Virtual anchor detection based on channel tap removal

Abstract

Techniques for identifying virtual anchor points are disclosed. In one aspect, a network entity obtains a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPC) obtained by the UE, and determining whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database in which virtual anchor points have been found, where one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor points, and wherein the one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database where the virtual anchor points have been found based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs being not associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved over several generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-enabled wireless services, 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 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.

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, more 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 highly accurate 5G-based positioning. Summary of the invention

[0004] The following content presents a brief summary of one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary should not be considered as a broad overview related to all expected aspects, nor should it be considered as identifying key or important elements related to all expected aspects or delineating the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form before the specific embodiments presented below.

[0005] In one aspect, a method for identifying a virtual anchor point performed by a network entity includes: obtaining a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples including a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determining whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0006] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, which is communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: obtain a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples including a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determine whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0007] In one aspect, a network entity includes: means for obtaining a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples including a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and means for determining whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0008] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: obtain a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determine whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0009] 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

[0010] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0011] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C An exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0013] 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.

[0014] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0015] Figure 5 is a graph showing a radio frequency (RF) channel impulse response versus time in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a virtual anchor point and a real anchor point according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of data collection using tap removal to identify virtual anchor points in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 8 A high-level method of virtual anchor point detection based on channel tap removal according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Fig. 9 An exemplary method of network-based assignment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Fig.10 An exemplary method of UE-assisted assignment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Fig.11 An exemplary method for continuous (iterative) tap removal (STR) according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Fig.12 is a diagram showing details of a three-dimensional array for STR according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig.13 is a diagram illustrating aspects of a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig.14 Exemplary test results of virtual anchor point extraction using continuous tap removal according to aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0025] Fig.15 It is a diagram showing various aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.14 An exemplary test result is shown in the figure of the final output.

[0026] Fig.16 An exemplary method of identifying a virtual anchor point according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, which are directed to 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 confusing the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0028] The words "exemplary" and / or "exemplary" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "exemplary" 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.

[0029] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and technologies 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 referenced in the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0030] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a corresponding set of computer instructions stored therein, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms, all of which are considered to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic" that is "configured to" perform the described actions.

[0031] As used herein, unless otherwise noted, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, 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, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) that a user uses to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile, or can be (e.g., at certain times) stationary 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 equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variants thereof. Typically, 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 connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (eg, based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), and so on.

[0032] Depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, the base station may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with the UE, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for the UE, including supporting data, voice and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide pure edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE may send a signal to the 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 through which the base station may send a signal to the 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 or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0033] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which 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 (for example, 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 the UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because the TRP is the point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of the base station.

[0034] In some 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 send reference signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a positioning measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0035] "RF signals" include electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit 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, RF signals may also be referred to as "wireless signals" or simply "signals", where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to either wireless signals or RF signals.

[0036] Figure 1An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is shown according to various aspects of the present disclosure. 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 macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or include gNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or include a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, etc.

[0037] 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 positioning servers 172 (e.g., a positioning management function (LMF) or a secure user plane positioning (SUPL) positioning platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The positioning server 172 may be part of the core network 170, or may be external to the core network 170. The positioning server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the positioning server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the positioning server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the positioning server 172 via 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), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and positioning 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.

[0038] The base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following, among other functions: delivery of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup 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 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired or wireless).

[0039] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity for communicating with a base station (e.g., through some frequency resources, called carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In addition, because 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 some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0040] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handoff region), some geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 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 and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0041] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission 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 with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0042] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a 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 the channel is available.

[0043] The small cell base station 102' can operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an 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.

[0044] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in 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 30 GHz to 300 GHz 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 3 GHz and a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also known as 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 (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. In addition, it will be appreciated that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 can also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming to transmit. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the foregoing description is merely exemplary, and should not be construed as limiting the aspects disclosed herein.

[0045] 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 (omnidirectional). Through transmit beamforming, the network node determines the positioning of a given target device (e.g., UE) (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal 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 are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates an RF beam that can be "manipulated" 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 individual antennas are added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0046] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to have the same parameters to the receiver (e.g., UE) regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-located (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 from 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 can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel.

[0047] 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 a gain setting and / or adjust a phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) RF signals 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.

[0048] The transmit and receive beams may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) of a second reference signal may be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) of 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 sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0049] It should be noted that a "downlink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. 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, it is a receive beam used to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0050] Based on frequency / wavelength, the electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into multiple categories, bands, channels, etc. In 5GNR, two initial operating bands are identified as frequency range names FR1 (410MHz–7.125GHz) and FR2 (24.25GHz–52.6GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a "sub-6GHz" band in various literature and articles. FR2 sometimes presents a similar naming problem, and although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30GHz–300GHz) identified as a "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), FR2 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a "millimeter wave" band in literature and articles.

[0051] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands of these mid-band frequencies as the frequency range name FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The frequency bands belonging to FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and therefore can effectively extend the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to above 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as the frequency range names FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands belongs to the EHF band.

[0052] In view of the above, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it can broadly refer to frequencies that may be lower 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 herein, it can broadly refer to frequencies 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.

[0053] 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 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure, or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment 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 once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. 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, those UE-specific information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier, because the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can 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. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Because a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station is communicating, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0054] 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 (or "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 two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0055] 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.

[0056] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may be capable of sidelink (SL) communications. A UE supporting the sidelink (denoted as "SL-UE") may communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs supporting the sidelink). A wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the need to communicate through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be 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 otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, multiple groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates resource scheduling for the sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are conducted between SL-UEs without the participation of the base station 102.

[0057] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 can operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which can be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs. A "medium" can be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., including one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the medium of interest can correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared among 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, especially those that employ small cell access points, have recently expanded operations to unlicensed bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi". Exemplary 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.

[0058] It should be noted that although Figure 1 Only two UEs are shown as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the UEs shown may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the UEs shown (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 a base station (e.g., base station 102, 180, small cell 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0059] exist Figure 1 In the example of Figure 1104) can receive signals 124 from one or more earth orbiting spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that UE 104 can use as an independent source of positioning information. Satellite positioning systems typically include a transmitter system (e.g., SV 112) that is positioned so that receivers (e.g., UE 104) can determine their 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 signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in SV 112, the transmitters can sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE 104 can include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geolocation information from SV 112.

[0060] 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 usable 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 Augmentation Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmentation 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.

[0061] 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 an improved base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna), or a network node in a 5GC. This element will in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet network servers and other user devices. In this way, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 instead of or in addition to receiving communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0062] 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 this link), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through this link). In the example, the 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), etc.

[0063] Figure 2A An exemplary wireless network structure 200 is shown. 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, connected to the control plane function 214 via the NG-C 215 and connected to the user plane function 212 via the NG-U 213. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a 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 gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0064] Another optional aspect may include a positioning server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide positioning assistance for the UE 204. The positioning server 230 can be implemented as multiple independent servers (e.g., physically independent servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The positioning server 230 can be configured to support one or more positioning services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the positioning server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). In addition, the positioning 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).

