 or 394, etc.) determines a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources. In one aspect, the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources. In another aspect, the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources. For example, the set of RS-P resources may include a set of physical resources.

[0196] refer to Fig.15 At 1520, the positioning estimation entity (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver 380 or 390, etc.) sends a signal to the wireless node (e.g., executing Fig.14 Process 1400 of the wireless node) sends the configuration.

[0197] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0198] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15In some designs, the configuration indicates that one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and the multiple RS-P instances include at least a first virtual instance. In some designs, each of the multiple RS-P instances is configured to be indicated as virtual. In other words, the configuration indicates that one or more RS-P resources are virtual resources of the first type (i.e., fully virtual). In this case, the configuration may include an indication of the periodicity of measurement reports associated with the transmission of measurement reports. In other aspects, the configuration indicates that one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and not all of the multiple RS-P instances are configured to be indicated as virtual. In other words, the configuration indicates that one or more RS-P resources are virtual resources of the second type (i.e., semi-physical). In this case, the configuration may include an indication of the periodicity of signal occurrences associated with one or more non-virtual instances of one or more RS-P resources and an indication of the periodicity of measurement reports associated with the transmission of measurement reports. In another aspect, semi-physical resources may be utilized so that the network may occasionally transmit on virtual RS-P resources for the purpose of data collection by the UE. Semi-physical resources may be utilized periodically, semi-periodically, aperiodically, or on-demand in this manner, similar to real (or non-virtual) RS-P resources. This design may allow UEs and other network entities to collect actual channel data to train / improve the NN (i.e., mapping information that maps one or more RS-P resources to a set of RS-P resources, which is described in more detail below).

[0199] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 , in some designs, the configuration indicates one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier. For example, assume that one or more RS-P resources are DL-PRS. In this case, the corresponding resource type {physical, semi-physical, virtual} may be indicated for the DL-PRS resource set. For periodic / semi-periodic semi-physical resources (or virtual resources of the second type), two periodicities may be signaled, for example, a signal generation periodicity and a measurement report periodicity. For virtual resources of the first type (ie, fully virtual), the signal generation periodicity may be ∞. In some designs, additional resource sets may be defined for each set of virtual resources. Corresponding capabilities and processing may also be defined. In a specific example, a DL-PRS resource set may be indicated as {physical, semi-physical, virtual} in the relevant 3GPP standard via dl-PRS-ResourceSetType in NL-DL-PRS-ResourceSet-r16, for example:

[0200]

[0201] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15, in some designs, the configuration indicates one or more RS-P resources via one or more separate RS-P resource identifiers. For example, assume that one or more RS-P resources are DL-PRS. In this case, the corresponding resource type {physical, semi-physical, virtual} may be indicated separately for each DL-PRS resource. For periodic / semi-periodic semi-physical resources (or virtual resources of the second type), two periodicities may be signaled, for example, a signal generation periodicity and a measurement report periodicity. For virtual resources of the first type (ie, fully virtual), the signal generation periodicity may be ∞. In some designs, an additional maximum resource per set may be defined for the virtual resources. Corresponding capabilities and processing may also be defined. In a specific example, the DL-PRS resource may be indicated as {physical, semi-physical, virtual} in the relevant 3GPP standard via dl-PRS-ResourceType in NL-DL-PRS-ResourceSet-r16, for example:

[0202]

[0203]

[0204] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, the wireless node may determine mapping information that maps one or more RS-P resources to a set of RS-P resources, and may also determine the set of RS-P resources based at least in part on the mapping information. In some designs, the mapping information is received at the wireless node (e.g., from a positioning estimation entity). In some designs, the mapping information includes: beam information associated with one or more RS-P resources and a set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-location (QCL) information associated with one or more RS-P resources and a set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof. For example, the beam information may include a beam shape / width / pointing direction between a virtual resource and one or more physical resources (e.g., a set of RS-P resources). In another example, the QCL information may include a QCL relationship regarding a physical or virtual RS-P or CSI-RS or SSB or some other RS ​​type.

[0205] In some designs, the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with a set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML). In some designs, the one or more parameters may include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0206] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, one or more RS-P resources and sets of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth. In other designs, one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth. In one aspect, the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth. In some designs, the first virtual instance of one or more RS-P resources can be sparse (e.g., only one of two tones of a real RS-P resource) or a subset of RBs relative to the physical resource.

