Positioning method, positioning device, terminal, network side equipment and readable storage medium

Abstract

The invention discloses a positioning method, a positioning device, a terminal, network side equipment and a computer readable storage medium, and belongs to the technical field of communication, the positioning method comprises the steps that a first terminal determines preset target time, and the target time is time for positioning the first terminal; the first terminal obtains a first position, and the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; wherein the first position is used for determining a third terminal in the plurality of second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used for positioning the first terminal. The third terminal is determined based on the first position, so that effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning can be guaranteed. Therefore, in the positioning process of the first terminal based on the preset time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connection can be avoided or reduced, and the positioning precision of the first terminal is further guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of communication technologies, and particularly relates to a positioning method, a positioning device, a terminal, a network-side device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] The positioning process includes: Phase 1: The positioning preparation phase, in which positioning request interaction, positioning capability interaction, auxiliary information interaction, etc. can be carried out in advance; Phase 2: The positioning execution phase, including positioning measurement, measurement result interaction, and positioning result interaction. The time delay of the conventional positioning process is: the sum of the durations of Phase 1 and Phase 2; the time delay of scheduled location is: the sum of the durations of Phase 2. It can be seen that scheduled location can reduce the time delay.

[0003] Among them, scheduled location means requesting the position of a certain terminal at a future moment. For scheduled location, the first terminal establishes a connection with the measurement node in advance to perform positioning on the first terminal based on the connection. However, the measurement phase participating in the positioning moves during the positioning process, resulting in the disconnection of the connection with the first terminal, which will affect the positioning accuracy of the first terminal or cause positioning failure. Therefore, in the process of performing scheduled location on the first terminal, how to improve the reliability or effectiveness of the connection is a problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An embodiment of this application provides a positioning method, which can improve the reliability and effectiveness of the connection and ensure the positioning accuracy of the first terminal during the process of performing scheduled location on the first terminal.

[0005] In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided, which is executed by a terminal. The method includes: The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; and, the first terminal obtains a first position, where the first position is the position of a second terminal at the target time; wherein, the first position is used to determine a third terminal among a plurality of the second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to perform positioning on the first terminal.

[0006] In a second aspect, a positioning method is provided, which is executed by a network-side device. The method includes: the network-side device sending a positioning request to a first terminal, where the positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; and the network-side device determining a third terminal from multiple second terminals according to a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; wherein, the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

[0007] In a third aspect, a positioning device is provided. The device includes: a first determination module and an acquisition module; wherein, the first determination module is configured to determine a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; and the acquisition module is configured to acquire a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; wherein, the first position is used to determine a third terminal from multiple second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a positioning device is provided. The device includes: a third sending module and a third determination module; wherein, the third sending module is configured to send a positioning request to a first terminal, where the positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; and the third determination module is configured to determine a third terminal from multiple second terminals according to a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; wherein, the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a terminal is provided. The terminal includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores a program or instruction that can run on the processor. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the positioning method provided in the first aspect are implemented.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a terminal is provided, including a processor and a communication interface. Wherein, the processor is configured to implement the steps of the positioning method provided in the first aspect when executed, and the communication interface is used to communicate with the network-side device.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a network-side device is provided. The network-side device includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores a program or instruction that can run on the processor. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the positioning method provided in the second aspect are implemented.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a network-side device is provided, including a processor and a communication interface. The processor is configured to implement the steps of the positioning method provided in the second aspect when executed, and the communication interface is configured to interact with a terminal device for information.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided. A program or instructions are stored on the readable storage medium, and when the program or instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the positioning method provided in the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the positioning method provided in the second aspect are implemented.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, including a terminal and a network-side device. The terminal can be used to implement the steps of the positioning method provided in the first aspect, and the network-side device can be used to implement the steps of the positioning method provided in the second aspect.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect, a chip is provided. The chip includes a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run a program or instructions to implement the positioning method provided in the first aspect, or to implement the positioning method provided in the second aspect.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided. The computer program / program product is stored in a storage medium, and the program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the positioning method as described in the first aspect, or to execute the positioning method provided in the second aspect.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, a first terminal determines a predetermined target time, which is the time when the first terminal will be positioned in the future. For example, the first terminal will be positioned at xx:xx:xx (30 seconds later). The first terminal also obtains the first position of a second terminal at the target time. Further, a third terminal is determined from multiple second terminals based on the first position of the second terminal. The communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal. Since the solution of the embodiment of the present application determines the third terminal based on the first position, it can ensure that there is an effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning. Thus, during the positioning process of the first terminal based on the predetermined time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connections can be avoided or reduced, and further the positioning accuracy of the first terminal can be guaranteed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 FIG. shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present application can be applied.

[0019] Figure 2A schematic block diagram showing an overall architecture of sidelink (SL) positioning to which embodiments of the present application can be applied.

[0020] Figure 3 A schematic flowchart showing a process of sidelink (SL) positioning to which embodiments of the present application can be applied.

[0021] Figure 4 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure 5 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Figure 6 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Figure 7 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0025] Figure 8 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] Figure 9 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] Figure 10 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] Figure 11 A schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Figure 12 A signaling flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 13 A signaling flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 14 A schematic structural diagram of a positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] Figure 15 A schematic structural diagram of a positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Figure 16 A schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Figure 17 A schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] Figure 18 A schematic structural diagram of a network-side device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] Figure 19 A schematic structural diagram of a network-side device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0037] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0038] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, rather than to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type, and the number of objects is not limited. For example, the first object can be one or multiple. In addition, "or" in the present application means at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three scenarios, namely, Scenario 1: including A and not including B; Scenario 2: including B and not including A; Scenario 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after.

[0039] The term "indication" in the present application can be either a direct indication (or an explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or an implicit indication). Among them, a direct indication can be understood as that the sender clearly tells the receiver specific information, operations to be performed, or request results, etc. in the sent indication; an indirect indication can be understood as that the receiver determines the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or makes a judgment and determines the operations to be performed or request results, etc. according to the judgment result.

