Interference mitigation in UWB

Abstract

In some implementations, a method of ultra wide band (UWB) wireless ranging performed by a first UWB device may include detecting a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The method may also include receiving, from a second UWB device, an interference report indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The method may also include determining a round hopping pattern for transmitting one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The method may also include sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of Greek Application No. 20220100874, filed on October 25, 2022, entitled “INTERFERENCE MITIGATION IN UWB”, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of radio frequency (RF) based sensing (position determination / location) of electronic wireless devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to ultra-wideband (UWB) based positioning.

[0004] 2. Description of related technologies

[0005] Sensing of devices can have a wide range of consumer, industrial, commercial, military and other applications.UWB-based positioning provides a highly accurate, low-power positioning solution relative to other RF-based sensing technologies for wireless electronic devices. Summary of the invention

[0006] An example method of UWB wireless ranging performed by a first ultra-wideband (UWB) device may include: detecting a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The method may also include: receiving an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The method may also include: determining a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The method may also include: sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0007] An example first UWB device for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless ranging may include a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors may be configured to: detect a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The one or more processors may also be configured to: receive an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The one or more processors may also be configured to: determine a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The one or more processors may also be configured to: send a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0008] An example apparatus for UWB wireless ranging, the apparatus may include: a component for detecting a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The apparatus may also include: a component for receiving an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The apparatus may also include: a component for determining a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The apparatus may also include: a component for sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0009] This disclosure is neither intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of the disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram of a positioning system according to an embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a scenario in which ultra-wideband (UWB) technology may be used to locate a target device.

[0012] Figure 3A and Figure 3B is a flow chart illustrating the roles that different devices may play with respect to a UWB ranging session.

[0013] Figure 4 is a timing diagram showing an example of a frame structure and associated terminology for a UWB ranging session.

[0014] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating how a controller and a controlled party can mitigate interference in UWB wireless ranging according to some embodiments

[0015] Figure 6 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of information exchange between a controller and a controlled party based on an interference mitigation process scheduling according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a method of interference mitigation in a UWB ranging session according to an embodiment.

[0017] Figure 8 is a block diagram of an implementation of a mobile UWB device according to an implementation.

[0018] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an implementation of a stationary UWB device in accordance with an implementation.

[0019] Similar reference symbols in the various drawings are specifically implemented to indicate similar elements according to certain examples. In addition, multiple instances of the element can be indicated by adding a letter or hyphen and a second numeral after the first numeral of the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, any instance of the element should be understood (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to elements 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following description is directed to certain specific implementations for the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of each embodiment. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described specific implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as any of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), the IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Technical standards), Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals for communicating within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G or further implementations thereof.

[0021] As used herein, "RF signals" include electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of each RF signal through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0022] In addition, unless otherwise specified, the term "positioning" as used herein may refer to absolute position determination, relative position determination, ranging, or a combination thereof. For the purpose of location or sensing services, such positioning may include and / or be based on timing, angle, phase or power measurements or a combination thereof (which may include RF sensing measurements).

[0023] As previously mentioned, UWB-based positioning provides a highly accurate, low-power positioning solution relative to other RF-based positioning technologies for wireless electronic devices. UWB-based positioning can be used in industrial applications, such as by robots and / or other Internet of Things (IoT) devices in a factory environment, indoor positioning of consumer electronics, etc. Although UWB-based positioning can be used in an ad hoc manner as a stand-alone positioning technology between electronic devices capable of UWB positioning (also referred to herein as "UWB devices"), in some embodiments, UWB-based positioning can be used as one of many technologies for locating electronic devices in a positioning system. Figure 1 Examples of such positioning systems are provided (described in detail below).

[0024] However, when performing a UWB session (e.g., performing a UWB ranging session), RF interference on the RF channel (e.g., RF interference caused by other nearby UBW devices (e.g., other UWB ranging / data transmission pairs) and / or other radio access technologies (RATs)) may result in inefficient information exchange and / or inaccurate measurements (e.g., time of arrival (ToA) measurements, angle of arrival (AoA) measurements). Existing interference mitigation solutions, such as clear channel assessment (CCA) or time hopping schemes (e.g., hopping frames across time slots in a pseudo-random pattern (e.g., in a time hopping function known to both the initiator and responder of a UWB session), where the data sequences generated accordingly for different ranging pairs need to have high cross-correlation, and / or a static pattern), for example, applying a slot-level (e.g., ranging slot-level) CCA based on a medium access control (MAC) over the entire ranging block (e.g., performing CCA to determine whether the channel is occupied / busy), and performing segmentation over the entire ranging block based on the CCA (e.g., segmenting the preamble / sync packet, sending the segments across several milliseconds, and determining which segments to send if the CCA is not busy) may introduce more logic and complexity to the MAC and may result in greater latency for data transmission. Therefore, an improved interference mitigation technique for UWB sessions that can reduce / avoid potential RF interference without introducing much complexity to the MAC and without increasing ranging latency may be advantageous.

[0025] Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100 according to an embodiment, in which a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 may use the techniques for UWB wireless positioning provided herein. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include: a UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as a global positioning system (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou; a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 may estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the UE 105 and the known locations of other components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130) that send and / or receive RF signals. About Figure 2 Additional details regarding specific location estimation techniques are discussed in more detail.

[0026] It should be pointed out that Figure 1Only a generalized illustration of various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more than one UE 105. Figure 1 A greater or lesser number of base stations 120 and / or APs 130 are illustrated. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0027] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any one of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may, for example, include any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. In addition, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also referred to as new radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0028] The base station 120 and the access point (AP) 130 are communicatively coupled to the network 170. In some embodiments, the base station 120 may be owned, maintained and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described below. Depending on the technology of the network 170, the base station 120 may include a node B, an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transceiver base station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR node B (gNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case where the network 170 is a 5G network, the base station 120 as a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC). In view of the open radio access network (O-RAN) and / or virtualized radio access network (V-RAN or vRAN) in 5G or higher networks, the functionality performed by the base station 120 in the earlier networks (e.g., 3G and 4G) may be divided into different functional components (e.g., radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU), and central unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which may be executed on different devices at different locations connected, for example, via fronthaul connections, midhaul connections, and backhaul connections. As referred to herein, a "base station" (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. For example, the AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or AP or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, UE 105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices such as location server 160 by accessing network 170 via base station 120 using first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled with network 170, UE 105 can communicate with network-connected and Internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using second communication link 135 or via one or more other mobile devices 145.

