Device, method and apparatus for communication, and computer readable medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses equipment, a method and a device for beam reporting. A first terminal device receives a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices. The first terminal device determines, based on the plurality of SL PRS configurations, whether the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for the plurality of SL PRS transmissions. Based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for the plurality of SL PRS transmissions, the first terminal device sends, to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices, a request to update the SL PRS transmissions by the second terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for communications. Background Art

[0002] With the development of communication technology, positioning technology has been introduced so that devices in communication systems can be located. Positioning technologies include angle of arrival (AOA) positioning technology, time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning technology, round trip time (RTT) positioning technology, etc. Generally, the device to be located receives a reference signal (e.g., positioning reference signal, PRS) from one or more auxiliary devices, or the device sends a reference signal to one or more auxiliary devices. Then, the position of the device can be estimated or calculated by measuring the reference signal.

[0003] In the case where terminal devices communicate with each other via sidelinks (SL), the terminal device can be located by measuring reference signals transmitted from other terminal devices that can communicate with the terminal device. In this case, coordination between SL PRS transmitted by different terminal devices is also a key aspect. Summary of the invention

[0004] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for beam reporting.

[0005] In a first aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device may include at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the first terminal device to: receive multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from multiple terminal devices; determine whether the multiple terminal devices select overlapping resources for multiple SL PRS transmissions based on the multiple SL PRS configurations; and based on determining that the multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for multiple SLPRS transmissions, send a request to a second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices for the second terminal device to update the SL PRS transmission.

[0006] In a second aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device may include at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the second terminal device to: send a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; receive a request to update SL PRS transmission; and based on determining that the SL PRS is to be updated, update the SL PRS transmission based on the request.

[0007] In a third aspect, a network device is provided. The network device may include at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the network device to: send a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted to a first terminal device; and send an indication of a muting mode to a second terminal device.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method implemented at a first terminal device is provided. The method comprises: receiving a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices; determining whether a plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions based on the plurality of SL PRS configurations; and sending a request for a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices to update SLPRS transmissions based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a method implemented at a second terminal device is provided. The method comprises: sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; receiving a request to update SL PRS transmission; and updating SL PRS transmission based on the request according to determining that the SL PRS is to be updated.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a method implemented at a network terminal device is provided. The method comprises: sending, at the network device, to a first terminal device a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; and sending an indication of a muting mode to a second terminal device.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a device of a first terminal device is provided. The device includes: a component for receiving multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from multiple terminal devices; a component for determining whether multiple terminal devices select overlapping resources for multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions based on the multiple SL PRS configurations; and a component for sending a request to a second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices to update SL PRS transmissions based on determining that the multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for multiple SL PRS transmissions.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, an apparatus of a second terminal device is provided. The apparatus comprises: a component for sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; a component for receiving a request for updating SL PRS transmission; and a component for updating SL PRS transmission based on the request according to determining that the SL PRS is to be updated.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, a network device apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises: a component for sending, at the network device, a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted to a first terminal device; and a component for sending an indication of a muting mode to a second terminal device.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform a method according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least: receive a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices; determine, based on a plurality of SLPRS configurations, whether a plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions; and, based on determining that a plurality of terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions, send a request to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices for the second terminal device to update its SL PRS transmission.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program comprising instructions is provided, which instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least: send a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; receive a request to update the SL PRS transmission; and based on determining that the SL PRS is to be updated, update the SL PRS transmission based on the request.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least: send to a first terminal device a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; and send to a second terminal device an indication of a muting mode.

[0018] In a fourteenth aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device includes a receiving circuit system configured to: receive multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from multiple terminal devices; a determining circuit system configured to determine whether multiple terminal devices select overlapping resources for multiple SL PRS transmissions based on the multiple SL PRS configurations; and a sending circuit system configured to send a request to a second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices to update the SL PRS transmission based on determining that the multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for the multiple SL PRS transmissions.

[0019] In a fifteenth aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device comprises: a transmitting circuit system configured to transmit a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; a receiving circuit system configured to receive a request for updating SL PRS transmission; and an updating circuit system configured to update SL PRS transmission based on the request according to determining that SL PRS is to be updated.

[0020] In a sixteenth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device comprises: a first transmitting circuit system configured to transmit a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted to a first terminal device; and a second transmitting circuit system configured to transmit an indication of a muting mode to a second terminal device.

[0021] It should be understood that the invention summary is not intended to identify the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0023] Figure 1 illustrates an example network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0024] Figure 2 illustrates an example signaling process for SL positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 3 illustrates another example signaling process for SL positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method implemented at a first terminal device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0027] Figure 5 An example flow chart of a method implemented at a second terminal device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0028] Figure 6 An example flow chart of a method implemented at a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0029] Figure 7 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0030] Figure 8 An example block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0031] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes, and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways except for the ways described below.