[0065] Figure 2B Another exemplary wireless network structure 240 is shown. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 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 the 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 UE 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 the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the 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 functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which it uses to derive access network specific keys. The functions of the AMF 264 also include location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interworking with EPS, and notification of UE 204 mobility events. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports the functions of non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0066] 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 with 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 layer packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the transmission of positioning service messages on the user plane between UE 204 and a positioning server (such as SLP 272).

[0067] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuring traffic steering at UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, controlling partial policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0068] Another optional aspect may include LMF 270, which can communicate with 5GC 260 to provide positioning assistance for UE 204. LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple independent servers (e.g., physically independent servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more positioning services for UE 240, which can be connected to LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). SLP 272 can support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 via a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) via a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0069] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain positioning information (e.g., positioning estimates) for the 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 multiple independent servers (e.g., physically independent servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0070] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, 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.

[0071] The functions of the gNB 222 may be 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 such as delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., in addition to those functions specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228. 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 may 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 functions of the gNB 222 are 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, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0072] 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) performing a base station function) 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 called an independent base station or a monolithic base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0073] The aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. The decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed in 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 may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. The DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0074] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, decomposed base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as a network configuration 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 allocating functionality between two or more units at different physical locations, as well as virtually allocating functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Various units of a decomposed base station or decomposed RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0075] Figure 2CAn exemplary decomposed base station architecture 250 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The decomposed base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226), which may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with a core network 267 through one or more decomposed 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 mid-haul 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 may communicate with a corresponding UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 may be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0076] Each unit (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 referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each unit or associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of the unit may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, the units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more other units via a wired transmission medium. In addition, the units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals to one or more other units via a wireless transmission medium, or to receive and send signals.

[0077] In some aspects, CU 280 may host one or more high-level 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 with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 280. CU280 may be configured to handle user plane functions (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, CU 280 may be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as an E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. If necessary, CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0078] DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RU 287. In some aspects, DU 285 may host one or more of the following items at least in part according to a functional partitioning (such as a functional partitioning defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)): 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.). In some aspects, DU 285 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented with an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 285 or control functions hosted by CU 280.

[0079] The low-layer functions 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 functional partitioning (such as low-layer functional partitioning). 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, this configuration may enable the DU 285 and CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0080] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized 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 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. In addition, in some 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 .

[0081] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that implement 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 in communication 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 implement near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions on 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.

[0082] In some implementations, in order to generate the AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RTRIC 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-RTRIC 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).

[0083] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including the positioning server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2B 20 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure, such as a dedicated network, to support the operations described herein (represented by corresponding boxes). It will be appreciated that in different implementations, these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the components described to provide similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more of such 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.

[0084] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for suppressing transmission, 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). Depending on the designated RAT, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured differently for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0085] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also each 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 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 suppressing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). Depending on the specified RAT, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured differently for respectively sending and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, for respectively receiving and decoding 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, respectively, for sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for respectively receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. 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.

[0086] 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. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may 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.

[0087] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to 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 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0088] 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., including the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some implementations, the transceiver can include independent transmitter circuits and independent receiver circuits, or in other implementations, the transceiver can be embodied in other ways. 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), such that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not simultaneously. 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.

[0089] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be generally characterized 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 from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers will generally 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 generally involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0090] 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 functions. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore 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.

[0091] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuits implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include virtual anchor (VA) detection components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The VA detection components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the VA detection components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the VA detection 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 functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible positioning of the VA detection component 342 is shown, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or can be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible positioning of the VA detection component 388 is shown, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or can be a stand-alone component. Figure 3C Possible locations of a VA detection component 398 are shown, 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.

[0092] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received from the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. For example, the sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electromechanical 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, the sensor 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0093] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides a component for providing instructions to the user (e.g., auditory and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user activates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0094] 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 the functions of 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 functions 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 functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and switching support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission 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 functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0095] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission 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 coded and modulated symbols may then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain 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 precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes, and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0096] 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 functions 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 multiple spatial streams are 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 contains a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. By determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 304, the symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by the 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) functions.

[0097] 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.

[0098] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with the downlink transmission of the base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs into transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0099] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams produced by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0100] 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.

[0101] 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.

[0102] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C 1 is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the components shown can have different functions in different designs. In particular, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and the 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 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, a description of various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but is readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0103] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be a 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 positioning server functionality are incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0104] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate 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 functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Moreover, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "base station", "network entity", etc. However, as will be understood, 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, VA detection components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0105] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be different from the operation of the 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).

[0106] NR supports multiple cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, 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 4Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, as shown by scenario 410, the UE measures the difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from the paired base stations, referred to as the reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurement, and reports them 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 the auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known positioning of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a positioning server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the positioning of the UE.

[0107] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity determines the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station using measurement reports of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams from the UE, as shown by scenario 420. 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.

[0108] 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 measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (called relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a positioning server) that knows the positioning 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 positioning of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the positioning of the UE.

[0109] 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 angle of the receive beam to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known position of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the position of the UE.

[0110] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round trip time (RTT) positioning (also known as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In the RTT process, 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 transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be made or can be adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundaries of the received and transmitted signals. The two entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a positioning 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., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement 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, as shown by scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning process with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the determination of the location of the first entity based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity (e.g., using multi-point positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve positioning accuracy, as shown in scenario 440.

[0111] 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, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known position of the base stations.

[0112] To assist the positioning operation, the positioning server (e.g., positioning 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, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, 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 may be able to detect neighboring network nodes on its own without using assistance data.

[0113] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the auxiliary data may also include an expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window near the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resource used for positioning measurement is in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurement are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / -8μs.

[0114] A position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, position fix, location, position fix, fix, etc. A position estimate may be geodetic and contain coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be citometric and contain a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the position. A position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known position, or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the position is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0115] Figure 55 is a graph 500 representing an exemplary channel estimate of a multipath channel between a receiver device (e.g., any UE or base station described herein) and a transmitter device (e.g., any other UE or base station described herein) according to aspects of the present disclosure. The channel estimate represents the strength of a radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS)) received through a multipath channel as a function of time delay and may be referred to as a channel energy response (CER), a channel impulse response (CIR), or a power delay profile (PDP) of the channel. Thus, the horizontal axis represents time (e.g., milliseconds) and the vertical axis represents signal strength (e.g., decibels). It should be noted that a multipath channel is a channel between a transmitter and a receiver over which an RF signal follows multiple paths or multipaths due to the transmission of the RF signal on multiple beams and / or the propagation characteristics of the RF signal (e.g., reflection, refraction, etc.).