[0029] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at the base station 120. A transmit receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station" herein. In some cases, the base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or different antenna array of the base station 120. As used herein, the transmit functionality of the TRP may be performed using a transmit point (TP), and / or the receive functionality of the TRP may be performed by a receive point (RP), which may be physically separate or different from the TP. That is, the TRP may include both the TP and the RP. The physical transmission point may include an antenna array of the base station 120 (for example, as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or where the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which 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).

[0030] As used herein, the term "cell" may generally refer to a logical communication entity for communicating with base station 120, and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access for different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocols). In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0031] Satellites 110 may be used to locate UE 105 in one or more ways. For example, satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) may be part of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou. Positioning using RF signals from GNSS satellites may include measuring multiple GNSS signals at a GNSS receiver of UE 105 to perform code-based and / or carrier-based positioning, which may be highly accurate. Additionally or alternatively, satellites 110 may be used for non-terrestrial network (NTN) based positioning, where satellites 110 may be functionally operable as a TRP (or multiple TPs) of a network (e.g., an LTE and / or NR network) and may be communicatively coupled with network 170. Specifically, reference signals (e.g., PRS) sent by satellites 110 for NTN based positioning may be similar to those sent by base stations 120 and may be coordinated by location server 160. In some embodiments, satellites 110 used for NTN based positioning may be different from those used for GNSS based positioning.

[0032] The location server 160 may include a server and / or other computing device configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) location solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information of the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also include an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for LTE radio access of the UE 105. The location server 160 may also include a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for NR or LTE radio access of the UE 105.

[0033] In the CP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, the signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of the UE 105 may use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between the elements of the network 170 and with the UE 105. In the UP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, the signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of the UE 105 may be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data (e.g., data transmitted using the Internet Protocol (IP) and / or the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0034] As previously noted (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated position of UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information about the relative distances and / or angles of UE 105 from one or more components in positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, APs 130, base stations 120). The estimated position of UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known positions of the one or more components.

[0035] Although ground components (such as AP 130 and base station 120) can be fixed, embodiments are not limited in this regard. Mobile components can be used. For example, in some embodiments, the location of UE 105 can be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 communicated between UE 105 and one or more other mobile devices 145 (the one or more other mobile devices can be mobile or fixed). As illustrated, the other mobile devices can include, for example, mobile phone 145-1, vehicle 145-2, static communication / positioning device 145-3, or other static and / or mobile devices capable of providing wireless signals for locating UE 105, or a combination thereof. Wireless signals from mobile device 145 for positioning of UE 105 can include using, for example, (including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), IEEE 802.11x (e.g. ), ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE802.15x, or a combination thereof. The mobile device 145 may additionally or alternatively use non-RF wireless signals such as infrared signals or other optical technologies to locate the UE 105.

[0036] The mobile device 145 may include other UEs that are communicatively coupled to a cellular network or other mobile network (e.g., network 170). When one or more other mobile devices 145 including a UE are used in the positioning determination of a particular UE 105, the UE 105 whose positioning is to be determined may be referred to as a "target UE", and each of the other mobile devices 145 used may be referred to as an "anchor UE". In order to perform positioning determination on the target UE, the corresponding positioning of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between one or more other mobile devices 145 and UE 105 may include side links and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. The side link defined by 3GPP is a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards. UWB may be a technology by which measurements from one or more anchor devices (e.g., mobile devices 145) may be used to facilitate the positioning of a target device (e.g., UE 105).

[0037] According to some embodiments, such as when the UE 105 includes and / or is incorporated into a vehicle, a form of D2D communication used by the mobile device 105 may include vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. V2X is a communication standard for vehicles to exchange information about the traffic environment with related entities. V2X may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication between vehicles with V2X capabilities, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication between vehicles and infrastructure-based equipment (commonly referred to as roadside units (RSUs)), vehicle-to-person (V2P) communication between vehicles and nearby people (pedestrians, cyclists and other road users), etc. In addition, V2X may use any of a variety of wireless RF communication technologies. For example, cellular V2X (CV2X) is a form of V2X that uses cellular-based communications in a direct communication mode defined by 3GPP, such as LTE (4G), NR (5G) and / or other cellular technologies. Figure 1 The illustrated UE 105 may correspond to a component or device located on a vehicle, RSU, or other V2X entity for communicating V2X messages. In an embodiment in which V2X is used, the static communication / positioning device 145-3 (which may correspond to an RSU) and / or the vehicle 145-2 may therefore communicate with the UE 105 and may be used to determine the location of the UE 105 using techniques similar to those used by the base station 120 and / or AP 130 (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multi-point positioning). It may be further noted that, according to some embodiments, the mobile device 145 (which may include a V2X device), the base station 120, and / or the AP 130 may be used together (e.g., in a WWAN positioning solution) to determine the location of the UE 105.