[0033] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0034] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, whether or not explicitly described, it should be considered that it is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments.

[0035] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0036] The terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "an" and "the" also include plural forms. It should also be understood that the terms "including", "having" and / or "comprising" when used herein specify the existence of stated features, elements and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0037] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0038] (a) pure hardware circuit implementation (such as implementation in analog and / or digital circuitry only) and

[0039] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0040] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0041] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions) and

[0042] (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), but where the software is not required for operation, the software may not be present.

[0043] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. By way of example and where applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuitry" also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0044] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any appropriate communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network can be performed according to any appropriate generation of communication protocols, including but not limited to the third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols and / or later communication protocols. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there will certainly be future types of communication technologies and systems that can embody the present disclosure. It should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-mentioned systems.

[0045] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network, via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low power node (such as femto, pico, etc.), depending on the terminology and technology applied.

[0046] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded device (LEE), a laptop mounted device (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices running in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, equipment running on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0047] As mentioned above, coordination between SL PRS sent by different terminal devices may be an important aspect for SL positioning. In SL positioning, the terminal device to be located (which may also be referred to as the target terminal device or "T-UE" in this disclosure) utilizes other terminal devices (which may also be referred to as supporting terminal devices or "S-UE") to assist in the positioning session. In some cases, such as in Mode 2 for SL positioning, the supporting terminal device can autonomously select the time-frequency resources for sending the SL positioning reference signal (PRS). Furthermore, the supporting terminal devices can respectively select the same time-frequency resources to send the SL PRS. In this way, the measurements of SL PRS from different supporting terminal devices may interfere with each other. In one solution, the SL PRS configuration for the supporting terminal devices can be pre-configured so that the time-frequency selected by one supporting terminal device is different from the time-frequency selected by another supporting terminal device. However, even if the SL PRS configuration is pre-configured, resource conflicts or measurement interference may still occur.

[0048] At least to solve the above-mentioned problems and improve the performance of the communication system, a solution for SL positioning is provided. In this solution, a first terminal device receives multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from multiple terminal devices. Based on multiple SL PRS configurations, the first terminal device determines whether multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources (for example, time-frequency resources that have been selected by multiple terminal devices) for multiple SL PRS transmissions. If multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for multiple SL PRS transmissions, the first terminal device sends a request to a second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices to update or adjust the SL PRS transmission or its parameters or characteristics by the second terminal device. It should be understood that although the embodiments are mainly discussed with reference to SLPRS, SL PRS is only an example of a reference signal used for SL positioning. In addition, any other signal that may be used or reused to perform SL positioning on a device is also covered in the present disclosure.

[0049] In this way, even if the supporting terminal devices have actually selected overlapping resources, the target terminal device can coordinate resource conflicts or measure interference in a dynamic manner without completely reconfiguring the SL PRS configuration.

[0050] In the present disclosure, overlapping resources refer to the same communication resources selected by more than one supporting terminal devices for sending SL PRS. Without limitation, in some cases, the same communication resources may be time-frequency resources. Without limitation, in some cases, the same communication resources may be the same resource elements or resource blocks. Alternatively, the same communication resources may be any other communication resources, such as polarization resources, spatial directional resources, etc.

[0051] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 An example network environment 100 is illustrated in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Environment 100 may be part of a communication network, including terminal devices and network devices.

[0052] like Figure 1 As shown in , the network environment 100 may include terminal devices 110, 120, 130, and 140. For the sake of discussion only and without any limitation, the terminal device 110 is a terminal device that is located via sidelink communication, and the terminal device 110 may also be referred to as the first terminal device 110 in the present disclosure. In addition, the terminal devices 120, 130, 140 are supporting terminal devices that assist in locating the first terminal device 110. Without any limitation, the terminal device 120 may also be referred to as the second terminal device 120, the terminal device 130 may also be referred to as the third terminal device 130, and the terminal device 140 may also be referred to as the fourth terminal device 140. The network environment 100 also includes a network device 150 that can serve the terminal devices mentioned above.

[0053] It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices provided is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. System 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more terminal devices can be located in environment 100.

[0054] The communication in the network environment 100 can be implemented according to any appropriate communication protocol, including but not limited to third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G) or later wireless local area network communication protocols, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc., and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. In addition, the communication can utilize any appropriate wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, ZigBee, and machine type communication (MTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), and new radio point unlicensed (NR-U) technology.

[0055] In this disclosure, a SL positioning process is proposed, and reference is made to Figure 2 and Figure 3 Embodiments are further discussed.