[0207] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with a bandwidth region. For example, a bandwidth region may be defined as a parent resource that spans a large set (e.g., all) of RBs and may be the densest in the frequency domain / time domain. A sub-resource may be defined as spanning a subset of tones or a subset of RBs and is QCL (or closely related) to the parent resource. Multiple sub-resources may be defined, and each of these resources may have a time-varying pattern. In this case, a resource associated with one or more RS-P resources and a set of RS-P resources may correspond to a corresponding sub-resource of the parent resource.

[0208] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, each RS-P resource in a set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) (e.g., a TEG is a grouping of resources (such as a panel) associated with the same or similar internal delay at a wireless node). For example, the wireless node may utilize measurements of physical resources and artificial intelligence (AI) / ML-based processing (or other signal processing algorithms) to derive parameters corresponding to the virtual resources. Examples of such parameters include RSTD, AoD, LoS indicator, RSRP, RSRP quality, etc. The wireless node may process each resource assuming a different TEG assumption. In one aspect, the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0209] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, the wireless node sends a virtual resource processing capability indication to the positioning estimation entity. In one aspect, the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication. For example, an additional UE capability to process virtual resources (such as (N,T)), which indicates the number of resources (N) processed in a time period (T) (e.g., in ms).

[0210] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15In some designs, the wireless node receives (e.g., from a positioning estimation entity) priority information indicating a relative priority between a set of virtual resources and RS-P resources, and one or more measurements, measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information. For example, the priority information may indicate a priority of the virtual resources relative to a physical resource such as a physical channel.

[0211] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 , in some designs, the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources. In one aspect, the wireless node may receive (e.g., from a positioning estimation entity) an aperiodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance. The wireless node may perform at least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance. In some designs, the wireless node may send (e.g., to a positioning estimation entity) a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration, the configuration being received in response to the request.

[0212] Although some aspects of the present disclosure are described above with respect to DL-PRS, such aspects may also be applied to uplink RS-P (e.g., UL-SRS-P) or sidelink RS-P (e.g., SL-SRS-P). Thus, the wireless node may correspond to a UE or a network component (e.g., a gNB / BS or an O-RAN component such as a RU) depending on the specific implementation. For example, a TRP or a sidelink Rx UE (e.g., an anchor UE) may measure / calculate reporting parameters for some virtual resources and report these parameters back to the LMF.

[0213] refer to Figure 14 to Figure 15 In some designs, the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0214] In the above specific embodiments, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause may refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to a specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the subordinate clause aspect with any other subordinate clause or independent clause or any feature with other subordinate clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of the clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0215] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0216] Clause 1. A method of operating a wireless node, comprising: receiving a configuration associated with one or more reference signal (RS-P) resources for positioning from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and sending a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0217] Clause 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more side link SRS-P resources.

[0218] Clause 3. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and the multiple RS-P instances include at least the first virtual instance.

[0219] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein each of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0220] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0221] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0222] Clause 7. A method according to clause 6, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0223] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0224] Clause 9. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8 further includes: determining mapping information that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources; and determining the set of RS-P resources based at least in part on the mapping information.

[0225] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the mapping information is received at the wireless node.

[0226] Clause 11. A method according to Clause 10, wherein the mapping information includes: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-location (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0227] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0228] Clause 13. A method according to clause 12, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0229] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 12 to 13, wherein each RS-P resource in the set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) assumption.

[0230] Clause 15. A method as described in any of clauses 12 to 14, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0231] Clause 16. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth.

[0232] Clause 17. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 16, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth.

[0233] Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0234] Clause 19. The method of any one of clauses 17 to 18, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0235] Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources comprise a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0236] Clause 21. The method according to Clause 20 further includes: receiving a non-periodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance; and performing at least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0237] Clause 22. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 21, further comprising: sending a virtual resource processing capability indication to the position estimation entity, wherein the configuring is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0238] Clause 23. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 22 further comprises: receiving priority information indicating a relative priority between the virtual resources and the set of RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0239] Clause 24. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 23, further comprising: sending a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration, wherein the configuration is received in response to the request.

[0240] Clause 25. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 24, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0241] Clause 26. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 25, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure of one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0242] Clause 27. A method of operating a positioning estimation entity, comprising: determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal (RS-P) resources for positioning, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and sending the configuration to a wireless node.

[0243] Clause 28. A method according to clause 27, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more side link SRS-P resources.

[0244] Clause 29. A method according to any one of clauses 27 to 28, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

[0245] Clause 30. The method of clause 29, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0246] Clause 31. The method of clause 30, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0247] Clause 32. A method according to any one of clauses 27 to 31, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0248] Clause 33. A method according to clause 32, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0249] Clause 34. A method according to any one of clauses 27 to 33, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0250] Clause 35. The method of any one of clauses 27 to 34, further comprising sending mapping information to the wireless node mapping the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources.