[0116] exist Figure 5 In the example of , the receiver detects / measures multiple (four) channel taps of the RF signal. Each channel tap is a cluster of one or more rays and corresponds to the multipath that the RF signal travels between the transmitter and the receiver. Therefore, the channel taps represent the arrival time and signal strength of the RF signal on the multipath. Multiple channel taps may exist because the RF signal is transmitted on different transmit beams (and therefore at different angles), or because of the propagation characteristics of the RF signal (e.g., because reflections may follow different paths), or both. It should be noted that although Figure 5 Channel taps of two to five rays are shown, as will be appreciated, the channel taps may have more or fewer rays than the number shown.

[0117] exist Figure 5 In the example of , the channel tap detected at time T3 consists of stronger rays than the channel tap detected at time T1. This may be due to an obstacle on the LOS path between the transmitter and the receiver. Alternatively or additionally, there may be a strong reflector along the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path corresponding to the channel tap detected at time T3.

[0118] A TRP (or UE or other device) that participates in the positioning process of a target UE and has a known position (at least relative to the positioning entity) is called an "anchor" (or "anchor point" or "anchor node", etc.). A "virtual anchor point" (VA) is a virtual TRP that appears to be located at a position that is a mirror image of the position of the real or physical TRP / anchor relative to a reflecting surface. More specifically, according to a two-ray channel model (i.e., a channel with at least a LOS path and a NLOS path, as shown in reference Figure 5 As described above, the NLOS multipath generated by surface reflections can be associated with a virtual TRP located at the mirror position of the real TRP relative to the reflecting surface.

[0119] Figure 6 600 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between virtual anchor points and real anchor points according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 6 , a physical TRP 602 (e.g., a TRP of any base station described herein) is transmitting an electromagnetic wave (RF signal) toward a UE 604 (e.g., any UE described herein). The distance between TRP 602 and a reflecting surface (labeled as “reflector”) is “d1”. The RF signal transmitted by TRP 602 reaches UE 604 along a LOS path and an NLOS path. Therefore, when received at UE 604, the RF signal has a LOS component and an NLOS component. Figure 6 As shown, to UE 604, the NLOS path appears to be a LOS path from a virtual anchor point (VA) 606, which is located at a distance "d2" (equal to d1) on the other side of the reflecting surface perpendicular to the physical TRP 602. Therefore, the virtual anchor point 606 plays the role of a node that generates the NLOS multipath component observed by UE 604. The time of flight (ToF) of the NLOS path is equal to the ToF of the RF signal from the virtual anchor point 606 to UE 604.

[0120] The observable virtual anchor point at a given UE location is represented by the NLOS multipath components (i.e., NLOS channel taps) received at the UE. The delay (i.e., arrival time) of the NLOS multipath components (MPC) is related to the virtual path (geometry) from the virtual anchor point to the UE. For example, refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 , the first NLOS channel tap (“Tap 2”) may correspond to Figure 6 Thus, the channel tap “Tap 2” will correspond to the virtual anchor point 606.

[0121] The location of the virtual anchor point is fixed and consistent as long as the location of the corresponding transmitter and the environment map do not change. Thus, the virtual anchor point is an intermediate entity that represents the environment. Learning the location of the virtual anchor point is a method of learning the environment. The learned virtual anchor point (i.e., the location of the identified virtual anchor point) can be used for many purposes, such as positioning, beam prediction, channel prediction, etc. The virtual anchor point can be detected at the UE or the network, and the learned virtual anchor point can be signaled to the UE.

[0122] The present disclosure provides techniques for channel tap removal (or simply tap removal) to detect the location of a virtual anchor point. As discussed in more detail below, the disclosed tap removal technique is a scalable solution for detecting virtual anchor points based on reported multipath information from UE measurements. Tap removal is particularly effective in indoor environments, regardless of the map or size of the environment.

[0123] The information required for tap removal can be collected from UE reports on the network side (e.g., LMF, gNB). Figure 7 700 is a diagram illustrating an example of data collection using tap removal to identify a virtual anchor point in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Each reported / collected data sample includes a UE location and a set of multipath components (MPCs) associated with the location (e.g., measured or obtained at the location). In an aspect, the UE may report the NLOS MPC to the network in the context of an additional path measurement (e.g., in an "NR-AdditionalPath" information element (IE)). For example, the UE may measure and report RSTD or other positioning measurements for one or more PRSs, and when reporting RSTD measurements, the NLOS MPC may be reported using an "NR-AdditionalPath" IE. The NLOS MPC may be an additional channel tap (e.g., one or more NLOS channel taps) to the channel estimate of the measured PRS.

[0124] exist Figure 7 In the example of , for each position of the UE (expressed as “Pos 1(x1,y1,z1)” to “Pos L(xL,yL,zL)”), the UE reports the channel tap information of a given channel measured at that position. For example, the channel may be a downlink channel (e.g., DL-PRS) or a sidelink channel (e.g., SL-PRS). The channel tap information at each position of the UE is expressed as “{(ToF_1,p1,…)…(ToF_N,pN,...)}”, where “ToF” is the flight time of the channel tap, and “p” is the signal strength (power) of the channel tap. In some cases, the channel tap information at each position of the UE may include the phase and / or angle of arrival (AoA) of the tap (indicated by ellipsis). Each tuple of (ToF_N,pN,…) represents the multipath component of the measured channel.

[0125] Given a set of multipath components for each of a set of ground truth locations (i.e., known locations of UEs) in a region, the goal is to determine the locations of any virtual anchors that may exist. However, virtual anchor detection is a very challenging problem due to the difficulty of MPC detection. For example, a UE is typically unable to determine the AoA associated with a channel tap, and therefore cannot determine the direction to a virtual anchor, only the distance (e.g., based on the time difference of arrival of the channel taps). Furthermore, it is difficult to determine which NLOS MPCs should be assigned to which virtual anchors. To address these difficulties, the disclosed technique is based on two concepts: (1) selectively using MPCs for virtual anchor detection, rather than using all MPCs at once, and (2) removing MPCs from the search space that may be associated with already discovered virtual anchors.

[0126] Figure 8 A high-level method for virtual anchor point detection based on channel tap removal according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 8 In the example of FIG. 8 , a dataset 805 stores MPCs collected from one or more UEs that may be associated with a virtual anchor point (referred to as a search database or dataset). In the first method 800, at stage 810, potential assignments of NLOS MPCs collected from the dataset 805 are tested given the known location of a previously discovered virtual anchor point. NLOS MPCs that were successfully assigned to the previously discovered virtual anchor point are removed from the search database (i.e., dataset 805). At stage 820, a subset of NLOS MPCs is selected for a new virtual anchor point detection. At stage 830, it is determined that the subset of NLOS MPCs is a new virtual anchor point detection.

[0127] Method 800 may be implemented sequentially to discover multiple virtual anchor points in an iterative manner. Figure 8 The second method 850 shown in is a method of continuous tap removal. At stage 860, a subset of NLOS MPCs is selected from the data set 805. At stage 870, virtual anchor points associated with the subset are detected. At stage 880, NLOS MPCs are assigned to the found virtual anchor points. At stage 890, the successfully assigned MPCs are removed from the search database (i.e., the data set 805). The method 850 is then repeated.