[0038] The estimated position of UE 105 may be used in a variety of applications, such as to assist a user of UE 105 in direction finding or navigation or to assist another user (e.g., associated with external client 180) in locating UE 105. "Position" is also referred to herein as "position estimate," "estimated position," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated position," "position fix," or "fix." The process of determining a position may be referred to as "positioning," "position determination," "position determination," or the like. The position of UE 105 may include an absolute position of UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude, and possibly altitude) or a relative position of UE 105 (e.g., a position expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below some other known fixed position (including, for example, the position of base station 120 or AP 130) or some other location (such as the position of UE 105 at some known previous time, or the position of mobile device 145 (e.g., another UE) at some known previous time). The location may be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area, such as a factory, warehouse, college campus, shopping mall, stadium, or convention center). The location may alternatively be a city location, and may then include one or more of a street address (e.g., including a country, state, county, city, road and / or street name or label, and / or road or street number) and / or a label or name of a place, a building, a portion of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building, etc. The location may also include uncertainty or error indications, such as horizontal distances and possibly vertical distances over which the location is expected to have error, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0039] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., accessible by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as friend or relative locating or child or pet locating). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of the UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0040] As a non-limiting example of UWB positioning, Figure 2is a diagram illustrating a scenario in which UWB technology can be used to locate a target device 205 (eg, a tracker). Here, the target device 205 can be located with Figure 1 The mobile device 105 corresponds to the mobile device 105. Figure 2 As illustrated, the target device 205 may include a wireless communication device within the coverage of the cluster 210. The cluster 210 may include one or more UWB devices (e.g., UWB anchor point 222) with a known location, which may exchange UWB RF signals (e.g., downlink time difference of arrival (TDoA) signals) with the target device 205 for locating the target device 205. For example, Figure 2 As illustrated, the UWB anchor point 222 may include an initiator 222-1 (e.g., an initiating anchor point) and responders 222-2, 222-3, and 222-4 (e.g., responding anchor points). The role of each of the devices (e.g., the initiator 222-1 and the responders 222-2, 222-3, and 222-4) will be disclosed in detail below. In some embodiments, the UWB anchor point 222 may be a downlink UWB anchor point.

[0041] When performing location / ranging of the target device 205, the target device 205 may transmit UWB RF signals and / or receive UWB RF signals from the UWB anchor points 222. The UWB anchor points 222 may use different measurements of the UWB RF signals (e.g., time difference of arrival (TDoA), two-way ranging (TWR), reverse TDoA, and / or phase difference of arrival (PDoA)) to calculate the distance between devices (e.g., perform ranging). For example, in a time difference of arrival (TDoA) scheme, the target device 205 may transmit a UWB RF signal (e.g., a "beacon" or "blink" signal) to each of the anchor points 222, where each of the UWB anchor points 222 timestamps the arrival / reception of the UWB RF signal based on a common synchronized time base. The timestamps from each of the UWB anchor points 222 may be used to calculate the TDoA of each responder (e.g., responders 222-2, 222-3, and 222-4). For example, the TDoA, TDoA1 (eg, the time difference between the initiator 222-1 and the responder 222-2) of the responder 222-2 may be calculated as:

[0042] TDoA1=(d1-d0) / c=T1-T0

[0043] Where d0 and d1 represent the distance between the target device 205 and the initiator 222-1 and the responder 222-2, respectively, c represents the speed of light, and T0 and T1 represent the timestamp when the initiator 222-1 and the responder 222-2 receive the UWB RF signal, respectively. The location of the target device 205 can be determined based on TDoA (e.g., TDoA1, TDoA2, and TDoA3).

[0044] Figure 3A is a flow chart illustrating the roles that different devices may play with respect to a UWB ranging session (or simply, "UWB session"). Here, each UWB device may be referred to as an enhanced ranging device (ERDEV). ERDEV may refer to different terms at different layers of the network stack (e.g., initiator / responder or controller / controlled party). The terms initiator / responder (as described above and below) will be used at lower layers (e.g., at the UWB physical (PHY) layer and medium access control (MAC) layer), while the terms controller and controlled party (also described below) may be used at higher layers (e.g., the application layer of the ERDEV). Here, any ERDEV may be used with Figure 2 The target device 205 or the UWB anchor point 222 or Figure 1 Corresponding to the mobile device 105.

[0045] As indicated, for a pair of ERDEVs communicating with each other, controller 310 is the ERDEV that transmits a control information message 325 to a receiving ERDEV designated as a controlled party 320. Control information message 325 may include parameters for a ranging phase of a UWB ranging session, such as timing, channels, etc. Although not illustrated, controlled party 320 may transmit an acknowledgment to control information message 325, may negotiate changes to parameters, etc.

[0046] The exchanges between the controller 310 and the controlled party 320 (including the transmission of the control information message 325 and the subsequent related exchanges between the controller 310 and the controlled party 320 regarding the control information) may be conducted out-of-band (OOB) using different wireless communication technologies (e.g., Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) before the ranging phase. In other words, a UWB session may be associated with a control phase and a ranging phase, wherein the control phase (which may occur over the OOB link) includes a preliminary exchange between the controller 310 and the controlled party 320 of parameter values ​​for the ranging phase, and the subsequent ranging phase includes a portion of the UWB session in which the devices exchange messages within the UWB band for ranging measurements. (It may be noted, however, that some control information may be exchanged within the UWB band (e.g., a "ranging control phase" occurring in the first time slot of a UWB round. Therefore, after the preliminary OOB exchange between the controller 310 and the controlled party 320, some aspects of the control phase may be considered to occur within the band.)

[0047] Depending on the parameters provided in the control information, a UWB session may then occur. During the ranging phase of a UWB session, one ERDEV may take the role of an initiator 330 and another ERDEV may take the role of a responder 340. Figure 3A As indicated in the control information message 325, the initiator 330 may initiate UWB ranging by transmitting a ranging initiation message 345 to the responder 340, which may reply to the ranging initiation message with a ranging response message 350, and which may be timed (by the device receiving the messages) to perform time difference of arrival (TDoA). Depending on the parameters of the control information message 325, additional exchanges may be made between the initiator 330 and the responder 340 during the ranging phase to allow for additional ranging measurements.

[0048] The roles of the initiator 330 and the responder 340 may be indicated in the control information message 325. Figure 3A As indicated in , the controller 310 in the control phase may be the initiator 330 in the ranging phase of the UWB session. Figure 3B As indicated in , the controller 310 in the control phase may be the responder 340 in the ranging phase. The determination of which device is the initiator 330 and which device is the responder 340 may depend on the parameters set forth in the control information 325, in which case the controlled party 320 correspondingly becomes the responder 340 or the initiator 330. According to some embodiments, the controller / initiator may perform ranging with multiple controlled parties / responders.