[0251] Clause 36. A method according to clause 35, wherein the mapping information includes: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 37. The method of clause 36, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0253] Clause 38. A method according to clause 37, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0254] Clause 39. The method according to any one of clauses 27 to 38 further includes: receiving a measurement report including measurement information from the wireless node, wherein the measurement information is associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources.

[0255] Clause 40. The method of clause 39, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0256] Clause 41. The method according to any one of clauses 39 to 40 further includes: sending priority information to the wireless node indicating the relative priority between the virtual resources and the set of RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0257] Clause 42. The method of any one of clauses 27 to 41, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth.

[0258] Clause 43. A method according to any one of clauses 27 to 42, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth.

[0259] Clause 44. The method of clause 43, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0260] Clause 45. The method of any one of clauses 43 to 44, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0261] Clause 46. The method of any one of clauses 27 to 45, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0262] Clause 47. The method of clause 46, further comprising: sending an aperiodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0263] Clause 48. The method of any one of clauses 27 to 47, further comprising: receiving a virtual resource processing capability indication from the wireless node, wherein the configuring is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0264] Clause 49. The method of any of clauses 27 to 48, further comprising: receiving a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration from the wireless node, wherein the configuration is sent in response to the request.

[0265] Clause 50. The method of any of clauses 27 to 49, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0266] Clause 51. A method as described in any of clauses 27 to 50, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure of one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 52. A wireless node, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; perform one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; derive measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and send a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver.

[0268] Clause 53. A wireless node according to clause 52, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more side link SRS-P resources.

[0269] Clause 54. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 52 to 53, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, the multiple RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

[0270] Clause 55. The wireless node of clause 54, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0271] Clause 56. The wireless node of clause 55, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0272] Clause 57. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 56, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0273] Clause 58. A wireless node according to clause 57, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the transmission of the measurement reports.

[0274] Clause 59. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 58, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0275] Clause 60. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 59, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine mapping information that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources; and determine the set of RS-P resources based at least in part on the mapping information.

[0276] Clause 61. The wireless node of clause 60, wherein the mapping information is received at the wireless node.

[0277] Clause 62. A wireless node according to clause 61, wherein the mapping information includes: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0278] Clause 63. A wireless node as described in Clause 62, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0279] Clause 64. A wireless node according to clause 63, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0280] Clause 65. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 63 to 64, wherein each RS-P resource in the set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) assumption.

[0281] Clause 66. A wireless node as set forth in any of clauses 63 to 65, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0282] Clause 67. A wireless node as defined in any of clauses 52 to 66, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with a same bandwidth.

[0283] Clause 68. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 67, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, which is different from the first bandwidth.

[0284] Clause 69. The wireless node of clause 68, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0285] Clause 70. A wireless node as set forth in any one of clauses 68 to 69, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0286] Clause 71. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 52 to 70, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0287] Clause 72. A wireless node according to clause 71, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a non-periodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance; and perform at least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0288] Clause 73. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 72, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send a virtual resource processing capability indication to the positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0289] Clause 74. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 52 to 73, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, priority information indicating a relative priority between the set of virtual resources and RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0290] Clause 75. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 52 to 74, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration is received in response to the request.

[0291] Clause 76. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 52 to 75, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0292] Clause 77. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 52 to 76, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0293] Clause 78. A positioning estimation entity, the positioning estimation entity comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and send the configuration to a wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

[0294] Clause 79. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 78, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0295] Clause 80. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 79, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

[0296] Clause 81. The position estimation entity of clause 80, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0297] Clause 82. The positioning estimation entity of clause 81, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0298] Clause 83. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 82, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein not all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0299] Clause 84. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 83, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0300] Clause 85. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 84, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0301] Clause 86. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 85, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send mapping information mapping the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources to the wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

[0302] Clause 87. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 86, wherein the mapping information comprises: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0303] Clause 88. A position estimation entity according to clause 87, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0304] Clause 89. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 88, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0305] Clause 90. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 89, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a measurement report including measurement information from the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, wherein the measurement information is associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources.

[0306] Clause 91. The positioning estimation entity of clause 90, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0307] Clause 92. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 90 to 91, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send priority information indicating the relative priority between the set of virtual resources and RS-P resources to the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0308] Clause 93. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 78 to 92, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth.