[0128] Fig. 9 An exemplary method 900 of network-based assignment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Fig. 9 In the example of , data set 905 stores MPCs collected from one or more UEs that may be associated with a virtual anchor point (referred to as a search database or data set). On the network side, at stage 910, a subset of NLOS MPCs is selected from data set 905 (i.e., search database). At stage 920, it is determined that the selected subset of NLOS MPCs is a new virtual anchor point detection. At stage 930, the virtual anchor point is added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points. The network can then report the new virtual anchor point location to the UE side. On the UE side, at stage 940, the virtual anchor point is added to the UE's locally stored database of known virtual anchor points. At stage 950, both the network and the UE can report the subsequently collected MPCs for assignment and removal from data set 905. It should be noted that the NLOS MPCs reported at stage 950 may need to meet a set of conditions configured by the network, as described below.

[0129] Regarding the network-defined conditions for reporting NLOS MPC, the network can set a threshold confidence level in the accuracy of the extracted NLOS MPC. The network shares the threshold with the UE, and the NLOS MPC that meets the threshold is reported to the network as additional path information. For example, the threshold can be used for the estimated gain of the multipath. Another option can be that each UE reports its confidence in the accuracy of the extracted NLOS MPC. In the latter case, the network can select a NLOS MPC with the desired accuracy.

[0130] In one aspect, the network may select UEs to participate in MPC reporting based on the geographic region of the UE. For example, the network may have used UEs from a first region (identified by a first region ID) and a second region (identified by a second region ID). In this case, the network may not select a configured UE whose data set is collected (at least mostly) only in one geographic region (e.g., the first region), while other UEs whose data sets are collected in two geographic regions may be preferred in the selection because this can enhance the search process by having more data samples.

[0131] The region identifier may be based on (1) an already defined and signaled identifier (ID), such as a tracking area ID, or (2) a network implementation of the region division. For the second option, the network may define the geographic limits of the region and identify which UEs should be selected based on (approximate) knowledge of their geographic region.

[0132] Still referring to UE selection, in one aspect, the network can select UEs based on their operating bandwidth (i.e., the bandwidth that the UE is able to measure). Measuring a larger bandwidth can improve the accuracy of MPC extraction. Therefore, the network will be interested in UEs that can use a larger bandwidth.

[0133] Fig.10 An exemplary method 1000 of UE-assisted assignment according to various aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Fig.10 In the example of FIG. 1 , a data set 1005 stores MPCs collected from one or more UEs that may be associated with a virtual anchor point (referred to as a search database or data set). On the network side, at stage 1010, a subset of NLOS MPCs is selected from the data set 1005 (i.e., the search database). At stage 1020, it is determined that the selected subset of NLOS MPCs is a new virtual anchor point detection. At stage 1030, the virtual anchor point is added to a database of discovered virtual anchor points. The network can then report the new virtual anchor point location to the UE side. On the UE side, at stage 1040, the virtual anchor point is added to the UE's locally stored database of known virtual anchor points.

[0134] Then, in stage 1050, the UE performs assignment and removal of subsequently collected MPCs from the data set 1005. This stage may be performed on a new MPC measurement, or when the network requests the UE to report a new MPC. The UE then reports the unassigned MPCs to the network. As a first option, the UE may report the unassigned NLOS MPCs as additional paths to the measurements being reported (e.g., RSTD, UE Rx-Tx time difference, etc.). As a second option, the UE reports all NLOS MPCs with assigned or unassigned labels as additional paths to the measurements being reported. Note that, as described above, the reported MPCs may need to satisfy a set of conditions configured by the network.

[0135] In one aspect, the multipath information may be extracted on the UE side (based on UE computing capabilities), and the assignment of stage 1050 may be performed by the UE. In this case, referring to the first option for reporting unassigned MPCs to the network at stage 1050, the network may indicate a set of virtual anchor points and report them back to the UE. Depending on the UE capabilities, the network may request the UE to compare the extracted NLOS MPCs with the reported virtual anchor points and only report the multipaths that cannot be assigned to the reported virtual anchor points. Alternatively, referring to the second option for reporting unassigned MPCs to the network at stage 1050, in some cases, the network may require all MPCs (assigned or unassigned) to train a specific machine learning model. Therefore, the network may request the UE to report all MPCs, but mark each NLOS MPC with an identifier of an existing compatible virtual anchor point. In this case, the network may use the unassigned NLOS MPCs for virtual anchor detection and the assigned NLOS MPCs for training one or more machine learning models associated with the corresponding paths.

[0136] Fig.11 An exemplary method 1100 for continuous (iterative) tap removal (STR) according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Fig.11 In the example of FIG. 1 , the dataset 1105 stores MPCs collected from one or more UEs that may be associated with a virtual anchor point (referred to as a search database or dataset).

[0137] At stage 1110, UE channel estimation samples with SNR (or other signal strength metric) greater than a threshold (denoted as "snr_thresh") are retrieved from the dataset 1105. At stage 1120, from each UE sample, only the first NLOS MPC / channel tap is selected under two conditions: (1) the MPC meets a power threshold (denoted as "mpc_thresh"), and (2) the ToF of the MPC cannot be assigned to any previously discovered virtual anchor point. At stage 1130, a three-dimensional (3D) array is initialized to a desired size, where each cell of the 3D array has a fraction of zero. The 3D array can be a cube / box / grid, such as Fig.11 As in the example of , or a sphere or other such 3D shape. Based on each UE sample, a sphere with a ToF radius corresponding to the MPC is intersected with the grid, and the fraction of cells intersected by the sphere is updated.

[0138] In stage 1140, the scored grid passes through 3D constant false alarm rate (CFAR), which is a common form of adaptive algorithm used in radar systems for detecting target echoes under the background of noise, clutter and interference. In stage 1150, the output of 3D CFARS is passed to a local maximum filter. In stage 1160, the output of the local maximum filter is used to generate a mask representing the local maximum in the scoring grid. The local maximum is the potential location of the virtual anchor point associated with the selected NLOS MPC / channel tap. In stage 1170, the first N maximum values ​​are selected as virtual anchor points. The virtual anchor point is then stored as the virtual anchor point found. The method then returns to stage 1120, and the 3D grid is reset.

[0139] Fig.12 FIG. 1200 is a diagram showing details of a 3D array for STR according to aspects of the present disclosure. An important stage of STR is Fig.11 The array (grid) of stage 1130 is initialized. To find virtual anchors, a 3D grid containing smaller cells or boxes is generated. Larger grids can contain virtual anchors caused by higher order reflections, i.e. larger ToF. Typically, the grid should contain at least all potential first order reflection virtual anchors (or "first order virtual anchors"). It should be noted that a first order virtual anchor is defined as a virtual anchor whose location is derived by mirroring the physical location to only one reflector (e.g. Figure 6 The first-order virtual anchor point is not necessarily the first NLOS channel tap.