[0040] It should be noted that the positioning technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, and can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as the global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes the New Radio (NR) system for example purposes, and the NR term is used in most of the following descriptions, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than the NR system, such as the 6th Generation (6 th Generation, 6G) communication system.

[0041] Figure 1 The block diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied is shown. Refer to Figure 1 , the wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12.

[0042] Among them, the terminal 11 can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device, a flight vehicle, a vehicle user equipment (VUE), a shipborne device, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication functions, such as refrigerators, TVs, washing machines, or furniture, etc.), a game console, a personal computer (PC), an automated teller machine, or a self-service machine, etc., which are terminal-side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart earphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart ankle chains, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle user equipment can also be referred to as a vehicle terminal, a vehicle controller, a vehicle module, a vehicle component, a vehicle chip, or a vehicle unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0043] The network-side device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device.

[0044] Among them, the access network device may also be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, a radio access network function, or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Point (AP), or a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) node, etc. Among them, the base station may be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), home Node B (HNB), home evolved Node B, Transmission Reception Point (TRP), or some other suitable term in the art. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical terms. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0045] The core network device may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: core network nodes, core network functions, Mobility Management Entity (MME), Location Management Function (LMF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), Edge Application Server Discovery Function (EASDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (L-NEF), Binding Support Function (BSF), Application Function (AF), etc. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, only the core network devices in the NR system are taken as examples for introduction, and the specific types of core network devices are not limited.but not limited to at least one of the following: core network node, core network function, Mobility Management Entity (MME), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), Edge Application Server Discovery Function (EASDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (L-NEF), Binding Support Function (BSF), Application Function (AF), etc. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, only the core network devices in the NR system are taken as examples for introduction, and the specific types of core network devices are not limited.

[0046] In this application, the network-side device 12 is used to locate the first terminal (any user terminal) or assist the first terminal in positioning, and can also store, manage, etc. the positioning results of user devices. The network-side device 12 includes, but is not limited to: a location server, a location service terminal (location server UE), a base station, an anchor terminal (anchor UE), or other types of network-side devices, other types of terminals. Taking the NR system as an example, the location server may be the LMF network element in the NR system, and the LMF network element is used to perform positioning calculations on user devices according to the measurement results of other network elements. The AMF network element stores, manages, etc. the positioning results of user devices. Among them, the subsequent evolution of NR positioning also considers sidelink (SL) positioning, and the absolute position, relative position of the first terminal or the ranging between the first terminal and the anchor terminal can be finally determined through the transmission of the SL positioning reference signal between the first terminal and the anchor terminal.

[0047] Figure 2 FIG. shows a schematic block diagram of an overall architecture of sidelink SL positioning to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. Refer to Figure 2 , SL positioning supports the positioning of UEs within network coverage (such as UE A and UE B in the figure) and the positioning of UEs outside network coverage (such as UE C and UE D in the figure).

[0048] In SL positioning, the sidelink positioning protocol (SLPP) messages between UEs only support unicast interaction. That is, before sending SLPP messages between terminals, a unicast connection needs to be established with a third terminal (such as at least one of a reference terminal anchorUE and a location service terminal server UE).

[0049] Figure 3 FIG. shows a schematic flowchart of sidelink SL positioning to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. Refer to Figure 3 , shows the SL positioning process under the SL mobile terminal location request (Mobile Terminated Location Request, MT-LR). Among them, MT-LR is the positioning requirement from a client outside the first terminal, and the first terminal to be SL positioned is a UE within network coverage. Refer to Figure 3 , the SL positioning process includes:

[0050] Step 1: The AMF sends a positioning request to the LMF, including the first terminal to be positioned, the positioning type (e.g., absolute positioning, relative positioning), the Quality of Service (QoS) of the positioning service, and the Application layer ID of the relevant UE.

[0051] Step 2: The LMF sends an SL-MT-LR request to UE1 (e.g., the first terminal to be positioned), including the positioning type and the Application layer ID of UE2 - UEn.

[0052] Step 3: UE1 performs a discovery process to discover nodes for assisting positioning (e.g., reference terminal anchor UE) and establishes an SL PC5 unicast connection.

[0053] Step 4: After establishing the unicast connection, UE1 and UE2 - UEn interact through SLPP capabilities to obtain SL positioning-related capabilities.

[0054] Step 5: UE1 feeds back the discovered third terminals UE2 - UEn and includes the SL positioning capabilities of UE2 - UEn obtained in Step 4.

[0055] Step 6: The LMF obtains the SL positioning capabilities of UE1 - UEn.

[0056] Step 7: Auxiliary information is exchanged among the LMF, UE1, and UE2 - UEn.

[0057] Step 8: At least one of the positioning measurement results and the positioning calculation results is exchanged among the LMF, UE1, and UE2 - UEn.

[0058] Step 9: The LMF feeds back the positioning result to the AMF.

[0059] Among them, the Scheduled location based on a preset time can reduce the positioning latency. It should be noted that the measurement node (terminal or radio network side device) needs to perform measurements as close as possible at the said predetermined time. Refer to Figure 3 , the positioning process includes: Phase 1: The positioning preparation phase, in which positioning request interaction, positioning capability interaction, and auxiliary information interaction can be carried out in advance; Phase 2: The positioning execution phase, including positioning measurement, measurement result interaction, and positioning result interaction. Conventional positioning request latency: the duration of Phase 1 + the duration of Phase 2; Positioning latency based on a predetermined time: the duration of Phase 2.

[0060] For the scheduled location at a predetermined time, that is, to request the location of the first terminal at a future moment, the first terminal may establish a unicast connection with the reference terminal / location service terminal in advance. However, the first terminal / reference terminal / location service terminal participating in the SL location may all move during the SL location process, resulting in the disconnection of the PC5 unicast connection. The disconnection of the unicast connection of the reference terminal may affect the positioning accuracy, and the disconnection of the unicast connection of the location service terminal may lead to the failure of the SL location. How to improve the effectiveness of the unicast connection and reduce / avoid establishing unnecessary unicast connections is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0061] The positioning solution provided by this application can solve the problems existing in the related art. Specifically, the first terminal determines a predetermined target time, which is the time when the first terminal will be located in the future. For example, the first terminal will be located at xx:xx:xx (30 seconds later). The first terminal also obtains the first location of the second terminal at the above target time. Further, based on the first location of the second terminal, a third terminal is determined among multiple second terminals. The communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the above target time is used to locate the first terminal. Since the solution of this application embodiment determines the third terminal based on the first location, it can ensure that there is an effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning. Thus, during the positioning process of the first terminal based on the predetermined time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connections can be avoided or reduced, and further the positioning accuracy of the first terminal can be guaranteed.