[0056] Figure 2An example signaling process 200 for SL positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Describe process 200. It should be understood that although Figure 1 The process 200 is described in the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process 200 can also be applied to other communication scenarios. For illustrative purposes, the following embodiments will be discussed with reference to the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120, the third terminal device 130 and the network device 150, but are not limited in any way.

[0057] In signaling 200, after the SL positioning process is initiated, the first terminal device 110 receives (201, 203) multiple SL PRS configurations from multiple terminal devices. Without limitation, the multiple terminal devices may include the second terminal device 120, the third terminal device 130, and the fourth terminal device 140. Figure 2 As shown in , the first terminal device 110 receives (201) a first SL PRS configuration from the second terminal device 120, and receives (203) a second SL PRS configuration from the third terminal device 130. In other embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may also receive a third SL PRS configuration from the fourth terminal device 140. The SL PRS configuration (e.g., the first SL PRS configuration) may indicate the resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) selected by the corresponding supporting terminal device (e.g., the second terminal device 120) for sending the SL PRS. Alternatively, the supporting terminal device (e.g., the second terminal device 120) may also relay the SL PRS configuration (e.g., the second SL PRS configuration) from another supporting terminal device (e.g., the third terminal device 130) to the first terminal device 110. The scope of protection in this regard is not limited.

[0058] Based on the multiple SL PRS configurations, the first terminal device 110 determines (210) whether the multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources (e.g., the same time-frequency resources) for the multiple SLPRS transmissions. In some embodiments, if the resources indicated by the SL PRS configuration (e.g., the first SL PRS configuration) overlap at least partially with the resources indicated by another SL PRS configuration (e.g., the second SL PRS configuration), the first terminal device 110 may determine that the multiple terminal devices including the second terminal device 120 and the third terminal device 130 have selected overlapping resources. Alternatively, if the second terminal device 120 and the third terminal device 130 at least partially select the same resources, the first terminal device 110 may determine that the multiple terminal devices including the second terminal device 120 and the third terminal device 130 have selected overlapping resources.

[0059] After determining that multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for multiple SL PRS transmissions, the first terminal device 110 sends (220) a request to update the SL PRS transmission to the second terminal device 120. In some embodiments, "updating the SL PRS transmission" means adjusting the multiplexing method to send the SL PRS, and the multiplexing scheme is one of silencing the SL PRS (zero power transmission) or utilizing code division multiplexing (CDM). CDM means using different sequences by using different sequence initialization values ​​or using orthogonal cover codes (OCC) in the time domain and / or frequency domain. In addition, "updating the SL PRS transmission" may also be referred to as "updating the SL PRS configuration."

[0060] In some embodiments, the request may include (221) a request to silence the SL PRS. For example, the first terminal device 110 may send a request to silence the SL PRS sent on overlapping resources to the second terminal device 120. If the second terminal device 120 determines that the SL PRS can be updated or silenced, the second terminal device 120 may silence the corresponding SL PRS based on the request. In addition, the second terminal device 120 may feedback (225) to the first terminal device 110 with an acceptance message indicating acceptance or otherwise compliance with the silence request. In addition, the second terminal device 120 may also send (225) an update message indicating that the SL PRS is silenced to other target terminal devices and / or the first terminal device 110.

[0061] Otherwise, if the second terminal device 120 determines that the SL PRS cannot be silenced due to other reasons, the second terminal device 120 can feedback to the first terminal device with a rejection message (225), which indicates that the silence request cannot be accepted or complied with and the SL PRS is not silenced. Based on the rejection message, the first terminal device 110 can send a request for silencing the SL PRS to another terminal device (e.g., the third terminal device 130) among the multiple terminal devices. Alternatively, the first terminal device 110 can perform other corresponding actions to eliminate interference.

[0062] In some embodiments, the request for silencing the SL PRS may also indicate that the SL PRS is to be silenced in certain time slots. In this way, the second terminal device 120 may silence the SL PRS only in certain specific time slots (which may also be referred to as the first time slot), while still sending the SL PRS in other allocated resources. In this case, one or more opportunities of the SL PRS may be silenced. In addition, the terminal device 110 may also send a request to the third terminal device 130 for silencing the SL PRS in other specific time slots (which may also be referred to as the second time slot). In some embodiments, the first time slot and the second time slot are staggered in the time domain (for example, different time slots are used so as not to overlap). For example, the first time slot and the second time slot are located in different time slots, or the first time slot and the second time slot are located at different positions of the periodic time slot, respectively. Specifically, the first terminal device 110 may request the second terminal device 120 to silence the SL PRS during time slot x, and the first terminal device 110 requests the third terminal device 130 to silence the SL PRS during time slot x+n (where n is the period of the SL PRS).