[0140] exist Fig.12, diagram 1200 shows an exemplary 3D grid that is sized to encompass the room in which the UE collects channel samples and the locations of all potential virtual anchor points. More specifically, as shown on the right side of the figure, the length and width of the size of the 3D grid are three times the length (L) and width (W) of the room. That is, the center rectangle represents the room and it is surrounded by eight rectangles of the same size. In this way, no matter where the UE is located in the room when measuring the RF signal (e.g., against a wall), the farthest distance of the virtual anchor point is the distance between the UE and the wall that reflects the measured RF signal.

[0141] The size of the cells or boxes that make up the 3D grid depends on the expected computational burden and variance of the estimated ToF. Smaller sizes result in higher accuracy (i.e., accuracy of the estimated position of the virtual anchor point), but have higher complexity (e.g., requiring greater computational resources and / or higher UE capabilities). In an exemplary implementation, a cell may be one meter on the x-axis, one meter on the y-axis, and three meters on the z-axis.

[0142] See the grid search algorithm for more details (also in Fig.11 Each extracted MPC is represented as a sphere centered at the UE location and with a radius of r = C × ToF (where C is the speed of light). The sphere intersects the 3D grid so that the center of the sphere is aligned with the location of the UE represented in the grid. Each cell that intersects the sphere receives a score.

[0143] Intersecting cells can be scored in different ways. As a first option, the score can simply be a score function based on integers (e.g., +1 for each intersection point). As a second option, the score can be a calculated probability point, e.g., In the above, R is the distance between the cell center and the UE, d = C x ToF (where C is the speed of light), and σ is a parameter. As a third option, the score can be a calculated likelihood point, for example, where g is the MPC gain.

[0144] Now refer to it in more detail Fig.11 The local maximum extraction at stage 1150 of the present invention can be performed. Generally, any method for extracting local maximum values ​​can be used. The resulting scoring grid can be represented as a 3D image. The local maximum values ​​in the image can be found by dynamic thresholding. In a specific implementation, the CFAR algorithm is used for dynamic thresholding (in Fig.11 1140), and then using a maximum filter with a fixed mask size (in Fig.11 stage 1150).

[0145] For each cell under test (CUT), the calculated value is the ratio of its score to the average score of the training cells:

[0146]

[0147] In the aforementioned equation, x represents the fractional value of the CUT, and i, j, and k are the position indexes of the CUT in the 3D array. The parameter "const" is a constant.

[0148] Fig.13 1300 is a diagram illustrating aspects of a CFAR filter according to aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.13 As shown, the CUT is in the center and is surrounded by guard cells.

[0149] The output of the CFAR filter is passed through a maximum filter with the same mask size as the CFAR mask (in Fig.11 Stage 1150). The maximum filter provides a mask on the 3D grid that provides cells representing local maxima.

[0150] Fig.14 Exemplary test results of virtual anchor extraction using continuous tap removal according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. The test results were obtained in a room with dimensions of 30 (W) × 20 (L) × 6 (H) meters (m), using 1 × 1 × 3 meters (m) cells, for a total of 38,857 cells. The applied 3D CFAR is ratio-based. The mask size is [6, 6, 3] training cells and [1, 1, 1] guard cells. The snr_thresh is 1.5 decibels (dB), the mpc_thresh is -60 decibel-milliwatts (dBm), and the vap_dis_limit is 3.

[0151] Fig.14 Each image in represents the result of a STR operation on a UE sample. The circles are cross-sections of the sphere, representing the distance between the UE location (at the center of the sphere) and the virtual anchor point (i.e., d = C × ToF, where C is the speed of light). Each circle or sphere corresponds to an MPC. Where the circles / spheres overlap is the predicted location of the virtual anchor point, as shown by the white ellipse. When the sphere intersects the 3D grid, the cell containing the predicted location of the virtual anchor point is scored.

[0152] Fig.15 It is a diagram showing various aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.14 FIG1500 is a diagram of the final output of exemplary test results shown in FIG. The following table shows the estimated locations of the detected virtual anchors compared to their actual locations.

[0153] Estimated Positioning Actual positioning X:-10.00,Y:0.00,Z:3.00 X:-10.00,Y:0.01,Z:4.00 X:-11.00,Y:19.00,Z:9.00 X:-10.03,Y:19.96,Z:8.01 X:-10.00,Y:-21.00,Z:3.00 X:-10.13,Y:-19.92,Z:4.00 X:-19.00,Y:-21.00,Z:6.00 X:-20.33,Y:-19.76,Z:4.00 X:-21.00,Y:20.00,Z:3.00 X:-20.26,Y:19.93,Z:4.00 X:-21.00,Y:0.00,Z:3.00 X:-20.19,Y:-0.02,Z:4.00

[0154] Table 1

[0155] In the above test scenario, the average error was 1.56 meters (m), the average X-axis error was 0.66 meters, the average Y-axis error was 0.56 meters, and the average Z-axis error was 1.16 meters.

[0156] Fig.16 An exemplary method 1600 of identifying a virtual anchor point according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In an aspect, the method 1600 may be performed by a network entity (eg, any of the UE, base station, or network server described herein).

[0157] At 1610, the network entity obtains a set of data samples associated with the UE, each data sample in the set of data samples containing the location of the UE and the MPC set (i.e., channel taps) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE. When the network entity is a UE, operation 1610 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or VA detection component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation. When the network entity is a base station, operation 1610 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or VA detection component 388, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation. When the network entity is a network server, operation 1610 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or VA detection component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0158] At 1620, the network entity determines whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points. In one aspect, based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples. In one aspect, based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points. When the network entity is a UE, operation 1620 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or VA detection component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. When the network entity is a base station, operation 1620 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or VA detection component 388, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation. When the network entity is a network server, operation 1620 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or VA detection component 398, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0159] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1600 is improved virtual anchor point detection, thereby improving understanding of the UE environment, which in turn improves positioning, beam prediction, channel prediction, etc. For example, method 1600 provides an association between detected virtual anchor points and MPCs, which can be used to train a machine learning model to help improve positioning, beam prediction, channel prediction, etc.

[0160] In the above specific embodiments, it can be seen that different features are combined together in the examples. This disclosure should not be understood as an exemplary clause having more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include features that are less than all the features of the disclosed single exemplary clause. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description, where each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can be referenced in a clause in a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the dependent clause aspect with any other dependent clause or independent clause, or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or it can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, various aspects of the clause are also intended to be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0161] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0162] Clause 1. A method for identifying a virtual anchor point, performed by a network entity, comprising: obtaining a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determining whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0163] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein: the network entity is a network server, and obtaining the set of data samples comprises receiving the set of data samples from a UE.

[0164] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, further comprising: sending a confidence threshold to the UE, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC to be received from the UE.

[0165] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain that the MPC is to satisfy.

[0166] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 2 to 4, further comprising: receiving from the UE a confidence level of the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples.

[0167] Clause 6. The method of Clause 5 further comprises: selecting the UE to report the data sample set based on a confidence level satisfying a confidence threshold.