[0062] Next, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the positioning method provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail through some embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0063] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method P400 provided by an embodiment of this application. This positioning method P400 is applied to the first terminal. As Figure 4 shown, the positioning method P400 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0064] S410. The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be located.

[0065] In this embodiment, the above first terminal is the terminal to be located, for example, it can be a certain vehicle-mounted terminal. The above target time is the future time when the first terminal will be located. Exemplarily, mobile phone A needs to locate vehicle-mounted terminal B, and the specific positioning time is xx:(yy + 1):00 (the current time is xx:yy:00); that is to say, mobile phone A needs to obtain the positioning information of vehicle-mounted terminal B after 1 minute.

[0066] Exemplarily, the above target time can be obtained according to the Location Request LR for the first terminal. In the embodiments related to SL positioning, the Location Request LR for the first terminal may include: SL Mobile Terminal Location Request SL-MT-LR, and SL Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR). Among them, SL-MT-LR is the positioning time point indicated by the external application client in the positioning requirement; after the network-side device receives this positioning requirement SL-MT-LR, the positioning request sent to the first terminal may include the above positioning time point, that is, the target time described in this embodiment. SL-MO-LR is a location request actively initiated by the upper-layer application of the first terminal, and the positioning time point is indicated in this location request, that is, the target time described in this embodiment.

[0067] It should be noted that the above target time can be a certain time point or a certain time period, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0068] S420. The first terminal obtains a first location, where the first location is the location of the second terminal at the target time; among them, the first location is used to determine a third terminal among multiple second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to locate the first terminal.

[0069] In this embodiment, the above second terminal is a terminal discovered by the first terminal based on the terminal discovery process, specifically other devices that may be used to assist the first terminal in positioning; among them, the above second terminal may include, for example, a reference terminal anchor UE and a positioning service terminal server UE. The above third terminal is the second terminal actually used to assist the first terminal in positioning determined by screening the above second terminal

[0070] Exemplarily, when the first terminal supports the 5G ProSe function, other terminals can be discovered through the Model A discovery process and the Model B discovery process. Among them, the Model A discovery process includes a single discovery message (Announcement), and the Model B discovery process includes two discovery messages (Solicitation and Response). When the first terminal supporting the 5G ProSe function supports the V2X function, other terminals can be discovered through the unicast connection establishment process.

[0071] For example, in the Model Adiscovery process, the first terminal (e.g., UE1) broadcasts a ranging / sl positioning announcement message, which includes the public land mobile network (PLMN) of the serving cell of UE1 and the application layer ID, and indicates its UE type (e.g., in the embodiments of the present application, the first terminal is the terminal to be located) through the metadata of the ranging / sl positioning protocol (RSPP). Similarly, the second terminal (e.g., UE2) also broadcasts a ranging / sl positioning announcement message, which includes the PLMN of the serving cell of UE2 and the application layer ID, and indicates its UE type (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata. Thus, the first terminal supporting the 5G ProSe function can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through ModelAdiscovery.

[0072] For example, in the Model B discovery process, step 1: The first terminal (e.g., UE1) broadcasts a ranging / sl positioning solicitation message, which includes the application layer ID of UE1, and indicates the UE type to be discovered (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata; step 2: The UEs in UE2 - UEn feedback a ranging / sl positioning response message according to the UE type required in the RSPP metadata information. Thus, the first terminal can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through Model Bdiscovery.

[0073] Another example is in the unicast connection establishment process. The first terminal (e.g., UE1) indicates in the direct communication request message that the V2X service information is "Ranging / Sidelink Positioning", and indicates the UE type to be discovered (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata. Thus, the first terminal supporting the V2X function can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through the unicast connection establishment process.

[0074] In this embodiment, the above first position is the position where the second terminal may appear at the target time.

[0075] In an exemplary embodiment, the above first position of the second terminal can be determined by means of UE trajectory prediction. Specifically, the base station can infer UE trajectory prediction based on the UE's location-related information (such as mobility history information), and can interact the UE trajectory prediction information among base stations. Among them, the UE trajectory prediction information may include the predicted serving / residing cell ID and the serving / residing duration on this cell.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, a drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV) terminal supports sending planned path information to the network, including the waypoints of the planned path and the corresponding planned arrival times (timeStamp). Therefore, in the case where the second terminal is a UAV terminal, the above first position can also be determined in this way.

[0077] Similarly, the position of the first terminal at the target time (denoted as the second position) can also be determined by the above embodiment.

[0078] After determining the respective first positions of each second terminal and its own second position, the first terminal can determine the second terminals whose distance and positional relationship between the first position and the second position meet the communication connection requirements, and determine the second terminals that meet the requirements as the above third terminals. Since the first position of the third terminal at the target time meets the communication requirements with the second position of the target node at the target time, the phenomenon that the connection between the measurement node and the first terminal is disconnected during the scheduled location provided by the related art can be reduced or avoided. Thus, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can improve the reliability and effectiveness of the connection and ensure the positioning accuracy of the first terminal.