[0049] Figure 4 4 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure and associated terminology for a UWB ranging session. The timing in a UWB ranging session may occur within a time period that is divided into sub-portions according to a hierarchical structure. Similar to a TDMA scheme, a UWB ranging session defines a timing during which ranging may occur. The timing includes one or more consecutive ranging blocks 410, which may have a configurable duration (e.g., 200 ms). Each ranging block 410 may be divided into one or more consecutive rounds 420 (e.g., N rounds), the number and length of the one or more consecutive rounds being configurable. As described above, each round may be assigned / arranged to a cluster (e.g., Figure 2 The responder (e.g., Figure 2 Responders 222-2, 222-3 and 222-4 and / or Figure 3A and Figure 3B The responder 340 in the example may send messages only in the round assigned to the corresponding cluster. In some embodiments, the arrangement may be identified in the control information using its corresponding round index (e.g., round #3). For example, the round index may be specified by the controller (e.g., Figure 3A and Figure 3B The controller 310 in the example may be statically configured or may be selected according to a hopping pattern.

[0050] The round 420 may be further divided into different time slots 430, which also have a configurable number and length. The time slots 430 may be arranged sequentially to perform positioning and / or ranging (e.g., TDoA and / or ToA). For example, the time slots 430 in the round 420 may be scheduled to the ranging control phase (e.g., signal time slots) or the extended ranging control phase, the ranging phase, and the measurement report phase, wherein the length / number of the time slots 430 in each phase is configurable. For example, the extended ranging control phase may include one or more time slots 430 corresponding to the controller of the cluster to which the round 420 is assigned (e.g., the M time slots in the extended control phase may correspond to the M controllers of the cluster). In some embodiments, in the UWB ranging scenario, the ranging control phase may include only signal time slots.

[0051] As described above, when performing a UWB session (e.g., performing a UWB ranging session), potential RF interference on the communication channel (e.g., RF interference caused by other nearby UBW devices (e.g., other UWB ranging / data transmission pairs) and / or other radio access technologies (RATs)) may result in inefficient information exchange and / or inaccurate measurements. Existing solutions such as applying slot-level CCA and fragmentation (e.g., fragmenting the preamble / synchronization packet and sending the fragments across several milliseconds) on the entire ranging block may result in greater latency for data transmission and adding more logic and complexity to the MAC. The technical solution described herein provides an improved interference mitigation technique for UWB sessions that can reduce / avoid RF interference without introducing much complexity to the MAC and without adding much ranging latency.

[0052] For example, Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating how a controller 510 and a controlled party 520 may mitigate interference in a UWB ranging session according to some embodiments. Figure 6 is a timing diagram showing an example of information exchange between the control party 510 and the controlled party 520 based on the interference mitigation process scheduling according to some embodiments. For ease of illustration, Figure 5 and Figure 6 Here, the controller 510 and the controlled party 520 can communicate with Figure 3A and Figure 3B The controlling party 310 and the controlled party 320 shown in FIG. 3 correspond to each other.

[0053] Other attachments provided in this article Figure 1 Sample, Figure 5 and Figure 6are provided as non-limiting examples. As discussed in more detail below, alternative embodiments may perform certain functions in a different order, simultaneously, etc. It may be noted that Figure 5 The arrows between the various components illustrated in illustrative illustrative examples illustrate messages or information transferred from one component to another.

[0054] like Figure 5 As illustrated, the interference mitigation process 500 begins at block 525, where the controller 510 may determine a first potential interference (e.g., detect potential RF interference to a UWB ranging session). As used herein, the term "potential interference" may refer to an RF transmission (e.g., as part of a series of transmissions) that may potentially interfere with a UWB ranging session (e.g., if the UWB ranging session is conducted without adapting to the pattern or sequence of RF transmissions indicated by the potential interference). For example, the controller 510 may sense the RF channels used / to be used by the controller 510 and may monitor potential interference (e.g., RF signals) on those channels. In some embodiments, the first potential interference may include UWB transmissions performed on the RF channel by, for example, other UWB ranging pairs and / or other data transmission pairs (e.g., other RAT data transmissions) near the controller 510. In some embodiments, the first potential interference may include one or more RF transmissions having a static round hopping pattern, a pseudo-random round hopping pattern, any other suitable round hopping pattern, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, a first interference pattern for the first potential interference may be determined.

[0055] At arrow 535, the controller 510 may send a request for an interference profile / report to the controlled party 520. In some embodiments, the request may include a configuration for the controlled party 520 to determine a scan of potential interference. For example, the request may indicate a time window to be scanned, a list of RF channels to be scanned, a sampling frequency for scanning (e.g., an interval for scanning RF channels), etc. In some embodiments, the interference profile / report may include signal strength values ​​(e.g., a power delay profile) of potential interference sampled at predetermined time intervals and / or interference patterns of potential interference determined by the controlled party 520.

[0056] At block 540, the controlled party 520 may detect a second potential interference according to the request received from the controller 510. In some embodiments, as described above, the second potential interference may be UWB transmissions performed on the RF channel by, for example, other UWB ranging pairs and / or other data transmission pairs (e.g., other RAT data transmissions) near the controlled party 520. In some embodiments, the controller 510 and the controlled party 520 may be separated by a certain distance, so that the first potential interference determined by the controller 510 may be different from the second potential interference determined by the controlled party 520.

[0057] In some embodiments, when a second potential interference is detected, the controlled party 520 may scan a list of RF channels (e.g., specified by the controller 510) and may determine the second potential interference on those RF channels. In some embodiments, the second potential interference may be determined based on a measured quality factor (FoM) value determined / estimated by the controlled party 520 (e.g., ToA FoM, AoA FoM, etc. indicating the reliability or confidence level of the estimated measurement). In some embodiments, one or more CCAs may be performed for detecting the second potential interference. For example, CCA modes 5 and 6 may be performed for detecting UWB interference. It should be understood that other CCA modes may also be performed to achieve the desired performance. In some embodiments, the type of interference (e.g., the type of RAT) may also be determined accordingly.