[0309] Clause 94. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 93, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, which is different from the first bandwidth.

[0310] Clause 95. The positioning estimation entity of clause 94, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0311] Clause 96. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 94 to 95, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0312] Clause 97. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 78 to 96, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0313] Clause 98. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 97, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send via the at least one transceiver a non-periodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0314] Clause 99. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 98, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a virtual resource processing capability indication from the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0315] Clause 100. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 99, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a request for on-demand virtual resource configuration from the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, wherein the configuration is sent in response to the request.

[0316] Clause 101. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 78 to 100, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0317] Clause 102. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 78 to 101, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0318] Clause 103. A wireless node, comprising: a component for receiving a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; a component for performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; a component for deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and a component for sending a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0319] Clause 104. A wireless node according to clause 103, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0320] Clause 105. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 103 to 104, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and the multiple RS-P instances include at least the first virtual instance.

[0321] Clause 106. The wireless node of clause 105, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0322] Clause 107. The wireless node of clause 106, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0323] Clause 108. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 103 to 107, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0324] Clause 109. A wireless node according to clause 108, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the transmission of the measurement reports.

[0325] Clause 110. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 103 to 109, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0326] Clause 111. The wireless node according to any one of clauses 103 to 110 further includes: a component for determining mapping information for mapping the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources; and a component for determining the set of RS-P resources based at least in part on the mapping information.

[0327] Clause 112. The wireless node of clause 111, wherein the mapping information is received at the wireless node.

[0328] Clause 113. A wireless node according to clause 112, wherein the mapping information includes: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0329] Clause 114. A wireless node as described in clause 113, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0330] Clause 115. A wireless node according to clause 114, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0331] Clause 116. A wireless node as defined in any of clauses 114 to 115, wherein each RS-P resource in the set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) assumption.

[0332] Clause 117. A wireless node as set forth in any of clauses 114 to 116, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0333] Clause 118. A wireless node as defined in any of clauses 103 to 117, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with a same bandwidth.

[0334] Clause 119. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 103 to 118, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, which is different from the first bandwidth.

[0335] Clause 120. The wireless node of clause 119, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0336] Clause 121. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 119 to 120, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0337] Clause 122. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 103 to 121, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0338] Clause 123. The wireless node according to clause 122 further includes: a non-periodic or on-demand triggered component for receiving a request for the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance; and a component for performing at least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0339] Clause 124. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 103 to 123, further comprising: means for sending a virtual resource processing capability indication to the positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0340] Clause 125. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 103 to 124, further comprising: a component for receiving priority information indicating a relative priority between the virtual resources and the set of RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0341] Clause 126. The wireless node of any of clauses 103 to 125, further comprising means for sending a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration, wherein the configuration is received in response to the request.

[0342] Clause 127. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 103 to 126, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0343] Clause 128. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 103 to 127, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0344] Clause 129. A positioning estimation entity, comprising: a component for determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and a component for sending the configuration to a wireless node.

[0345] Clause 130. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 129, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0346] Clause 131. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 130, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

[0347] Clause 132. A position estimation entity as described in clause 131, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0348] Clause 133. The positioning estimation entity of clause 132, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0349] Clause 134. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 133, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0350] Clause 135. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 134, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0351] Clause 136. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 135, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0352] Clause 137. The positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 136, further comprising: a component for sending mapping information to the wireless node mapping the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources.

[0353] Clause 138. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 137, wherein the mapping information includes: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0354] Clause 139. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 138, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0355] Clause 140. A positioning estimation entity according to clause 139, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line of sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0356] Clause 141. The positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 140 further includes: a component for receiving a measurement report including measurement information from the wireless node, wherein the measurement information is associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources.

[0357] Clause 142. The positioning estimation entity of clause 141, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0358] Clause 143. The positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 141 to 142 further includes: a component for sending priority information indicating the relative priority between the set of virtual resources and RS-P resources to the wireless node, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0359] Clause 144. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 129 to 143, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth.

[0360] Clause 145. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 129 to 144, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, which is different from the first bandwidth.

[0361] Clause 146. The positioning estimation entity of clause 145, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0362] Clause 147. A positioning estimation entity according to any one of clauses 145 to 146, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0363] Clause 148. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 129 to 147, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0364] Clause 149. The positioning estimation entity of clause 148, further comprising: means for sending an aperiodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0365] Clause 150. The positioning estimation entity according to any of clauses 129 to 149, further comprising: means for receiving a virtual resource processing capability indication from the wireless node, wherein the configuring is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0366] Clause 151. The positioning estimation entity of any of clauses 129 to 150, further comprising means for receiving a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration from the wireless node, wherein the configuration is sent in response to the request.