[0079] In an exemplary embodiment, in order to further improve the positioning efficiency of the first terminal, after determining the third terminal among multiple second terminals, the first terminal screens the third terminal according to factors such as the positional relationship between the third terminals and the positional relationship between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time. For example, at the target time, if the third terminal A, the third terminal B, and the first terminal are on the same straight line, since the positional relationship is not conducive to positioning the first terminal, the third terminal A or the third terminal B can be screened out. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the first terminal establishes a communication connection with the screened third terminal, which is beneficial to ensuring the positioning accuracy and reducing invalid connections. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of the screened third terminals. For example, it can be one or more. Exemplarily, in the case of a lower positioning accuracy requirement, the SL positioning of the first terminal can be achieved through one third terminal, and in the case of a higher positioning accuracy requirement, the SL positioning of the first terminal can be achieved through at least two third terminals.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, as described above, positioning based on a preset time is beneficial to reducing positioning latency. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, before the above target time, the first terminal obtains the positioning assistance information of the third terminal through a unicast connection, and further sends its own positioning assistance information and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device. Or, before the above target time, the first terminal obtains the positioning assistance information of the third terminal through a unicast connection, and further sends the positioning assistance information of the third terminal as a positioning response to the network-side device. For example, when the LMF sends a positioning request to the first terminal, the first terminal sends the above positioning assistance information positioning response to the LMF. Thus, the network-side device can perform SL positioning on the first terminal according to the received positioning assistance information. By interacting the positioning-related information before actual positioning, the positioning time consumption is saved. That is, at the target time, information interaction is performed among the first terminal, the third terminal, and the network-side device to perform sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal.

[0081] Figure 5 It is a flowchart of a positioning method P500 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the first terminal is the execution subject. Specifically, the first terminal executes the Model A discovery process to obtain the above first position, and the first terminal determines the above third terminal, and further performs SL positioning on the first terminal. As Figure 5 shown, the positioning method P500 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0082] S510. The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when sidelink SL positioning will be performed on the first terminal.

[0083] If the first terminal above is the vehicle-mounted terminal X to be located, for example, the vehicle-mounted terminal X may send a positioning request to the network-side device, such as the AMF. In this embodiment, the AMF receives the positioning requirement sent by the vehicle-mounted terminal X and sends the positioning requirement to the LMF, which may include the scheduled location time, that is, to request the location of the vehicle-mounted terminal X at a future moment; further, in the SL-MO-LR positioning request sent by the LMF to the vehicle-mounted terminal X, the above-mentioned scheduled location time is included. In this embodiment, the first terminal may indicate the scheduled location time, that is, the above-mentioned target time, in the positioning requirement according to the upper-layer application; the first terminal may also determine the above-mentioned target time according to the information included in the SL-MO-LR positioning request.

[0084] In another exemplary embodiment, the mobile phone A needs to locate the vehicle-mounted terminal B. The mobile phone A may send a positioning request SL-MT-LR to the network-side device AMF. In this embodiment, the AMF receives the positioning requirement sent by the mobile phone A and sends the positioning request to the LMF, which may include the scheduled location time, that is, to request the location of the vehicle-mounted terminal X at a future moment; further, in the SL-MT-LR positioning request sent by the LMF to the vehicle-mounted terminal X, the above-mentioned scheduled location time is included. In this embodiment, the first terminal may also determine the above-mentioned target time according to the information included in the SL-MT-LR positioning request.

[0085] S520. The first terminal determines a first location according to the first message sent by the second terminal.

[0086] For example, the above-mentioned first message may be a message sent by the terminal in a broadcast manner. Among them, the above-mentioned first message includes at least one of the following information: the target time, the first location of each second terminal itself, and the residence duration of the second terminal at its respective first location. For example, the above-mentioned first message may include the first location and the target time. For example: UE2, location a, target time point x, indicating that the second terminal UE2 is at location a at the target time point x. For example, the above-mentioned first message may include the first location and the residence duration of the second terminal at the first location. For example: UE3, location a, stopped for duration s, indicating that the second terminal UE3 is at location a at the target time point x and will stay for duration s.

[0087] For example, when only the target time is included in the first message broadcast by the second terminal, the first terminal may obtain the first location of the corresponding second terminal at the target time through methods such as UE trajectory prediction and path planning.

[0088] In this embodiment, the above first position can be determined based on the following terminal discovery process:

[0089] The second terminal (e.g., UE2 - UEn) indicates at least one of the following in the Ranging / SL Positioning Announcement message:

[0090] (1) The first position of the second terminal itself, which can be represented by one of the following:

[0091] Absolute position, such as longitude and latitude; serving / residing cell ID, such as NCGI, PCI;

[0092] (2) The timestamp of the target time, which can be represented by one of the following:

[0093] Absolute time, such as the current time of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); system time, such as at least one of frame, sub - frame, symbol, time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization);

[0094] (3) The residence duration of the second terminal at its respective first position, which can be represented by one of the following:

[0095] Absolute duration, such as seconds, milliseconds; system duration, such as frame, sub - frame, symbol, time slot.

[0096] It can be understood that the above first message further includes: the serving cell PLMN and Application layer ID of the second terminal, and the UE type (such as reference terminal, positioning server terminal) indicating itself through RSPP metadata.

[0097] S530. The first terminal determines a reference terminal from multiple second terminals according to the first position.

[0098] The first terminal (e.g., UE1) screens the second terminal (e.g., UE2-UEn) according to the location information of the second terminal at the scheduled location time. The first terminal may determine, as the third terminal, a second terminal whose distance and positional relationship between the first position and the second position meet the communication connection requirements. Since the communication requirements are met between the first position of the third terminal at the target time and the second position of the target node at the target time, the phenomenon of disconnection of the connection between the measurement node and the first terminal during the scheduled location process provided by the related art can be reduced or avoided. Therefore, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can improve the reliability and effectiveness of the connection and ensure the positioning accuracy of the first terminal.

[0099] Among them, when the target time is a time point, screening can be performed according to the first position of the second terminal in the time period including this time point. For example, the target time is: 2023-12-20-20-00-00, and the third terminal is determined according to the first position of the second terminal in the time period from 2023-12-20-19-59-00 to 2023-12-20-20-01-00.

[0100] S540. The first terminal establishes a unicast link with the third terminal to perform SL positioning of the first terminal at the target time based on the unicast connection.

[0101] Exemplarily, the first terminal establishes a PC5 unicast connection with the determined reference terminal. Thus, messages are exchanged among the first terminal, the third terminal, and the network-side device LMF to complete the SL positioning of the first terminal.

[0102] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of a positioning method P600 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the first terminal is the execution subject. Specifically, the first terminal executes Model A discovery to obtain the above-mentioned first position, and the network-side device determines the above-mentioned third terminal, and further performs SL positioning on the first terminal. As Figure 6 shown, the positioning method P600 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0103] S610. The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time for performing sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal.