[0058] At block 545, the controlled party 520 may determine an interference profile / report indicating a second potential interference. As described above, for a particular RF channel, the interference profile / report may include signal strength values ​​(e.g., power delay profiles) of interference sampled at predetermined time intervals determined by the controlled party 520 on the RF channel. In some embodiments, the interference profile / report may also include the type of potential interference (e.g., the type of RAT).

[0059] At arrow 550, the controlled party 520 may send the interference profile / report to the controller 510. In some embodiments, the interference profile / report may be periodically determined at an interval specified by the controller 510 (eg, specified in a request for the interference profile / report).

[0060] At block 555, the controller 510 may determine a round hopping pattern based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference to mitigate interference (e.g., avoiding the first potential interference and the second potential interference by reducing the overlap between the round hopping pattern and the interference pattern). In some embodiments, the controller 510 may update the interference pattern (e.g., update the first interference pattern) to include the second potential interference.

[0061] In some embodiments, round hopping may include a static round hopping mode. Figure 6As illustrated, if the UWB ranging session is scheduled according to a round hopping pattern that fails to consider the second potential interference detected by the controlled party 520 (e.g., in an existing interference mitigation scheme), the UWB ranging session (e.g., including rounds j, j+1, j+2, ...) may overlap most of the updated interference pattern (e.g., including rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...). However, the UWB ranging session scheduled according to the round hopping pattern determined based on considering both the first potential interference and the second potential interference (e.g., including rounds j', j'+1, j'+2, ...) may utilize the gaps between the updated interference patterns (e.g., the gaps between rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...), so that the overlap between the ranging rounds of the corresponding scheduled UWB ranging session and the first potential interference or the second potential interference is reduced. For example, the determined round hopping pattern may maximize the use of gaps between rounds i, i+1, i+2, ... (e.g., aligning the start of round j'+n with the end of interfering round i'+m, where n and m are any suitable integers). Thus, potential interference determined at both the controller 510 and the controlled party 520 may be mitigated.

[0062] In some embodiments, the controller 510 may inactivate the time slots (e.g., overlapping time slots 640) of the ranging rounds (e.g., rounds j', j'+1, j'+2, ...) that still overlap with the potential interference (e.g., rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...). For example, the controller 510 may not schedule message transmissions on the overlapping time slots 640.

[0063] Additionally or alternatively, in some other embodiments, the updated round hopping may also include a pseudo-random round hopping pattern. For example, in order to further improve the data transmission efficiency, the controller 510 may apply CCA or time hopping on the overlapping time slots 640, for example, applying the existing CCA and slicing scheme as described above on the overlapping time slots 640. Because the CCA or time hopping scheme can be applied only on the overlapping time slots 640 instead of the entire round (e.g., round j', j'+1, j'+2...), the logic and complexity and latency on the MAC may not increase as much as the existing scheme.

[0064] Re-reference Figure 5 At block 560, a UWB ranging session configuration indicating a round hopping pattern may be sent to the controlled party 520 for scheduling the UWB ranging session (e.g., scheduling the transmission of one or more UWB ranging messages between the controller 510 and the controlled party 520). For example, data transmission for the UWB ranging session between the controller 510 and the controlled party 520 may be scheduled according to the UWB ranging session configuration so that the overlap between the ranging rounds of the UWB ranging session and the first potential interference or the second potential interference is minimized.

[0065] In some embodiments, information related to the interference mitigation process 500 may be sent in-band or out-band of a UWB channel between the controller 510 and the controlled party 520. For example, when sent in-band, the controller 510 may include information in a ranging control message (e.g., Figure 4 The controlled party 520 may include this information (e.g., a request for interference profile / report and / or round hopping mode) in the ranging control phase of the illustrated ranging round. Figure 4 This information (eg, interference profile / report) is included in the payload of the ranging phase of the illustrated ranging round.

[0066] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a method 700 of interference mitigation for UWB wireless ranging performed by a first UWB device according to an embodiment. Figure 7 The functional means illustrated in one or more of the blocks illustrated in may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UWB device. Figure 8 and Fig. 9 Example components of a UWB device are illustrated in FIG. 4 and are described in more detail below.

[0067] At block 710, functionality includes detecting a first potential interferer with a first radio frequency (RF) channel (eg, determining potential RF interference with a UWB ranging session). For example, a first UWB device (eg, Figure 5 The controller 510 shown in ) can sense the RF channels used / to be used by the first UWB device and can monitor potential interference on those RF channels. In some embodiments, the first potential interference may include UWB transmissions performed on the RF channel by, for example, other UWB ranging pairs and / or other data transmission pairs (e.g., other RAT data transmissions) near the first UWB device. In some embodiments, the first potential interference may include one or more RF transmissions having a static round hopping pattern, a pseudo-random round hopping pattern, any other suitable round hopping pattern, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, a first interference pattern for a first potential interference may be determined.

[0068] Means for performing the functionality at block 710 may include bus 805, processor 810, memory 860, wireless communication interface 830 (including optional UWB transceiver 835), and / or other components of mobile UWB device 800, such as Figure 8 900, such as the UWB transceiver 935. Fig. 9As illustrated and described below.

[0069] In some embodiments, the interference mitigation method 700 includes block 720, where functionality includes: providing a second UWB device (eg, Figure 5 ) sends a request for an interference profile / report indicating a second potential interference to the controlled party 520 shown in . In some embodiments, the request may include a configuration for a scan to determine interference performed by the second UWB device. For example, the request may indicate a time window to be scanned, a list of RF channels to be scanned, a sampling frequency for scanning (e.g., an interval for scanning RF channels), etc. In some embodiments, the interference profile / report may include signal strength values ​​(e.g., a power delay profile) of interference determined by the second UWB device and sampled at predetermined time intervals. It should be understood that, alternatively or additionally, the second UWB device may perform the following steps (e.g., the steps described below) without receiving the above request from the first control party.

[0070] Means for performing the functionality at block 720 may include bus 805, processor 810, memory 860, wireless communication interface 830 (including optional UWB transceiver 835), and / or other components of mobile UWB device 800, such as Figure 8 905, processor 910, memory 960, wireless communication interface 930 (including optional UWB transceiver 935), and / or other components of the UWB device 900, such as Fig. 9 As illustrated and described below.