[0063] Additionally or alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may send a request for silencing the strongest received SL PRS signal. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may receive a first SL PRS from a second terminal device 120 and a second SL PRS from a third terminal device 130 on overlapping resources. If the first terminal device 110 determines that the first received power (e.g., reference signal received power, RSRP) of the first SL PRS is greater than the second received power of the second SL PRS by a power threshold. Then, the first terminal device may send a request to the second terminal device 120 for silencing the first SL PRS. Alternatively, if the difference between the RSRPs of the SL PRSs from different terminal devices is large enough, the first terminal device 110 may request the corresponding terminal device to silence the SL PRS with a larger RSRP. In this way, the first terminal device 110 can measure the SL PRS with a smaller received power during the time slot in which the strongest SL PRS is silenced. Furthermore, during time slots where the strongest SL PRS is still transmitted (eg, the strongest SL PRS is muted only in certain time slots), the first terminal device 110 may measure the strongest SL PRS by means of code division multiplexing (CDM), while being aware that there will be some interference effects.

[0064] Additionally or alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may also determine the SLPRS to be silenced based on predefined criteria. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may receive a silence criterion for determining the SLPRS to be silenced from the network device 150. In some embodiments, the silence criterion may indicate that only SL PRSs with certain characteristics may request to be silenced. In one example, SL PRSs with certain characteristics may include SLPRSs whose received power is higher than a second power threshold. Furthermore, the first terminal device 110 may request to silence these SL PRSs. In this case, the network device 150 may configure the second power threshold to X. Then, if SL PRS RSRP>X, the terminal device 110 may request to silence the SL PRS.

[0065] Regarding sending a request for silencing the SL PRS or for updating the SL PRS transmission, the first terminal device 110 may send the request to the second terminal device 120 via sidelink control information (SCI) signaling. Additionally or alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may also send the request to the second terminal device 120 via a sidelink LTE positioning protocol (SLPP) message. Additionally or alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may also send the request via multicast signaling to silence the SL PRS sent from a group of terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices. In addition, the first terminal device 110 may also request to silence other resources associated with the SLPRS. For example, if the second terminal device 120 supports beamforming or spatial filtering, the first terminal device 110 may send a request for silencing a beam associated with the SL PRS transmission.

[0066] In addition to or alternatively to the request for silencing the SL PRS, the request for updating the SL PRS transmission may include at least one of a request for changing the SL PRS identification (ID) or a request for using an orthogonal cover code (OCC). In some embodiments, the SL PRS ID may be used to generate a SL PRS sequence. Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the SL PRS ID may be a seed for sequence initialization. In some embodiments, the SL PRS ID is associated with a sequence (e.g., a pseudo-random code sequence) used to perform CDM communication. In this way, the second terminal device 120 may change the code sequence based on the request for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device 110. Alternatively, the second terminal device 120 may use OCC based on a request to use OCC for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device. In this way, the code sequence may be used to distinguish between different SL PRSs sent on overlapping resources, thereby eliminating interference in the measurement.

[0067] In some embodiments, the request may also indicate at least one of the SL PRS ID or the SL PRS sequence initialization. In one example, the indicated SL PRS ID may be a preferred SL PRS ID selected by the first terminal device 110. The second terminal device 120 may be changed to use a code sequence corresponding to the indicated SL PRS ID. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may send a request to change the SL PRS ID or use an orthogonal cover code (OCC) based on the prerequisite being met. In some cases, the prerequisite may be that the distance from the supporting terminal device and the first terminal device 110 is substantially the same. In one example, the first terminal device 110 may determine a first distance between the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120, and determine a second distance between the first terminal device 110 and the third terminal device 130 in the plurality of terminal devices. If the distance difference between the first distance and the second distance meets the distance threshold, the first terminal device 110 may send a request to change the SL PRS ID or a request to use the OCC to the second terminal device 120. In this way, it can enable code division multiplexing (CDM) at the T-UE instead of completely silencing the S-UE. Otherwise, if the first terminal device 110 estimates that the distance difference between the terminal devices 120 and 130 is greater than the threshold, the first terminal device 110 returns a silence request instead of requesting to change the SL PRS. In addition, the second terminal device 120 can also feedback to the first terminal device 110 with an acceptance message, a rejection message, or an update message in the same manner as mentioned above (225). Furthermore, the first terminal device 110 can perform the corresponding actions as mentioned above. In addition, if the second terminal device 120 changes the SL PRS ID, the second terminal device 120 can also notify other target terminal devices of the updated SL PRS ID.

[0068] As mentioned above, resource conflicts or measurement interference can be eliminated by dynamically notifying the S-UE to update the SL PRS transmission. In this way, the S-UE can update the SL PRS transmission without completely reconfiguring the SL PRS configuration. Thus, it minimizes the delay impact. There may also be other T-UEs listening to the S-UE SL PRS transmission, so silencing a few opportunities can bring the least disruptive solution.