[0104] In the embodiment provided by method P600, the network-side device determines the third terminal. The specific implementation of S610 is basically the same as that of S510. The difference is that in the SL-MT-LR positioning request sent by the network-side device LMF to the first terminal, it includes not only the above-mentioned target time, but also a location request indication of the second terminal associated with the target time.

[0105] S620. The first terminal determines the first location according to the first message sent by the second terminal.

[0106] The specific implementation of S620 is the same as that of S520 and will not be elaborated here.

[0107] S630. The first terminal sends the first location to the network-side device.

[0108] The first terminal (e.g., UE1) sends the location information of UE2 - UEn at the target time (scheduled location time) to the network-side device (e.g., LMF), and the network-side device screens the second terminal. Specifically, the network-side device can determine the above-mentioned third terminal as the second terminal whose distance and positional relationship between the first location and the second location meet the communication connection requirements. Since the first location of the third terminal at the target time meets the communication requirements with the second location of the target node at the target time, the phenomenon of disconnection between the measurement node and the first terminal during the scheduled location process provided by the related technology can be reduced or avoided. Thus, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can improve the reliability and effectiveness of the connection and ensure the positioning accuracy of the first terminal.

[0109] Among them, when the target time is a time point, the network-side device can screen according to the first location of the second terminal in the time period including this time point. For example, the target time is: 2023 - 12 - 20 - 20 - 00 - 00, and the third terminal is determined according to the first location of the second terminal in the time period from 2023 - 12 - 20 - 19 - 59 - 00 to 2023 - 12 - 20 - 20 - 01 - 00.

[0110] Since the computing power of the network-side device is relatively strong, determining the first terminal among the auxiliary terminals by the network-side device is beneficial to improving the positioning efficiency.

[0111] S640. The first terminal establishes a unicast link with the third terminal to implement SL positioning of the first terminal at the target time based on the unicast connection.

[0112] Exemplarily, after the network-side device determines the third terminal, it may send a target message to the first terminal. The target message may be the identifier of the determined third terminal, and the target message may also be a message instructing the first terminal to obtain positioning assistance information of the third terminal. Thus, the first terminal may establish a unicast connection with the third terminal according to the identifier of the third terminal included in the above target information.

[0113] The specific implementation manner of the first terminal establishing a unicast connection with the third terminal in S640 is the same as that in S540, and will not be elaborated here.

[0114] Figure 7 It is a flowchart of a positioning method P700 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the first terminal is the execution subject. Specifically, the first terminal executes the Model B discovery or unicast connection discovery process to obtain the above first position, and the network-side device determines the above third terminal, and further performs SL positioning on the first terminal. As Figure 7 shown, the positioning method P700 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0115] S710: The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time for performing sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal.

[0116] The specific implementation manner of S710 is the same as that in S610, and will not be elaborated here.

[0117] S720: The first terminal sends a first request message, where the first request message includes the target time and a first request indication, and the first request indication is a position request indication for the second terminal at the target time; and S730: The first terminal receives a first response message returned by the second terminal and determines the first position according to the first response message.

[0118] In an exemplary embodiment: The above first position may be determined by means of Model B discovery:

[0119] S720-1: The first terminal UE1 indicates the above target time in the Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation message through RSPP metadata, and also includes a second terminal position request indication associated with the target time.

[0120] In this embodiment, the first request message is a SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message, and the target time and the first request indication can be indicated by the first RSPP metadata. The second terminal position request indication associated with the target time is used to request the second terminal that receives this message to feedback its first position at the target time.

[0121] Exemplarily, the time stamp of the above target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0122] Absolute time, such as UTC time; system time, such as at least one of frame, sub-frame, symbol, time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0123] S720-2: The reference terminal UE2-UEn that receives the SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message reads the first RSPP metadata (RSPP metadata) to obtain the above target time and the first request indication, optionally feedbacks a Ranging / SL Positioning Response message, and includes the first position associated with the above target time of the second terminal in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0124] In this embodiment, the first response message is a SL positioning response (Ranging / SL Positioning Response) message. The SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the above first position.

[0125] In another exemplary embodiment: The above first position can be determined by the unicast connection establishment method:

[0126] S720-1’: In the Direct Communication Request message, the first terminal UE1 indicates the above target time through the RSPP metadata, and also includes the second terminal position request indication associated with the target time.

[0127] In this embodiment, the first request message is a direct communication request (Direct Communication Request) message, and the target time and the first request indication can be indicated by the first RSPP metadata. The second terminal position request indication associated with the target time is used to request the second terminal that receives this message to feedback its first position at the target time.

[0128] Exemplarily, the timestamp of the above target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0129] Absolute time, such as UTC time; system time, such as at least one of a frame, a subframe, a symbol, and a time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0130] S720-2’: The reference terminal UE2-UEn that receives the Direct Communication Request message reads the first RSPP metadata to obtain the above target time and the first request indication, optionally feeds back the Direct Communication Accept message, and includes the first position associated with the above target time of the second terminal in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0131] In this embodiment, the first response message is a Direct Communication Accept message, and the SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, which includes the above first position.

[0132] S740. The first terminal sends the first position to the network-side device.

[0133] The specific implementation manner of S740 is the same as that of S630, and will not be described herein again.

[0134] S750. The first terminal establishes a unicast link with the third terminal to perform SL positioning on the first terminal based on the unicast connection at the target time.

[0135] The specific implementation manner of S750 is the same as that of S640, and will not be described herein again.

[0136] Figure 8 It is a flowchart of a positioning method P800 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the first terminal is the execution subject. Specifically, the first terminal executes the Model B discovery or unicast connection discovery process to obtain the above first position, and the first terminal determines the above third terminal, and further performs SL positioning on the first terminal. As Figure 8 shown, the positioning method P800 provided by this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0137] S810. The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when SL positioning will be performed on the above first terminal.

[0138] The specific implementation manner of S810 is the same as that of S510, and will not be described herein again.