[0071] At box 730, functionality includes: receiving an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of a first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. In some embodiments, the second UWB device may detect the second potential interference based on a request received from the first UWB device. In some embodiments, as described above, the second potential interference may be a UWB transmission performed on the RF channel by, for example, other UWB ranging pairs and / or other data transmission pairs (e.g., other RAT data transmissions) near the second UWB device. For example, when determining the second potential interference, the second UWB device may scan a list of channels (e.g., specified by the first UWB device) and may determine the second potential interference on those channels. In some embodiments, the second potential interference may be determined based on a measured quality factor (FoM) value (e.g., ToA FoM, AoA FoM, etc. indicating the reliability or confidence level of the estimated measurement) determined / estimated by the second UWB device. In some embodiments, one or more CCAs may be performed for detecting the second potential interference. For example, CCA modes 5 and 6 may be performed for detecting UWB interference. It should be understood that other CCA modes may also be implemented to achieve desired performance.In some embodiments, the type of interference (eg, type of RAT) may also be determined accordingly.

[0072] As described above, for a particular RF channel, the interference profile / report may include signal strength values ​​(e.g., power delay profiles) of interferences sampled at predetermined time intervals on the RF channel determined by the second UWB device and / or interference patterns of potential interferences. In some embodiments, the interference profile / report may also include the type of interference (e.g., the type of RAT).

[0073] Means for performing the functionality at block 730 may include bus 805, processor 810, memory 860, wireless communication interface 830 (including optional UWB transceiver 835), and / or other components of mobile UWB device 800, such as Figure 8 900, such as the UWB transceiver 935. Fig. 9 As illustrated and described below.

[0074] At block 740, functionality includes determining a round hopping pattern based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference to mitigate the potential interference (e.g., avoiding the first potential interference and the second potential interference by reducing overlap between the updated round hopping and the first potential interference or the second potential interference). In some embodiments, the first UWB device may update the interference pattern (e.g., update the first interference pattern) to include the second potential interference.

[0075] For example, Figure 6 As illustrated, if the UWB ranging session is scheduled according to a round hopping pattern that fails to consider the second potential interference detected by the second UWB device (e.g., in an existing interference mitigation scheme), the UWB ranging session (e.g., including rounds j, j+1, j+2, ...) may overlap most of the updated interference pattern (e.g., including rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...). However, the UWB ranging session scheduled according to the round hopping pattern determined based on considering both the first potential interference and the second potential interference (e.g., including rounds j', j'+1, j'+2, ...) may utilize the gaps between the updated interference patterns (e.g., the gaps between rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...), so that the overlap between the ranging rounds of the corresponding scheduled UWB ranging session and the first potential interference or the second potential interference is reduced. For example, the determined round hopping pattern may maximize the use of gaps between rounds i, i+1, i+2, ... (e.g., aligning the start of round j'+n with the end of interfering round i'+m, where n and m are any suitable integers). Thus, potential interference determined at both the first UWB device and the second UWB device may be mitigated.

[0076] In some embodiments, the first UWB device may inactive the time slots (e.g., overlapping time slots 640) of ranging rounds (e.g., rounds j', j'+1, j'+2, ...) that still overlap with interference (e.g., rounds i, i+1, i+2, ...). For example, the first UWB device may not schedule message transmissions on the overlapping time slots 640.

[0077] In some other embodiments, in order to further improve the data transmission efficiency, the first UWB device may apply CCA or time hopping on the overlapping time slots 640, for example, applying the existing CCA and slicing scheme as described above on the overlapping time slots 640. Because the CCA or time hopping scheme can be applied only on the overlapping time slots 640 instead of the entire round (e.g., round j', j'+1, j'+2, ...), the logic and complexity and latency on the MAC may not increase as much as the existing scheme.

[0078] Means for performing the functionality at block 740 may include bus 805, processor 810, memory 860, wireless communication interface 830 (including optional UWB transceiver 835), and / or other components of mobile UWB device 800, such as Figure 8 900, such as the UWB transceiver 935. Fig. 9 As illustrated and described below.

[0079] At block 750, functionality includes sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating a round hopping pattern to the second UWB device. For example, according to the UWB ranging session configuration, data transmission of a UWB ranging session between the first UWB device and the second UWB device may be scheduled such that an overlap between a ranging round of the UWB ranging session and the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer is reduced.

[0080] Means for performing the functionality at block 750 may include bus 805, processor 810, memory 860, wireless communication interface 830 (including optional UWB transceiver 835), and / or other components of mobile UWB device 800, such as Figure 8 900, such as the UWB transceiver 935. Fig. 9 As illustrated and described below.

[0081] Figure 8 800 can be utilized as described herein. The mobile UWB device 800 can have cellular (e.g., 5G NR) capabilities and can therefore act as a UE in a cellular wireless network and / or perform cellular / UWB positioning as described herein. It should be noted that Figure 8 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. For example, a more basic / simple type of UWB device may omit various components that may be included in a more advanced / complex UWB device. Furthermore, as previously noted, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be implemented by Figure 8 The invention may be executed by one or more of the illustrated hardware and / or software components.

[0082] Mobile UWB device 800 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 805 (or may otherwise communicate as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 810, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 810 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Figure 8 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 820, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication (discussed below) may be provided in the processor 810 and / or the wireless communication interface 830. The mobile UWB device 800 may also include one or more input devices 870, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 815, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0083] The mobile UWB device 800 may also include a wireless communication interface 830, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as Devices, IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, WAN devices and / or various cellular devices, etc.), etc., which can enable the mobile UWB device 800 to communicate with other devices as described herein. The wireless communication interface 830 can allow communication (e.g., sending and receiving) of data and signaling with access points, various base stations and / or other access node types and / or other network components, computer systems and / or any other electronic devices coupled thereto in communication. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 832 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 834. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 832 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 832 may be able to use beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming can be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques using corresponding digital and / or analog circuits. The wireless communication interface 830 may include such circuits.