[0168] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 2 to 6 further comprises: selecting the UE to report the data sample set based on a geographic area in which the UE is located, an operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

[0169] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 2 to 7, wherein the NLOS MPC of the set of data samples is received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

[0170] Clause 9. The method of clause 1, wherein: the network entity is a UE, and obtaining the set of data samples comprises determining the set of data samples.

[0171] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, further comprising: reporting the one or more second NLOS MPCs to the network server so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0172] Clause 11. The method of clause 10 further comprises: receiving a database of discovered virtual anchor points from a network server.

[0173] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 9 to 11, further comprising: reporting both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a network server.

[0174] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as the one or more additional path measurements.

[0175] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 12 to 13, wherein: the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to a previously identified virtual anchor point, and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not being assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0176] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to a previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0177] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 9 to 15, further comprising: receiving a database of discovered virtual anchor points from a network entity.

[0178] Clause 17. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 16, wherein determining whether any MPC in a subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point comprises: initializing a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero score therein, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array comprises a geographic area in which the UE is located; selecting a first-occurring NLOS MPC from a set of data samples, the first-occurring NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points; updating a score of a cell in the plurality of cells that intersects a sphere, the center of the sphere being at the location of the UE, when a corresponding data sample is obtained and having a radius based on the flight time of the first-occurring NLOS MPC; generating a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and selecting a subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array as virtual anchor points.

[0179] Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the size of the three-dimensional array is selected so that it contains at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

[0180] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 17 to 18, wherein the size of each cell in the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements and available computational resources for locating the virtual anchor point.

[0181] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 17 to 19, wherein scoring the multiple cells is based on: an integer-based scoring function, a likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding positioning of the UE, or a likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

[0182] Clause 21. The method of any one of clauses 17 to 20, wherein generating the mask comprises: applying a dynamic filter to the three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and applying one or more local maximum filters to the determined local maxima to determine a set of local maxima.

[0183] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

[0184] Clause 23. The method of clause 22, wherein the CFAR for each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score of the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

[0185] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 21 to 23, wherein a mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as a mask size of the dynamic filter.

[0186] Clause 25. The method of any one of clauses 17 to 24, wherein the shape of the three-dimensional array is: a cube or a sphere.

[0187] Clause 26. The method of any of clauses 1 to 25, wherein each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and the second network node.

[0188] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, wherein the second network node is: a base station entity or a second UE.

[0189] Clause 28. A network entity comprises: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: obtain a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determine whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0190] Clause 29. The network entity of clause 28, wherein: the network entity is a network server, and the at least one processor configured to obtain the set of data samples comprises at least one processor configured to receive the set of data samples from the UE via at least one transceiver.

[0191] Clause 30. The network entity of clause 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send a confidence threshold to the UE via the at least one transceiver, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC to be received from the UE.

[0192] Clause 31. The network entity of clause 30, wherein the confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain to be satisfied by the MPC.

[0193] Clause 32. The network entity of any of clauses 29 to 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples.

[0194] Clause 33. The network entity of clause 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: select the UE to report the set of data samples based on a confidence level satisfying a confidence threshold.

[0195] Clause 34. The network entity of any one of clauses 29 to 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: select the UE to report the set of data samples based on a geographic region in which the UE is located, an operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

[0196] Clause 35. The network entity of any of clauses 29 to 34, wherein the NLOS MPC of the set of data samples is received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

[0197] Clause 36. The network entity of clause 28, wherein: the network entity is a UE, and the at least one processor configured to obtain the set of data samples comprises at least one processor configured to determine the set of data samples.

[0198] Clause 37. The network entity of clause 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: report the one or more second NLOS MPCs to the network server via the at least one transceiver, so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0199] Clause 38. The network entity of clause 37, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive the database of discovered virtual anchor points from a network server via the at least one transceiver.

[0200] Clause 39. The network entity of any one of clauses 36 to 38, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: report both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a network server via the at least one transceiver.

[0201] Clause 40. The network entity of clause 39, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as the one or more additional path measurements.

[0202] Clause 41. The network entity of any of clauses 39 to 40, wherein: the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to a previously identified virtual anchor point, and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not being assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0203] Clause 42. The network entity of clause 41, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0204] Clause 43. The network entity of any of clauses 36 to 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a database of discovered virtual anchor points from the network entity via the at least one transceiver.

[0205] Clause 44. A network entity of any of clauses 28 to 43, wherein the at least one processor configured to determine whether any MPC in a subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point comprises at least one processor configured to: initialize a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero score therein, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array comprises a geographic area in which the UE is located; select a first occurrence of a NLOS MPC from the set of data samples, the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points; update a score of a cell in the plurality of cells that intersects a sphere, the center of the sphere being at the location of the UE, when a corresponding data sample is obtained and having a radius based on the flight time of the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC; generate a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and select a subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array as virtual anchor points.

[0206] Clause 45. The network entity of clause 44, wherein the size of the three-dimensional array is selected such that it contains at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

[0207] Clause 46. The network entity of any of clauses 44 to 45, wherein a size of each of the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements for locating the virtual anchor point and available computing resources.

[0208] Clause 47. A network entity of any of clauses 44 to 46, wherein scoring the plurality of cells is based on: an integer-based scoring function, a likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding positioning of the UE, or a likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

[0209] Clause 48. A network entity of any of clauses 44 to 47, wherein at least one processor configured to generate a mask includes at least one processor configured to: apply a dynamic filter to a three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and apply one or more local maximum filters to the determined local maxima to determine a set of local maxima.

[0210] Clause 49. The network entity of clause 48, wherein the dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

[0211] Clause 50. The network entity of clause 49, wherein the CFAR for each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score for the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

[0212] Clause 51. The network entity of any one of clauses 48 to 50, wherein a mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as a mask size of the dynamic filter.

[0213] Clause 52. The network entity of any one of clauses 44 to 51, wherein the shape of the three-dimensional array is: a cube or a sphere.

[0214] Clause 53. The network entity of any of clauses 28 to 52, wherein each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and the second network node.

[0215] Clause 54. The network entity of clause 53, wherein the second network node is: a base station entity or a second UE.

[0216] Clause 55. A network entity comprising: means for obtaining a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and means for determining whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0217] Clause 56. The network entity of clause 55, wherein: the network entity is a network server, and the means for obtaining the set of data samples comprises means for receiving the set of data samples from the UE.

[0218] Clause 57. The network entity of clause 56, further comprising: means for sending a confidence threshold to the UE, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC to be received from the UE.

[0219] Clause 58. The network entity of clause 57, wherein the confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain to be satisfied by the MPC.

[0220] Clause 59. The network entity of any of clauses 56 to 58, further comprising: means for receiving from the UE a confidence level of the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples.

[0221] Clause 60. The network entity of clause 59, further comprising: a component for selecting the UE to report the data sample set based on a confidence level satisfying a confidence threshold.

[0222] Clause 61. The network entity of any one of clauses 56 to 60, further comprising: means for selecting a UE to report a set of data samples based on a geographic region in which the UE is located, an operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

[0223] Clause 62. The network entity of any of clauses 56 to 61, wherein the NLOS MPC of the set of data samples is received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

[0224] Clause 63. The network entity of clause 55, wherein: the network entity is a UE, and the means for obtaining the set of data samples comprises means for determining the set of data samples.