[0139] S820. The first terminal sends a first request message, which includes a target time and a first request indication. The first request indication is an indication for requesting the position of the second terminal at the target time; and, S830. The first terminal receives a first response message returned by the second terminal and determines a first position according to the first response message.

[0140] In an exemplary embodiment, the above first position can be determined by means of Model B discovery:

[0141] S820-1: In the Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation message, the first terminal UE1 indicates the above target time and the second terminal position request indication associated with the target time through the RSPP metadata.

[0142] In this embodiment, the above first request message is a SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message, and the above target time and the first request indication can be indicated by the first RSPP metadata. Among them, the second terminal position request indication associated with the target time is used to request the second terminal that receives this message to feedback its first position at the target time.

[0143] Exemplarily, the timestamp of the above target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0144] Absolute time, such as UTC time; system time, such as at least one of a frame, a subframe, a symbol, and a time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0145] S820-2: The reference terminals UE2-UEn that receive the SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message read the first RSPP metadata (RSPP metadata) to obtain the above target time and the first request indication, optionally feedback a Ranging / SL Positioning Response message, and include the first position associated with the above target time of the second terminal in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0146] In this embodiment, the first response message is a SL positioning response (Ranging / SL Positioning Response) message. The SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the above first position.

[0147] In another exemplary embodiment, the above-mentioned first position can be determined by means of establishing a unicast connection:

[0148] S820-1’: In the Direct Communication Request message, the first terminal UE1 indicates the above-mentioned target time and the second terminal location request indication associated with the target time through RSPP metadata.

[0149] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned first request message is a Direct Communication Request message, and the above-mentioned target time and the above-mentioned first request indication are indicated by the first RSPP metadata. Among them, the second terminal location request indication associated with the target time is used to request the second terminal that receives this message to feedback its first position at the target time.

[0150] Exemplarily, the time stamp of the above-mentioned target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0151] Absolute time, such as UTC time; system time, such as at least one of a frame, a sub-frame, a symbol, and a time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0152] S820-2’: The reference terminals UE2-UEn that receive the Direct Communication Request message read the first RSPP metadata (RSPP metadata) to obtain the above-mentioned target time and the first request indication, optionally feedback a Direct Communication Accept message, and include the first position associated with the above-mentioned target time of the second terminal in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0153] In this embodiment, the first response message is a Direct Communication Accept message, and the SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the above-mentioned first position.

[0154] S840. The first terminal determines a third terminal from multiple second terminals according to the first position.

[0155] The specific implementation manner of S840 is the same as that of S530, and will not be elaborated here.

[0156] S850. The first terminal establishes a unicast link with the third terminal to implement SL positioning of the first terminal at the target time based on the unicast connection.

[0157] The specific implementation of S850 is the same as that of S640, and will not be elaborated here.

[0158] Figure 9 The figure is a flowchart of a positioning method P900 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the first terminal is the execution subject. Specifically, the first terminal executes the Model B discovery or unicast connection discovery process to obtain the above-mentioned first position, and the first terminal determines the above-mentioned third terminal, and further performs SL positioning on the first terminal. As Figure 9 shown, the positioning method P900 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0159] S910: The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the sidelink SL positioning will be performed on the first terminal.

[0160] The specific implementation of S910 is the same as that of S510, and will not be elaborated here.

[0161] S920: The first terminal sends a second request message, and the second request message includes the target time and location requirement information, and the location requirement information is related to the second position of the first terminal at the target time; and, S930: The first terminal receives the second response information returned by the second terminal, and determines the first position according to the second response information.

[0162] In an exemplary embodiment: The above-mentioned first position can be determined by means of Model B discovery:

[0163] S920-1: In the Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation message, the first terminal UE1 indicates the above-mentioned target time through the RSPP metadata, and also includes the second terminal location requirement information associated with the target time. Among them, the second terminal location requirement information associated with the target time can be represented by one of the following: the range defined by the absolute position; the serving cell ID (for example, it can be a single serving cell or a list of serving cells); the resident cell ID (for example, it can be a single resident cell or a list of resident cells).

[0164] In this embodiment, the second request message is a SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message, and the target time and the location requirement information can be indicated by the third RSPP metadata. The location requirement information associated with the target time of the second terminal is used to indicate that the first location of the second terminal needs to meet a preset requirement. Exemplarily, the preset requirement may be that the distance from the first location of the second terminal to the target preset location of the first terminal at the target time does not exceed a preset length. For example, if the target preset location of the first terminal at the target time is A, the above preset requirement may be that the distance between the first location of the second terminal and A does not exceed 500 meters, etc.

[0165] Exemplarily, the timestamp of the above target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0166] Absolute time, such as UTC time; system time, such as at least one of frame, sub-frame, symbol, and time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0167] S920-2: The reference terminals UE2-UEn that receive the SL positioning request (Ranging / SL Positioning Solicitation) message read the third RSPP metadata (RSPP metadata) to obtain the above target time and the above location requirement information. The second terminal that meets the above location requirement information optionally feeds back a Ranging / SL Positioning Response message. Exemplarily, the first location associated with the above target time of the second terminal may also be included in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0168] In this embodiment, the second response message is a SL positioning response (Ranging / SL Positioning Response) message, and the SL positioning response message includes fourth RSPP metadata, and the fourth RSPP metadata includes the above first location.

[0169] In another exemplary embodiment: The above first location can be determined by the unicast connection establishment method:

[0170] S920-1’: In the Direct Communication Request message, the first terminal UE1 indicates the above-mentioned target time through the RSPP metadata, and also includes the second terminal location requirement information associated with the target time. The second terminal location requirement information associated with the target time can be represented by one of the following: the range defined by the absolute position; the serving cell ID (for example, it can be a single serving cell or a list of serving cells); the resident cell ID (for example, it can be a single resident cell or a list of resident cells).

[0171] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned second request message is a Direct Communication Request message, and the above-mentioned target time and the above-mentioned location requirement information can be indicated by the third RSPP metadata. The second terminal location requirement information associated with the target time is used to indicate that the first position of the second terminal needs to meet the preset requirements. Exemplarily, the preset requirement can be that the distance from the target preset position of the first terminal at the target time does not exceed the preset length. For example, if the target preset position of the first terminal at the target time is A, then the above-mentioned preset requirement can be that the distance between the first position of the second terminal and A does not exceed 500 meters, etc.