[0367] Clause 152. A positioning estimation entity as described in any of clauses 129 to 151, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0368] Clause 153. A positioning estimation entity according to any of clauses 129 to 152, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0369] Clause 154. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a wireless node, cause the wireless node to: receive a configuration associated with one or more reference signal (RS-P) resources for positioning from a positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; perform one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; derive measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; and send a measurement report including the measurement information to the positioning estimation entity.

[0370] Clause 155. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 154, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0371] Clause 156. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 154 to 155, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

[0372] Clause 157. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 156, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0373] Clause 158. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 157, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0374] Clause 159. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 154 to 158, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0375] Clause 160. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 159, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0376] Clause 161. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 154 to 160, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0377] Clause 162. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 154 to 161 further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to: determine mapping information that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources; and determine the set of RS-P resources based at least in part on the mapping information.

[0378] Clause 163. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 162, wherein the mapping information is received at the wireless node.

[0379] Clause 164. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 163, wherein the mapping information comprises: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0380] Clause 165. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 164, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0381] Clause 166. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in clause 165, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line-of-sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0382] Clause 167. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 165 to 166, wherein each RS-P resource in the set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) assumption.

[0383] Clause 168. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 165 to 167, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0384] Clause 169. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 154 to 168, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with a same bandwidth.

[0385] Clause 170. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 154 to 169, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth.

[0386] Clause 171. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 170, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0387] Clause 172. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 170 to 171, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0388] Clause 173. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 154 to 172, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0389] Clause 174. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 173 further includes computer executable instructions, which, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to: receive a non-periodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance; and perform at least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0390] Clause 175. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 154 to 174, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to: send a virtual resource processing capability indication to the positioning estimation entity, wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0391] Clause 176. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 154 to 175, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to: receive priority information indicating a relative priority between the virtual resources and the set of RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0392] Clause 177. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 154 to 176, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to: send a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration, wherein the configuration is received in response to the request.

[0393] Clause 178. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 154 to 177, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0394] Clause 179. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 154 to 178, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0395] Clause 180. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: determine a configuration associated with one or more reference signal (RS-P) resources for positioning, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources that is separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and send the configuration to a wireless node.

[0396] Clause 181. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 180, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: one or more downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, or one or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or one or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

[0397] Clause 182. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 180 to 181, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and the multiple RS-P instances include at least the first virtual instance.

[0398] Clause 183. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 182, wherein each instance of the plurality of RS-P instances is indicated by the configuration as being virtual.

[0399] Clause 184. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 183, wherein the configuration comprises an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of the measurement reports.

[0400] Clause 185. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 180 to 184, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include multiple RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the multiple RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

[0401] Clause 186. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 185, wherein the configuration includes an indication of a signal occurrence periodicity associated with one or more non-virtual instances of the one or more RS-P resources and an indication of a measurement report periodicity associated with the sending of measurement reports.

[0402] Clause 187. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 180 to 186, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

[0403] Clause 188. The non-transitory computer-readable medium described in any one of clauses 180 to 187 further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: send mapping information to the wireless node that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources.

[0404] Clause 189. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 188, wherein the mapping information comprises: beam information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or quasi-co-site (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or a combination thereof.

[0405] Clause 190. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 189, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

[0406] Clause 191. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in clause 190, wherein the one or more parameters include: one or more reference signal timing difference (RSTD) measurements, or one or more angle of departure (AoD) measurements, or one or more angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or one or more line-of-sight (LOS) indications, or any combination thereof.

[0407] Clause 192. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 180 to 191, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: receive a measurement report comprising measurement information from the wireless node, wherein the measurement information is associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources.

[0408] Clause 193. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 192, wherein the measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

[0409] Clause 194. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 192 to 193, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: send priority information to the wireless node indicating the relative priority between the set of virtual resources and RS-P resources, wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement reports, or both are based on the priority information.

[0410] Clause 195. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 180 to 194, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with a same bandwidth.

[0411] Clause 196. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 180 to 195, wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth.

[0412] Clause 197. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 196, wherein the first bandwidth partially overlaps with the second bandwidth, or wherein the first bandwidth does not overlap with the second bandwidth.

[0413] Clause 198. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 196 to 197, wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth region, and wherein the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth are each associated with the bandwidth region.

[0414] Clause 199. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 180 to 198, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

[0415] Clause 200. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 199 further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: send a non-periodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance.