[0069] Still see Figure 2 , the first terminal device 110 receives (230, 240) SL PRS from the second terminal device 120 and the third terminal device 130, and then performs (250) SL positioning measurement.

[0070] Additionally or alternatively, the supporting terminal device may be configured with a dynamic silent mode. Furthermore, when measurement interference is detected, the silent mode may be activated. For discussion purposes, reference is made to Figure 3 Further discussion of dynamic silent mode.

[0071] Figure 3 Another example signaling process 300 for SL positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Describe process 200. It should be understood that although Figure 1 The process 200 is described in the communication environment 100, but the process 200 can also be applied to other communication scenarios. For ease of description, the following embodiments will be discussed with reference to the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120, the third terminal device 130 and the network device 150, but are not limited in any way.

[0072] Without limitation, step 305 may be performed in accordance with Figure 2 Steps 310 and 325 may be performed in the same manner as step 201 or 203 in FIG. Figure 2 Steps 330 and 350 may be performed in the same manner as steps 210 and 225 in FIG. Figure 2 Steps 230 and 250 are performed in the same manner.

[0073] As shown in the signaling process 300, after initiating the SL positioning process, the network device 150 can configure a dynamic silent mode for the second terminal device 120. In some embodiments, the network device 150 can send an indication of the silent mode to the second terminal device 120. The second terminal device 120 can send the indication to the first terminal device 110, so that the first terminal device 110 knows that the second terminal device 120 has a silent mode, and then the first terminal device 110 can determine that multiple terminal devices including the second terminal device 120 select overlapping resources (for example, select the same time-frequency resources). The first terminal device 110 can send a request for activating the dynamic silent mode to the second terminal device 120 via the SCI. For example, the request may include an activation message for activating the silent mode. Accordingly, the second terminal device 120 can activate the silent mode based on the received activation message. For example, a second terminal device 120 having a silent mode configured by a gNB / transmission and reception point (TRP) / LMF activates the silent mode only upon request by the first terminal device 110, such that the silent mode is an optional silent mode. If the location management function (LMF) is configuring the silent mode, the LMF may perform it using LPP. In addition, a given S-UE's SLPRS configuration may be used by multiple T-UEs. To minimize disruption, the S-UE may be silent for only a short period of time (e.g., a duration sufficient to avoid interference). Otherwise, a complete reconfiguration of the SL PRS may be required, which is both time consuming and challenging (because no single entity has all the information).

[0074] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a terminal device (eg, the first terminal device 110) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 400 is described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 .

[0075] At 410, the first terminal device 110 receives a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices. At 420, the first terminal device 110 determines whether the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions based on the plurality of SL PRS configurations. At 430, based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions, the first terminal device 110 sends a request to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices for the second terminal device to update the SL PRS transmission.

[0076] In some embodiments, the request includes a request for silencing the SL PRS. In some embodiments, the request also indicates that the SL PRS is silenced in the first time slot. In some embodiments, the method 400 also includes sending a request for silencing the SL PRS to a third terminal device among the multiple terminal devices in the second time slot, and the second time slot and the first time slot are staggered in the time domain. In some embodiments, sending a request for silencing the SL PRS includes: receiving a first SL PRS from a second terminal device and a second SL PRS from a third terminal device among the multiple terminal devices on overlapping resources; determining that a first received power of the first SL PRS is greater than a second received power of the second SL PRS by a power threshold; and sending a request for silencing the first SL PRS to the second terminal device.

[0077] In some embodiments, the method 400 further comprises sending a request for silencing the SL PRS by: receiving a silencing criterion for determining the SL PRS to be silenced from a network device; and sending a request to a second terminal device based on the silencing criterion. In some embodiments, the request comprises: a request for silencing a beam associated with the SL PRS transmission. In some embodiments, the request for silencing the SL PRS is sent by at least one of: sending a request via sidelink control information (SCI) signaling; sending a request via a sidelink LTE positioning protocol (SLPP) message; or sending a request via multicast signaling to silence the SL PRS transmitted from a group of terminal devices among a plurality of terminal devices.

[0078] In some embodiments, the method 400 further comprises receiving an indication from a second terminal device that the SL PRS is not to be muted; and sending the request to a third terminal device other than the second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices. In some embodiments, the request comprises at least one of: a request to change an SL PRS identification (ID); or a request to use an orthogonal cover code (OCC). In some embodiments, the request further indicates at least one of: an SL PRS ID, or an SL PRS sequence initialization.