[0172] Exemplarily, the timestamp of the above-mentioned target time can be represented by one of the following:

[0173] Absolute time, such as Coordinated Universal Time (CUT); system time, such as at least one of frame, sub-frame, symbol, and time slot, with the synchronization time broadcast by the terminal as a reference (such as global navigation satellite system time synchronization or serving cell time synchronization).

[0174] S920-2’: The reference terminals UE2-UEn that receive the Direct Communication Request message read the third RSPP metadata (RSPP metadata) to obtain the above-mentioned target time and the above-mentioned location requirement information. The second terminal that meets the above-mentioned location requirement information optionally feeds back a Direct Communication Accept message. Exemplarily, the first position associated with the above-mentioned target time of the second terminal can also be included in the RSPP metadata in the feedback message.

[0175] In this embodiment, the second response message is a Direct Communication Accept message, and the SL positioning response message includes the fourth RSPP metadata, which includes the above-mentioned first position.

[0176] S940. The first terminal determines a third terminal from multiple second terminals according to the first location.

[0177] The specific implementation of S940 is the same as that of S530 and will not be elaborated here.

[0178] S950. The first terminal establishes a unicast link with the third terminal to implement SL positioning of the first terminal at the target time based on the unicast connection.

[0179] The specific implementation of S950 is the same as that of S640 and will not be elaborated here.

[0180] Figure 10 This is a flowchart of a positioning method P1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the network-side device is the execution subject of the method P1000. As Figure 10 shown, the positioning method P1000 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0181] S1010. The network-side device sends a positioning request to the first terminal. The positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned.

[0182] In an exemplary embodiment, the network-side device may specifically be an LMF, and then the above positioning request may be sent by the LMF to the first terminal. Exemplarily, the above network-side device further includes an AMF. The above first terminal is the terminal to be positioned. For example, it may be a certain vehicle-mounted terminal. The above target time is the future time when the first terminal will be positioned. Exemplarily, mobile phone A needs to position vehicle-mounted terminal B, and the specific positioning time is xx hours (yy + 1) minutes 00 seconds (the current time is xx hours yy minutes 00 seconds); that is to say, mobile phone A needs to obtain the positioning information of vehicle-mounted terminal B after 1 minute.

[0183] In one embodiment, the AMF receives the positioning requirement sent by vehicle-mounted terminal X and sends the positioning requirement to the LMF, which may include the scheduled location time, that is, requests the position of vehicle-mounted terminal X at a future moment; further, in the SL-MO-LR positioning request sent by the LMF to vehicle-mounted terminal X, the above target time (scheduled location time) is included. It can be seen that in this embodiment, the above target time can be notified to the first terminal by setting the above target time in the SL-MO-LR positioning request. Of course, in this embodiment, the first terminal can indicate the positioning time point, that is, the above target time, according to the upper-layer application in the positioning requirement.

[0184] In another exemplary embodiment, mobile phone A needs to locate vehicle-mounted terminal B. Mobile phone A can send a positioning request SL-MT-LR to network-side device AMF. In this embodiment, AMF receives the positioning requirement sent by mobile phone A and sends the positioning requirement to LMF, which may include the scheduled location time, that is, requests the location of vehicle-mounted terminal X at a future moment. Further, in the SL-MT-LR positioning request sent by LMF to vehicle-mounted terminal X, the above-mentioned scheduled location time is included. It can be seen that in this embodiment, by setting the above-mentioned target time in the SL-MT-LR positioning request, the first terminal is notified of the above-mentioned target time.

[0185] It should be noted that the above-mentioned target time can be a certain time point or a certain time period, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0186] S1020. The network-side device determines a third terminal among multiple second terminals according to the first location, where the first location is the location of the second terminal at the target time; among them, the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to locate the first terminal.

[0187] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned second terminal is a terminal discovered by the first terminal based on the discovery process, specifically other devices that may be used to assist the first terminal in positioning; among them, the above-mentioned second terminal may include, for example, a reference terminal anchor UE and a positioning service terminal server UE. The above-mentioned third terminal is the second terminal actually used to assist the first terminal in positioning determined by screening the above-mentioned second terminal.

[0188] Exemplarily, when the above-mentioned first terminal supports the 5G ProSe function, other terminals can be discovered through the Model A discovery process and the Model B discovery process. Among them, the Model A discovery process includes a single discovery message (Announcement), and the Model B discovery process includes two discovery messages (Solicitation and Response). When the first terminal supporting the 5G ProSe function supports the V2X function, other terminals can be discovered through the unicast connection establishment process.

[0189] For example, in the Model A discovery process, the first terminal (e.g., UE1) broadcasts a ranging / sidelink positioning announcement message, which includes the public land mobile network (PLMN) of the serving cell of UE1 and the application layer ID, and indicates its UE type (e.g., in the embodiments of this application, the first terminal is the terminal to be located) through the RSPP metadata. Similarly, the second terminal (e.g., UE2) also broadcasts a ranging / sidelink positioning announcement message, which includes the PLMN of the serving cell of UE2 and the application layer ID, and indicates its UE type (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata. Thus, the first terminal supporting the 5G ProSe function can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through Model A discovery.

[0190] For example, in the Model B discovery process, step 1: The first terminal (e.g., UE1) broadcasts a ranging / sidelink positioning solicitation message, which includes the application layer ID of UE1, and indicates the UE type to be discovered (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata; step 2: The UEs in UE2 - UEn feedback a ranging / sidelink positioning response message according to the UE type required in the RSPP metadata information. Thus, the first terminal can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through Model B discovery.

[0191] For another example, in the unicast connection establishment process, the first terminal (e.g., UE1) indicates in the direct communication request message that the V2X service information is "Ranging / Sidelink Positioning", and indicates the UE type to be discovered (e.g., reference terminal, positioning server terminal) through the RSPP metadata. Thus, the first terminal supporting the V2X function can determine the above-mentioned second terminal through the unicast connection establishment process.

[0192] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned first position is the position where the second terminal may appear at the target time.