[0416] Clause 201. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 180 to 200, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: receive a virtual resource processing capability indication from the wireless node, wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

[0417] Clause 202. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 180 to 201, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the positioning estimation entity, cause the positioning estimation entity to: receive a request for an on-demand virtual resource configuration from the wireless node, wherein the configuration is sent in response to the request.

[0418] Clause 203. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 180 to 202, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or wherein the wireless node is a network component.

[0419] Clause 204. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 180 to 203, wherein the configuration is associated with a positioning estimation session of a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or a combination thereof.

[0420] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0421] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. The technician can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0422] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, 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, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0423] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0424] In one or more example aspects, the function can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the function can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, a server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves, then coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0425] Although the foregoing disclosure illustrates the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless node, the method comprising: receiving, from a positioning estimation entity, a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; as well as A measurement report including the measurement information is sent to the positioning estimation entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: One or more downlink Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources, or One or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or One or more sidelink SRS-P resources. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the plurality of RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or Wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining mapping information that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources; as well as The set of RS-P resources is determined based at least in part on the mapping information. The method of claim 6 , wherein the mapping information is received at the wireless node.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the mapping information comprises: beam information associated with said one or more RS-P resources and said set of RS-P resources, or Quasi-co-location (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or A combination of them.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the mapping information is based on one or more parameters associated with the set of RS-P resources and machine learning (ML).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more parameters include: One or more Reference Signal Timing Difference (RSTD) measurements, or One or more Angle of Departure (AoD) measurements, or One or more Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurements, or one or more Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements, or one or more Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) measurements, or One or more line-of-sight (LOS) indicators, or Any combination of these, or wherein each RS-P resource in said set of RS-P resources is processed assuming a different timing error group (TEG) assumption, or The measurement report is configured to report per resource at a given timestamp.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources are associated with the same bandwidth, or Wherein the one or more RS-P resources are associated with a first bandwidth and the set of RS-P resources includes at least one RS-P resource associated with a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being different from the first bandwidth.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: receiving an aperiodic or on-demand trigger requesting the wireless node to measure the one or more RS-P resources for the second virtual instance; as well as At least one measurement of the one or more RS-P resources of the second virtual instance is performed.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending a virtual resource processing capability indication to the location estimation entity, Wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving priority information indicating a relative priority between the virtual resource and the set of RS-P resources, Wherein the one or more measurements, the measurement report, or both are based on the priority information.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Send a request for on-demand virtual resource provisioning, The configuration is received in response to the request.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE), or The wireless nodes are network components.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration is associated with a position estimation session for a user equipment (UE), or wherein the configuration is associated with a sensing procedure for one or more target objects, or A combination of them.

19. A method of operating a location estimation entity, the method comprising: determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and The configuration is sent to the wireless node.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more RS-P resources include: One or more downlink Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources, or One or more uplink sounding reference signal (SRS-P) resources for positioning, or One or more sidelink SRS-P resources.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, the plurality of RS-P instances including at least the first virtual instance.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a plurality of RS-P instances, and wherein less than all of the plurality of RS-P instances are indicated by the configuration as virtual, or wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via an RS-P resource set identifier, or Wherein the configuration indicates the one or more RS-P resources via one or more individual RS-P resource identifiers.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising: Mapping information is sent to the wireless node that maps the one or more RS-P resources to the set of RS-P resources.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the mapping information comprises: beam information associated with said one or more RS-P resources and said set of RS-P resources, or Quasi-co-location (QCL) information associated with the one or more RS-P resources and the set of RS-P resources, or A combination of them.

25. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving a measurement report including measurement information from the wireless node, Wherein the measurement information is associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a second virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving a virtual resource processing capability indication from the wireless node, Wherein the configuration is based on the virtual resource processing capability indication.

28. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving a request for on-demand virtual resource configuration from the wireless node, The configuration is sent in response to the request.

29. A wireless node, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from a positioning estimation entity, a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; performing one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; deriving measurement information associated with the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources based on the one or more measurements of the set of RS-P resources; as well as A measurement report including the measurement information is sent to the positioning estimation entity via the at least one transceiver.

30. A positioning estimation entity, the positioning estimation entity comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determining a configuration associated with one or more reference signal for positioning (RS-P) resources, wherein the configuration indicates that the one or more RS-P resources include a first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources, and wherein the first virtual instance of the one or more RS-P resources is associated with a set of RS-P resources separate from the one or more RS-P resources; and The configuration is transmitted to a wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

Images