[0084] As illustrated, the wireless communication interface 830 may also include a UWB transceiver 835. The UWB transceiver 835 may be operated to perform the UWB operations described herein. In addition, the wireless communication interface 830 may include one or more additional communication technologies that utilize it to perform any OOB functionality described herein. According to some embodiments, the UWB transceiver 835 may be one of a plurality of UWB transceivers of the mobile UWB device 800. In addition, the UWB transceiver may be used for functionality other than the UWB positioning functionality described herein. Although illustrated as part of the wireless communication interface 830, in some embodiments, the UWB transceiver 835 may be separate from the wireless communication interface 830.

[0085] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 830 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The mobile UWB device 800 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, the WWAN may be a CDMA network, a TDMA network, an FDMA network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and the like. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as WCDMA, etc. Includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, Advanced LTE, 5G NR, and the like. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. Described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A WLAN may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, while a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0086] The mobile UWB device 800 may also include a sensor 840. The sensor 840 may include, but is not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain location-related measurements and / or other information.

[0087] Embodiments of the mobile UWB device 800 may also include a GNSS receiver 880 capable of receiving signals 884 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 882 (which may be the same as the antenna 832). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 880 may extract the positioning of the mobile UWB device 800 from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China, etc. using conventional techniques. In addition, the GNSS receiver 880 may be used with various storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0088] The memory 860 of the mobile UWB device 800 may also include software elements ( Figure 8 ), the software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries and / or other code (such as one or more applications), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described for the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 860 that can be executed by mobile UWB device 800 (and / or processor 810 or DSP 820 within mobile UWB device 800). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions can then be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0089] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a stationary UWB device 900 that may be utilized as described herein. The stationary UWB device 900 may, for example, serve as a UWB anchor point for UWB and / or hybrid cellular / UWB positioning of a mobile UWB device (e.g., the mobile UWB device 800). It should be noted that Fig. 9It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. In some embodiments, the stationed UWB device 900 may correspond to an anchor UWB with a known location that may be used to determine the location of other UWB devices, including mobile UWB devices. According to some embodiments, the stationed UWB device 900 may be permanently stationed or temporarily stationed.

[0090] The stationary UWB device 900 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 905 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 910, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Fig. 9 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 920, depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, location determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 910 and / or the wireless communication interface 930 (discussed below). The stationary UWB device 900 may also include one or more input devices, which may include but are not limited to a keyboard, a display, a mouse, a microphone, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices, which may include but are not limited to a display, a light emitting diode (LED), a speaker, etc.

[0091] The stationary UWB device 900 may also include a wireless communication interface 930, which may include, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as a processor) that enables the stationary UWB device 900 to communicate as described herein. Devices, IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, cellular communication facilities, etc.). The wireless communication interface 930 can permit communication (e.g., sending and receiving) of data and signaling to mobile devices, wireless network nodes (e.g., base stations, access points, etc.) and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 932 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 934.

[0092] As illustrated, the wireless communication interface 930 may also include a UWB transceiver 935. The UWB transceiver 935 may be operated to perform the UWB operations described herein. In addition, the wireless communication interface 930 may include one or more additional communication technologies that utilize it to perform any OOB functionality described herein. According to some embodiments, the UWB transceiver 935 may be one of a plurality of UWB transceivers stationed in the UWB device 900. In addition, the UWB transceiver may be used for functionality other than the UWB positioning functionality described herein. Although illustrated as part of the wireless communication interface 930, in some embodiments, the UWB transceiver 935 may be separate from the wireless communication interface 930.

[0093] The stationary UWB device 900 may also include a network interface 980, which may include support for wired communication technologies. The network interface 980 may include a modem, a network card, a chipset, etc. The network interface 980 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to permit data to be exchanged with a network, a communication network server, a computer system, and / or any other electronic device described herein. In some embodiments, the stationary UWB device 900 may be communicatively coupled to one or more servers and / or other stationary UWB devices via the network interface 980.

[0094] In many embodiments, the stationary UWB device 900 may also include memory 960. The memory 960 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0095] The memory 960 of the resident UWB device 900 may also include software elements ( Fig. 9 900), the software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries and / or other code (such as one or more applications), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described for the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 960 that may be executed by a resident UWB device 900 (and / or a processor 910 or DSP 920 within the resident UWB device 900). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0096] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed.

[0097] With reference to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved when providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many specific implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with hole patterns, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory box or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0098] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, replace or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the features described for certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. In addition, technology may evolve, and therefore many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to those specific examples.

[0099] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digital symbols, and the like. It will be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as will be apparent from the above discussion, it will be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "correlating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular device such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically represented as physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in a memory, register, or other information storage device, a transmitting device, or a display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0100] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include multiple meanings that are also intended to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (inclusive meanings are used here) as well as A, B, or C (exclusive meanings are used here). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular form, or may be used to describe a certain combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the subject matter claimed is not limited to this example. In addition, the term "at least one of...", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0101] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. In addition, multiple steps may be performed before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0102] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0103] Clause 1. A method of UWB wireless ranging performed by a first ultra-wideband (UWB) device may include: detecting a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The method may also include: receiving an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The method may also include: determining a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The method may also include: sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0104] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein detecting the first potential interferer comprises: detecting an interference pattern of the first potential interferer.

[0105] Clause 3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein detecting the first potential interferer comprises: detecting an interference pattern of the first potential interferer.

[0106] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, further comprising: inactivating a time slot of a ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

[0107] Clause 5. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, further comprising: performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) or time hopping on a time slot of the ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

[0108] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a static round hopping pattern.

[0109] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a pseudo-random round hopping pattern.

[0110] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 7, further comprising: sending an interference report request for the interference report to the second UWB device, wherein the request indicates a time interval for determining the interference report.

[0111] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the interference report request includes a time window to be scanned, a list of RF channels to be scanned, a sampling frequency for the second UWB device to determine the second potential interference, or any combination thereof.

[0112] Clause 10. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using the first RF channel.

[0113] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using a second RF channel different from the first RF channel.

[0114] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the interference report indicating the second potential interference for the RF channel is received using the first RF channel.