[0079] In some embodiments, sending a request to change the SL PRS ID includes: determining a first distance between the terminal device and a second terminal device; determining a second distance between the terminal device and a third terminal device among a plurality of terminal devices; and based on the distance difference between the first distance and the second distance satisfying a distance threshold, sending a request to change the SL PRS ID or a request to use the OCC to the second terminal device.

[0080] In some embodiments, the method 400 further comprises receiving an indication of the silent mode from the second terminal device. In some embodiments, sending the request comprises: sending an activation message for activating the silent mode to the second terminal device.

[0081] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a terminal device (eg, the second terminal device 120) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 500 is described from the perspective of the second terminal device 120 .

[0082] At 510, the second terminal device 120 sends a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to the first terminal device. At 520, the second terminal device 120 receives a request to update SL PRS transmission. At 530, the second terminal device 120 updates SL PRS transmission based on the request in accordance with determining that the SL PRS is to be updated.

[0083] In some embodiments, the request comprises a request to silence the SL PRS. In some embodiments, the request comprises a request to silence a beam associated with the SL PRS.

[0084] In some embodiments, updating the SL PRS transmission may be performed by at least one of: muting transmission of the SL PRS based on the request; or disabling a beam associated with the SL PRS.

[0085] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 refrains from sending the SL PRS, and the second terminal device 120 is also caused to: send an indication to another terminal device to be located that the SL PRS is silenced.

[0086] In some embodiments, the method 500 further includes, based on determining that the SL PRS is not updated, sending an indication that the SL PRS is not to be muted.

[0087] In some embodiments, the request includes at least one of: a request to change a SL PRS identification (ID); or a request to use an orthogonal cover code (OCC).

[0088] In some embodiments, the request also indicates at least one of: a SL PRS ID, or a SL PRS sequence initialization.

[0089] In some embodiments, method 500 further comprises at least one of: based on a request to change the SL PRS ID, changing a code sequence for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device; and based on a request to use the OCC, using the OCC for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device 110 .

[0090] In some embodiments, the method 500 further includes receiving an indication of the silent mode from the network device 150 ; and sending an indication of the silent mode to the first terminal device 110 .

[0091] In some embodiments, the method 500 further includes receiving an activation message for activating the silent mode from the first terminal device 110; and activating the silent mode.

[0092] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example method 600 implemented at a network device (eg, network device 150) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Method 600 is described from the perspective of network device 150 .

[0093] At 610, the network device 150 sends muting criteria for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted to the first terminal device 110. At 620, the network device 150 sends an indication of a muting mode to the second terminal device 120.

[0094] In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., a first terminal device 110) capable of performing any operation of method 400 may include: a component for receiving multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from multiple terminal devices; a component for determining whether multiple terminal devices select overlapping resources for multiple sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions based on multiple SL PRS configurations; and a component for sending a request to a second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices to update SL PRS transmissions by the second terminal device based on determining that the multiple terminal devices have selected overlapping resources for the multiple SL PRS transmissions.

[0095] In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a component for receiving a configuration of a mapping restriction from a network device for performing a logical channel prioritization (LCP) process associated with a configured grant (CG). The mapping restriction is configured for a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). The apparatus may also include a component for determining whether a MAC CE is triggered; a component for performing an LCP process of the CG based on the mapping restriction based on determining that the MAC CE is triggered; and a component for sending the MAC CE to the network device via the CG.

[0096] In some embodiments, the request includes a request for silencing the SL PRS. In some embodiments, the request also indicates that the SL PRS is silenced in the first time slot. In some embodiments, the component also includes a component for sending a request for silencing the SL PRS to a third terminal device among a plurality of terminal devices in a second time slot, and the second time slot and the first time slot are staggered in the time domain. In some embodiments, the component for sending a request for silencing the SL PRS includes: a component for receiving a first SL PRS from a second terminal device and a second SL PRS from a third terminal device among a plurality of terminal devices on overlapping resources; a component for determining that a first received power of the first SL PRS is greater than a second received power of the second SL PRS by a power threshold; and a component for sending a request to silence the first SL PRS to the second terminal device.

[0097] In some embodiments, the means for sending a request for silencing the SL PRS includes: a means for receiving from a network device a silencing criterion for determining the SL PRS to be silenced; and a means for sending a request to a second terminal device based on the silencing criterion. In some embodiments, the request includes: a request for silencing a beam associated with the SL PRS transmission. In some embodiments, the means for sending a request for silencing the SL PRS is implemented by at least one of the following means: a means for sending a request via sidelink control information (SCI) signaling; a means for sending a request via a sidelink LTE positioning protocol (SLPP) message; or a means for sending a request via multicast signaling to silence the SL PRS transmitted from a group of terminal devices among a plurality of terminal devices.