[0225] Clause 64. The network entity of clause 63, further comprising: means for reporting the one or more second NLOS MPCs to the network server so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0226] Clause 65. The network entity of clause 64, further comprising: a component for receiving a database of discovered virtual anchor points from a network server.

[0227] Clause 66. The network entity of any of clauses 63 to 65, further comprising: means for reporting both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a network server.

[0228] Clause 67. The network entity of clause 66, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as the one or more additional path measurements.

[0229] Clause 68. The network entity of any of clauses 66 to 67, wherein: the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to a previously identified virtual anchor point, and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not being assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0230] Clause 69. The network entity of clause 68, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0231] Clause 70. The network entity of any of clauses 63 to 69, further comprising: means for receiving a database of discovered virtual anchor points from the network entity.

[0232] Clause 71. A network entity of any of clauses 55 to 70, wherein the means for determining whether any MPC in a subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point comprises: means for initializing a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero fraction therein, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array comprises a geographic area in which the UE is located; means for selecting a first occurrence of a NLOS MPC from a set of data samples, the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points; means for updating a fraction of cells in the plurality of cells that intersect a sphere when a corresponding data sample is obtained and having a radius based on the flight time of the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC, the sphere being centered at the location of the UE; means for generating a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and means for selecting a subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array as virtual anchor points.

[0233] Clause 72. The network entity of clause 71, wherein the size of the three-dimensional array is selected so that it contains at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

[0234] Clause 73. The network entity of any of clauses 71 to 72, wherein a size of each of the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements for locating the virtual anchor point and available computing resources.

[0235] Clause 74. A network entity of any of clauses 71 to 73, wherein scoring the plurality of cells is based on: an integer-based scoring function, a likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding positioning of the UE, or a likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

[0236] Clause 75. A network entity of any of clauses 71 to 74, wherein the means for generating a mask comprises: means for applying a dynamic filter to a three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and means for applying one or more local maximum filters to the determined local maxima to determine a set of local maxima.

[0237] Clause 76. The network entity of clause 75, wherein the dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

[0238] Clause 77. The network entity of clause 76, wherein the CFAR for each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score for the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

[0239] Clause 78. The network entity of any one of clauses 75 to 77, wherein a mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as a mask size of the dynamic filter.

[0240] Clause 79. The network entity of any one of clauses 71 to 78, wherein the shape of the three-dimensional array is: a cube or a sphere.

[0241] Clause 80. The network entity of any one of clauses 55 to 79, wherein each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and the second network node.

[0242] Clause 81. The network entity of clause 80, wherein the second network node is: a base station entity or a second UE.

[0243] Clause 82. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: obtain a set of data samples associated with a user equipment (UE), each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components (MPCs) obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determine whether any MPC in a subset of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) MPCs selected from at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with the previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and wherein based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0244] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 82, wherein: the network entity is a network server, and the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to obtain a set of data samples include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to receive a set of data samples from a UE.

[0245] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 83, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to: send a confidence threshold to the UE, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC to be received from the UE.

[0246] Clause 85. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 84, wherein the confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain for the MPC to satisfy.

[0247] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 83 to 85, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to: receive a confidence level for the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples from the UE.

[0248] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 86, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to perform the following operations: based on the confidence level satisfying the confidence threshold, select the UE to report the data sample set.

[0249] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 83 to 87 further comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, enable the network entity to perform the following operations: select the UE to report a set of data samples based on the geographic area in which the UE is located, the operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

[0250] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 83 to 88, wherein the NLOS MPC of the set of data samples is received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

[0251] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 82, wherein: the network entity is a UE, and the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to obtain the set of data samples include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to determine the set of data samples.

[0252] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to perform the following operations: report the one or more second NLOS MPCs to the network server, so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

[0253] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 91, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to: receive a database of discovered virtual anchor points from a network server.

[0254] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 90 to 92, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to: report both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a network server.

[0255] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 93, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as the one or more additional path measurements.

[0256] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 93 to 94, wherein: the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to a previously identified virtual anchor point, and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not being assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0257] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 95, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

[0258] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 90 to 96, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, enable the network entity to: receive a database of discovered virtual anchor points from the network entity.

[0259] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 82 to 97, wherein the computer executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, enable the network entity to determine whether any MPC in a subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to: initialize a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero score therein, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array encompasses a geographic area where the UE is located; select a first occurrence of a NLOS MPC from the set of data samples, the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in a database of discovered virtual anchor points; when a corresponding data sample is obtained and has a radius based on the flight time of the first occurrence of the NLOS MPC, update a score of a cell in the plurality of cells that intersects a sphere, the center of the sphere being at the location of the UE; generate a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and select a subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array as virtual anchor points.

[0260] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 98, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array is selected so that it includes at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

[0261] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 98 to 99, wherein a size of each of the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements for locating the virtual anchor point and available computing resources.

[0262] Clause 101. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 98 to 100, wherein scoring the plurality of cells is based on: an integer-based scoring function, a likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding location of the UE, or a likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

[0263] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 98 to 101, wherein computer executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, enable the network entity to generate a mask include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, enable the network entity to perform the following operations: applying a dynamic filter to a three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and applying one or more local maximum filters to the determined local maxima to determine a set of local maxima.

[0264] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 102, wherein the dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

[0265] Clause 104. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 103, wherein the CFAR for each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score for the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

[0266] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 104, wherein a mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as a mask size of the dynamic filter.

[0267] Clause 106. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 98 to 105, wherein the shape of the three-dimensional array is: a cube or a sphere.

[0268] Clause 107. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 82 to 106, wherein each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and the second network node.

[0269] Clause 108. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 107, wherein the second network node is: a base station entity or a second UE.

[0270] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0271] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally with respect to their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0272] 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, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0273] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, software modules executed by a processor, or 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 exemplary storage medium is coupled to a 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.

[0274] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented with software, the functions can be stored on 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 media that helps to transfer a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. For example (and not limited to), such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage, 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 software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc 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 using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0275] Although the foregoing disclosure shows the illustrative 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. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the 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, the plural form is also contemplated unless a limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a virtual anchor point performed by a network entity, comprising: Obtain a data sample set associated with a user equipment UE, each data sample in the data sample set including a location of the UE and a multipath component MPC set obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; as well as determining whether any MPC in the subset of non-line-of-sight NLOS MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein, based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with a previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and Wherein, based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network entity is a network server, and Obtaining the set of data samples includes receiving the set of data samples from the UE.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: A confidence threshold is sent to the UE, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC to be received from the UE.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain for the MPC to meet.

5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: A confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples is received from the UE.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: The UE is selected to report the set of data samples based on the confidence level satisfying a confidence threshold.

7. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: The UE is selected to report the set of data samples based on a geographic region where the UE is located, an operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The NLOS MPCs in the set of data samples are received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network entity is the UE, and Obtaining the data sample set includes determining the data sample set.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: The one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported to a network server so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: The database of discovered virtual anchor points is received from the network server.

12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported to a network server.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as one or more additional path measurements.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein: The one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point, and The one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs being marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

16. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: The database of discovered virtual anchor points is received from the network entity.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether any MPC in the subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point comprises: Initializing a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero fraction, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array includes a geographic area where the UE is located; selecting, from the set of data samples, a first occurrence of a NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points; updating a fraction of cells in the plurality of cells that intersect a sphere centered at the location of the UE when a corresponding data sample is obtained and has a radius based on the time of flight of the first occurring NLOS MPC; generating a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and A subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array is selected as virtual anchor points.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The size of the three-dimensional array is selected such that it includes at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The size of each cell in the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements and available computing resources for locating the virtual anchor point.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Scoring the plurality of cells is based on: Integer-based scoring functions, A likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding location of the UE, or Likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Generating the mask comprises: applying a dynamic filter to the three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and One or more local maximum filters are applied to the determined local maxima to determine the set of local maxima.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein: The CFAR of each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score of the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as the mask size of the dynamic filter.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein: The shape of the 3D array is: Cube, or sphere.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein: Each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and a second network node.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein: The second network node is: A base station entity, or The second UE.

28. A network entity, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: Obtain a data sample set associated with a user equipment UE, each data sample in the data sample set including a location of the UE and a multipath component MPC set obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; as well as determining whether any MPC in the subset of non-line-of-sight NLOS MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein, based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with a previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and Wherein, based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

29. The network entity according to claim 28, wherein: The network entity is a network server, and The at least one processor configured to obtain the set of data samples includes at least one processor configured to receive the set of data samples from the UE via the at least one transceiver.

30. The network entity according to claim 29, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: A confidence threshold is sent to the UE via the at least one transceiver, the confidence threshold indicating a confidence level in the accuracy of an MPC to be received from the UE.

31. The network entity according to claim 30, wherein: The confidence threshold comprises an estimated gain for the MPC to meet.

32. The network entity according to claim 29, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: A confidence level in the accuracy of the MPC in the set of data samples is received from the UE via the at least one transceiver.

33. The network entity according to claim 32, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The UE is selected to report the set of data samples based on the confidence level satisfying a confidence threshold.

34. The network entity according to claim 29, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The UE is selected to report the set of data samples based on a geographic region where the UE is located, an operating bandwidth of the UE, or both.

35. The network entity according to claim 29, wherein: The NLOS MPC of the set of data samples is received in one or more additional path measurement information elements.

36. The network entity of claim 28, wherein: The network entity is the UE, and The at least one processor configured to obtain the set of data samples includes at least one processor configured to determine the set of data samples.

37. The network entity according to claim 36, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported to a network server via the at least one transceiver, so that the network server can add the one or more second NLOS MPCs to a database of discovered virtual anchor points.

38. The network entity according to claim 37, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The database of discovered virtual anchor points is received from the network server via the at least one transceiver.

39. The network entity according to claim 36, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: Both the one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported to a network server via the at least one transceiver.

40. The network entity according to claim 39, wherein: The one or more first NLOS MPCs and the one or more second NLOS MPCs are reported as one or more additional path measurements.

41. The network entity of claim 39, wherein: The one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point, and The one or more second NLOS MPCs are marked as not assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point.

42. The network entity of claim 41, wherein the one or more first NLOS MPCs are marked as being assigned to the previously identified virtual anchor point comprises the one or more first NLOS MPCs being marked with an identifier of the previously identified virtual anchor point.

43. The network entity according to claim 36, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The database of discovered virtual anchor points is received from the network entity via the at least one transceiver.

44. The network entity according to claim 28, wherein: The at least one processor configured to determine whether any MPC in the subset of NLOS MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point comprises at least one processor configured to: Initializing a three-dimensional array having a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells having a zero fraction, wherein a size of the three-dimensional array includes a geographic area where the UE is located; selecting, from the set of data samples, a first occurrence of a NLOS MPC having a signal strength that satisfies a threshold and having a flight time that cannot be assigned to any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points; updating a fraction of cells in the plurality of cells that intersect a sphere centered at the location of the UE when a corresponding data sample is obtained and has a radius based on the time of flight of the first occurring NLOS MPC; generating a mask representing a set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and A subset of the set of local maxima in the three-dimensional array is selected as virtual anchor points.

45. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein: The size of the three-dimensional array is selected such that it includes at least a first-order reflection virtual anchor point.

46. ​​The network entity of claim 44, wherein: The size of each cell in the plurality of cells is based on accuracy requirements and available computational resources for locating the virtual anchor point.

47. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein: Scoring the plurality of cells is based on: Integer-based scoring functions, A likelihood point scoring function based on the distance between the center of the scored cell and the corresponding location of the UE, or Likelihood point scoring function based on the gain of the corresponding first-occurrence NLOS MPC.

48. The network entity of claim 44, wherein: The at least one processor configured to generate the mask comprises at least one processor configured to: applying a dynamic filter to the three-dimensional array to determine local maxima in the three-dimensional array; and One or more local maximum filters are applied to the determined local maxima to determine the set of local maxima.

49. The network entity according to claim 48, wherein: The dynamic filter is a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) filter.

50. The network entity according to claim 49, wherein: The CFAR of each cell in the plurality of cells is based on a ratio of the score of the cell to an average score of training cells surrounding the cell.

51. The network entity of claim 48, wherein: The mask size of the one or more local maximum filters is the same as the mask size of the dynamic filter.

52. The network entity of claim 44, wherein: The shape of the 3D array is: Cube, or sphere.

53. The network entity of claim 28, wherein: Each MPC in the set of data samples comprises channel taps of a channel estimate of at least one channel between the UE and a second network node.

54. The network entity according to claim 53, wherein: The second network node is: A base station entity, or The second UE.

55. A network entity comprising: A means for obtaining a set of data samples associated with a user equipment UE, each data sample in the set of data samples comprising a location of the UE and a set of multipath components MPC obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; as well as means for determining whether any MPC in the subset of non-line-of-sight NLOS MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points, wherein, based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with a previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more first NLOS MPCs are removed from the set of data samples, and Wherein, based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

56. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: Obtaining a data sample set associated with a user equipment UE, each data sample in the data sample set including a location of the UE and a set of multipath components MPC obtained by the UE at the location of the UE; and determining whether any MPC in the subset of non-line-of-sight NLOS MPCs selected from the at least one set of MPCs is associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point in the database of discovered virtual anchor points, in, removing the one or more first NLOS MPCs from the set of data samples based on the one or more first NLOS MPCs being associated with a previously identified virtual anchor point, and Wherein, based on the one or more second NLOS MPCs not being associated with any previously identified virtual anchor point, the one or more second NLOS MPCs are added to the database of discovered virtual anchor points.

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