[0115] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the second potential interference is indicated in a ranging response message received from the second UWB device.

[0116] Clause 14. A first UWB device for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless ranging may include a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors may be configured to: detect a first potential interference of a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The one or more processors may also be configured to: receive an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The one or more processors may also be configured to: determine a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The one or more processors may also be configured to: send a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0117] Clause 15. The first UWB device of clause 14, wherein to detect the first potential interferer, the one or more processors are further configured to: detect an interference pattern of the first potential interferer.

[0118] Clause 16. The first UWB device of clause 14 or 15, wherein the interference report comprises a list of signal strength values ​​sampled at predetermined time intervals.

[0119] Clause 17. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 16, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: inactivate time slots of ranging rounds that overlap with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

[0120] Clause 18. A first UWB device according to any one of clauses 14 to 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or time hopping on a time slot of the ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interference or the second potential interference.

[0121] Clause 19. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 18, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a static round hopping pattern.

[0122] Clause 20. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 19, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a pseudo-random round hopping pattern.

[0123] Clause 21. A first UWB device as described in any of clauses 14 to 20, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: send an interference report request for the interference report to the second UWB device, wherein the request indicates a time interval for determining the interference report.

[0124] Clause 22. A first UWB device as described in any of clauses 14 to 21, wherein the interference report request includes a time window to be scanned, a list of RF channels to be scanned, a sampling frequency for the second UWB device to determine the second potential interference, or any combination thereof.

[0125] Clause 23. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 22, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using the first RF channel.

[0126] Clause 24. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 23, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using a second RF channel different from the first RF channel.

[0127] Clause 25. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 24, wherein the interference report indicating the second potential interference of the RF channel is received using the first RF channel.

[0128] Clause 26. The first UWB device of any of clauses 14 to 25, wherein the second potential interference is indicated in a ranging response message received from the second UWB device.

[0129] Clause 27. An apparatus for UWB wireless ranging, the apparatus may include: means for detecting a first potential interference with a first radio frequency (RF) channel. The apparatus may also include: means for receiving an interference report from a second UWB device indicating a second potential interference with the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device. The apparatus may also include: means for determining a round hopping pattern for sending one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference. The apparatus may also include: means for sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

[0130] Clause 28. The apparatus of Clause 27, wherein the means for detecting the first potential interferer comprises code for: means for detecting an interference pattern of the first potential interferer.

[0131] Clause 29. An apparatus as recited in Clause 27 or 28, wherein the interference report comprises a list of signal strength values ​​sampled at predetermined time intervals.

[0132] Clause 30. The apparatus of any of clauses 27 to 29, further comprising means for inactivating a time slot of a ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

Claims

1. A method for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless ranging performed by a first UWB device, the method comprising: detecting a first potential interferer on a first radio frequency (RF) channel; receiving, from a second UWB device, an interference report indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device; determining a round hopping pattern for transmitting one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference; and A UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping mode is sent to the second UWB device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the first potential interference comprises: An interference pattern of the first potential interferer is detected.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the first potential interference comprises: An interference pattern of the first potential interferer is detected.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Time slots of ranging rounds overlapping with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer are made inactive.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A clear channel assessment (CCA) or time hopping is performed on a time slot of the ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer. The method of claim 1 , wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a static round hopping pattern.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a pseudo-random round hopping pattern.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An interference report request for the interference report is sent to the second UWB device, wherein the request indicates a time interval for determining the interference report.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interference report request includes a time window to scan, a list of RF channels to scan, a sampling frequency for the second UWB device to determine the second potential interference, or any combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using the first RF channel.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using a second RF channel different from the first RF channel.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the interference report indicating the second potential interference for the RF channel is received using the first RF channel.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second potential interference is indicated in a ranging response message received from the second UWB device.

14. A first UWB device for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless ranging, the first UWB device comprising: one or more transceivers capable of transmitting UWB wireless signals; Memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: detecting a first potential interferer on a first radio frequency (RF) channel; receiving, from a second UWB device, an interference report indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device; determining a round hopping pattern for transmitting one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference; and A UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping mode is sent to the second UWB device.

15. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein to detect the first potential interference, the one or more processors are further configured to: An interference pattern of the first potential interferer is detected.

16. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the interference report comprises a list of signal strength values ​​sampled at predetermined time intervals.

17. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: Time slots of ranging rounds overlapping with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer are made inactive.

18. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: A clear channel assessment (CCA) or time hopping is performed on a time slot of the ranging round that overlaps with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

19. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a static round hopping pattern.

20. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the round hopping pattern comprises a pseudo-random round hopping pattern.

21. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: An interference report request for the interference report is sent to the second UWB device, wherein the request indicates a time interval for determining the interference report.

22. The first UWB device of claim 21, wherein the interference report request includes a time window to scan, a list of RF channels to scan, a sampling frequency for the second UWB device to determine the second potential interference, or any combination thereof.

23. The first UWB device of claim 21, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using the first RF channel.

24. The first UWB device of claim 21, wherein the interference report request or the UWB ranging session configuration is sent using a second RF channel different from the first RF channel.

25. The first UWB device of claim 14, wherein the interference report indicating the second potential interference of the RF channel is received using the first RF channel.

26. The first UWB device of claim 25, wherein the second potential interference is indicated in a ranging response message received from the second UWB device.

27. A device for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless ranging, the device comprising: means for detecting a first potential interferer of a first radio frequency (RF) channel; means for receiving, from a second UWB device, an interference report indicating a second potential interference of the first RF channel detected by the second UWB device; means for determining a round hopping pattern for transmitting one or more UWB ranging messages between the first UWB device and the second UWB device based on the first potential interference and the second potential interference; and Means for sending a UWB ranging session configuration indicating the round hopping pattern to the second UWB device.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for detecting the first potential interference comprises code for: Means for detecting an interference pattern of said first potential interferer.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the interference report comprises a list of signal strength values ​​sampled at predetermined time intervals.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: Means for inactivating time slots of ranging rounds overlapping with the first potential interferer or the second potential interferer.

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