[0098] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a component for receiving an indication from a second terminal device that the SL PRS is not to be muted; and a component for sending the request to a third terminal device other than the second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices. In some embodiments, the request comprises at least one of: a request for changing an SL PRS identification (ID); or a request for using an orthogonal cover code (OCC). In some embodiments, the request further indicates at least one of: an SL PRS ID, or an SL PRS sequence initialization.

[0099] In some embodiments, the component for sending a request for changing the SL PRS ID includes: a component for determining a first distance between a terminal device and a second terminal device; a component for determining a second distance between the terminal device and a third terminal device among a plurality of terminal devices; and a component for sending a request for changing the SL PRS ID or a request for using the OCC to the second terminal device based on the distance difference between the first distance and the second distance satisfying a distance threshold.

[0100] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication of the silent mode from the second terminal device.In some embodiments, the means for sending the request comprises means for sending an activation message to the second terminal device for activating the silent mode.

[0101] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 400. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.

[0102] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing any one of the methods 500 (e.g., the second terminal device 120) may include a component for executing the corresponding steps of the method 500. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in the form of a circuit system or a software module.

[0103] In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a component for sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; a component for receiving a request to update the SL PRS transmission; and a component for updating the SL PRS transmission based on the request in accordance with a determination that the SLPRS is to be updated.

[0104] In some embodiments, the request comprises a request to silence the SL PRS. In some embodiments, the request comprises a request to silence a beam associated with the SL PRS.

[0105] In some embodiments, the means for updating the SL PRS transmission comprises at least one of: means for muting transmission of the SL PRS based on the request; or means for disabling a beam associated with the SL PRS.

[0106] In some embodiments, the second terminal device refrains from sending the SL PRS, and wherein the second terminal device is further caused to: send an indication to another terminal device to be located that the SL PRS is silenced.

[0107] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending an indication that the SL PRS is not to be muted based on determining that the SL PRS is not to be updated.

[0108] In some embodiments, the request includes at least one of: a request to change a SL PRS identification (ID); or a request to use an orthogonal cover code (OCC).

[0109] In some embodiments, the request also indicates at least one of: a SL PRS ID, or a SL PRS sequence initialization.

[0110] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a component for at least one of: changing a code sequence for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device based on a request for changing the SLPRS ID; and using the OCC for SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device 110 based on a request for using the OCC.

[0111] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a component for receiving an indication of a silent mode from a network device; and sending an indication of a silent mode to the first terminal device.

[0112] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a component for receiving an activation message for activating the silent mode from the first terminal device; and activating the silent mode.

[0113] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 500. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to cause the performance of the apparatus together with the at least one processor.

[0114] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 600 (e.g., network device 150) may include a component for performing the corresponding steps of the method 600. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in the form of a circuit system or a software module.

[0115] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 600. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to cause the performance of the apparatus together with the at least one processor.

[0116] In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a component for sending, at a network device, to a first terminal device a muting criterion for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; and a component for sending an indication of a muting mode to a second terminal device.

[0117] Figure 7 700 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1 The terminal device or network device 150 shown in FIG. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 740 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 740 coupled to the processor 710.

[0118] TX / RX 740 is used for bidirectional communication. TX / RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

[0119] Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0120] The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), and other magnetic storage devices and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that do not persist over the duration of a power outage.

[0121] The computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The program 730 may be stored in the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

[0122] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program so that the device 600 may execute the Figures 2 to 6 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0123] In some embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 700 (e.g., in the memory 720) or in other storage devices accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 722 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 8 An example of a computer readable medium 800 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer readable medium has a program 730 stored thereon.

[0124] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0125] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, which are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figures 2 to 5 Described process 200 or 300, method 400, 500 or 600.Usually, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types.In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules can be combined or split between program modules as desired.The machine executable instructions of program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices.In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0126] The program code for executing the disclosed method can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that when the processor or controller executes the program code, the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram are implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote machine or server.

[0127] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0128] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, device or apparatus, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term "non-transitory" as used herein is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), not a limitation of data storage persistence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0129] In addition, although each operation is depicted in a specific order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in sequence, or requiring the execution of all illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. In some scenarios, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but should be interpreted as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0130] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A first terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the first terminal device: receiving a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices; determining, based on the plurality of SL PRS configurations, whether the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of SL PRS transmissions; and Based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for the plurality of SL PRS transmissions, a request is sent to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices for the second terminal device to update SL PRS transmissions.

2. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the request comprises: Request for silent SL PRS. 3 . The first terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein the request further indicates that the SL PRS is muted in the first time slot.

4. The first terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: The request to silence the SL PRS in a second time slot is sent to a third terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices, and the second time slot and the first time slot are staggered in the time domain.

5. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first terminal device is caused to send the request for silencing the SL PRS by: receiving, on the overlapping resources, a first SL PRS from the second terminal device and a second SL PRS from a third terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices; Determine that a first received power of the first SL PRS is greater than a second received power of the second SL PRS by a power threshold; and Sending the request for silencing the first SL PRS to the second terminal device.

6. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the first terminal device is caused to send the request for silencing the SL PRS by: receiving, from a network device, muting criteria for determining the SL PRS to be muted; and Based on the silence criterion, the request is sent to the second terminal device.

7. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the request comprises: A request to silence the beam associated with the SL PRS transmission.

8. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the first terminal device is caused to send the request for silencing the SL PRS by at least one of: sending the request via sidelink control information (SCI) signaling; sending the request via a Sidelink LTE Positioning Protocol (SLPP) message; or The request is sent via multicast signaling to silence the SL PRS sent from a group of terminal devices among the plurality of terminal devices.

9. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: receiving an indication from the second terminal device that the SL PRS is not to be muted; and The request is sent to a third terminal device other than the second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices.

10. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the request comprises at least one of the following: A request to change the SL PRS identification (ID); or Request for use of Orthogonal Cover Codes (OCC).

11. The first terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the request further indicates at least one of the following: SL PRSID, or SL PRS sequence initialization.

12. The first terminal device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the first terminal device is caused to send the request for changing the SL PRSID by: Determining a first distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; determining a second distance between the first terminal device and a third terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices; and Based on the distance difference between the first distance and the second distance satisfying a distance threshold, the request for changing the SL PRSID or the request for using the OCC is sent to the second terminal device.

13. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: An indication of a silent mode is received from the second terminal device.

14. The terminal device according to claim 13, wherein the first terminal device is caused to send the request in the following manner: An activation message for activating the silent mode is sent to the second terminal device.

15. A second terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to: Sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; receiving a request to update the SL PRS transmission; and Based on determining that the SL PRS is to be updated, the SL PRS transmission is updated based on the request.

16. The second terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the request comprises: Request for silent SL PRS.

17. The second terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the request comprises: A request to silence the beam associated with the SL PRS.

18. The second terminal device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the second terminal device is caused to update the SL PRS transmission by at least one of: Silence the sending of the SL PRS based on the request; or The beam associated with the SL PRS is disabled.

19. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the second terminal device refrains from sending the SL PRS, and wherein the second terminal device is further caused to: An indication that the SL PRS is muted is sent to another terminal device to be located.

20. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein the second terminal device is further configured to: Based on determining that the SL PRS is not updated, an indication that the SL PRS is not muted is sent.

21. The second terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the request comprises at least one of the following: A request to change the SL PRS identification (ID); or Request for use of Orthogonal Cover Codes (OCC).

22. The second terminal device according to claim 21, wherein the request further indicates at least one of the following: SL PRSID, or SL PRS sequence initialization.

23. The second terminal device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the second terminal device is further configured to perform at least one of the following: Based on the request to change the SL PRS ID, changing a code sequence used for the SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device; and Based on the request to use the OCC, the OCC is used for the SL PRS transmission to the first terminal device.

24. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the second terminal device is further configured to: receiving an indication of a silent mode from a network device; and Sending the indication of the silent mode to the first terminal device.

25. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 24, wherein the second terminal device is further configured to: receiving an activation message for activating the silent mode from the first terminal device; and Activate the silent mode.

26. A network device comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to: sending, to the first terminal device, muting criteria for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; and Send a silent mode indication to the second terminal device.

27. A method comprising: receiving, at a first terminal device, a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices; determining, based on the plurality of SL PRS configurations, whether the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions; and Based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for the plurality of SL PRS transmissions, a request is sent to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices for the second terminal device to update SL PRS transmissions.

28. A method comprising: Sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; receiving a request to update SL PRS transmission; as well as Based on determining that the SL PRS is to be updated, the SL PRS transmission is updated based on the request.

29. A method comprising: sending, at a network device, to a first terminal device, muting criteria for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; as well as Send a silent mode indication to the second terminal device.

30. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations from a plurality of terminal devices; means for determining whether the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions based on a plurality of SL PRS configurations; as well as Means for sending, to a second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices, a request for the second terminal device to update SL PRS transmissions based on determining that the plurality of terminal devices select overlapping resources for the plurality of SL PRS transmissions.

31. An apparatus comprising: means for sending a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a first terminal device; means for receiving a request to update SL PRS transmission; as well as Means for updating the SL PRS transmission based on the request in accordance with determining that the SL PRS is to be updated.

32. An apparatus comprising: means for sending, at a network device, to a first terminal device, muting criteria for determining a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be muted; as well as A component for sending a silent mode indication to a second terminal device.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to at least perform the method according to any one of claims 27-29.

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