[0193] In an exemplary embodiment, the above-mentioned first position of the second terminal may be determined by predicting the UE trajectory. Specifically, the base station may infer the UE trajectory prediction based on the UE location-related information (e.g., mobility history information), and may interact the UE trajectory prediction information among the base stations. The UE trajectory prediction information may include the predicted serving / residing cell ID and the serving / residing duration on the cell.

[0194] In an exemplary embodiment, a drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV) terminal supports sending planned path information to the network, including the waypoints of the planned path and the corresponding planned arrival times (timeStamp). Therefore, when the second terminal is a UAV terminal, the above-mentioned first position may also be determined in this way.

[0195] Similarly, the position of the first terminal at the target time (denoted as the second position) may also be determined by the above embodiments.

[0196] Since the computing power of the network-side device is relatively strong, determining the first terminal in the auxiliary terminal by the network-side device is beneficial to improving the positioning efficiency. Specifically, the network-side device may receive the first positions of each second terminal sent by the first terminal and the second position of the first terminal itself. Further, the network-side device may determine the second terminal whose distance and positional relationship between the first position and the second position meet the communication connection requirements, and determine the second terminal that meets the requirements as the above-mentioned third terminal.

[0197] Exemplarily, after the network-side device determines the third terminal, it may send a target message to the first terminal. The target message may be the identifier of the determined third terminal, and the above-mentioned target message may also be a message instructing the first terminal to obtain the positioning assistance information of the third terminal. Thus, the first terminal may establish a unicast connection with the third terminal according to the identifier of the third terminal included in the above-mentioned target information.

[0198] Since the first position of the third terminal at the target time meets the communication requirements with the second position of the target node at the target time, the phenomenon that the connection between the measurement node and the first terminal is disconnected during the scheduled location provided by the related art can be reduced or avoided. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can improve the reliability and effectiveness of the connection and ensure the positioning accuracy of the first terminal.

[0199] In an exemplary embodiment, when the target time is a time point, the network-side device may perform screening based on the first position of the second terminal within a time period including this time point. For example, if the target time is 2023-12-20-20-00-00, the third terminal is determined according to the first position of the second terminal within the time period from 2023-12-20-19-59-00 to 2023-12-20-20-01-00.

[0200] In an exemplary embodiment, in order to further improve the positioning efficiency of the first terminal, after the network-side device determines the third terminal among multiple second terminals, it may further screen the third terminal based on factors such as the positional relationship between the third terminals at the target time, the positional relationship between the third terminal and the first terminal, etc. For example, at the target time, if the third terminal A, the third terminal B, and the first terminal are on the same straight line, and the positional relationship is not conducive to positioning the first terminal, the third terminal A or the third terminal B may be screened out. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the first terminal establishes a communication connection with the screened third terminal, which is beneficial to both ensuring the positioning accuracy and reducing invalid connections. It should be noted that the number of the screened third terminals is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, and may be one or multiple, for example.

[0201] Figure 11 It is a flowchart of a positioning method P1100 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, the execution entity is the network-side device, and this embodiment provides a scheduled location solution based on a preset time. As Figure 11 shown, the positioning method P1100 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0202] S1110. The network-side device sends a positioning request to the first terminal. The positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned.

[0203] The specific implementation manner of S1110 is the same as that of S1010, and will not be elaborated here.

[0204] S1120. The network-side device determines the third terminal among multiple second terminals according to the first position, and the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time.

[0205] The specific implementation manner of S1120 is the same as that of S1020, and will not be elaborated here.

[0206] S1130. Before the target time, the network-side device receives positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal; and S1140. At the target time, the network-side device performs sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal according to the above positioning assistance information.

[0207] In an exemplary embodiment, as described above, positioning based on a preset time helps reduce positioning latency. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, before the above target time, the network-side device receives positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal. The positioning assistance information includes: positioning assistance information of the third terminal, or the positioning assistance information includes: positioning assistance information of the first terminal and positioning assistance information of the third terminal. For example, when the network-side device is an LMF, the LMF receives the positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal. Thus, the network-side device can perform SL positioning on the first terminal according to the positioning assistance information. By interacting with positioning-related information before actual positioning, the positioning time is saved. That is, at the target time, information is exchanged among the first terminal, the third terminal, and the network-side device to perform sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal.

[0208] Figure 12 It is a signaling flowchart of a positioning method P1200 provided by the embodiments of the present application. It describes the signaling interaction among the first terminal, the network-side device, and the second terminal during the positioning process. As Figure 12 shown, the positioning method P1200 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0209] Step 0: The AMF receives a positioning requirement and sends a positioning request to the LMF, which may include the target time (scheduled location time), that is, requests the location of the first terminal at a future moment.

[0210] Step 1: The LMF includes the above target time in the SL-MT-LR positioning request sent to the first terminal UE1.

[0211] Step 2: The first terminal UE1 performs a discovery process. And, Step 3: The first terminal UE1 selects a suitable reference terminal.

[0212] Among them, the specific implementation manners of Step 2 and Step 3 can refer to: the embodiments corresponding to S520 and S530, the embodiments corresponding to S820 to S840, or the embodiments corresponding to S920 to S940.

[0213] Step 4: If the first terminal executes model A discovery or model B discovery in Step 2, the first terminal UE1 establishes a PC5 unicast connection with the selected third terminal; if the first terminal executes a unicast connection discovery process in Step 2, the first terminal UE1 establishes a PC5 unicast connection with the selected third terminal during the discovery process.

[0214] Step 5: The first terminal UE1 and the third terminal perform ranging positioning SLPP capability interaction.

[0215] Step 6: The first terminal UE1 sends an SL-MT-LR response to the network side LMF.

[0216] Step 7: At least one of the positioning measurement results and the positioning calculation results is interacted between the network side device LMF, the first terminal UE1, and the third terminal.

[0217] Through Steps 5 - 7, messages are interacted between the first terminal UE1, the network side device LMF, and the third terminal, and the SL positioning of the first terminal UE1 is completed.

[0218] Figure 12 In the embodiment of the positioning method P1200 shown, the third terminal is determined by the first terminal, and the process of performing SL positioning based on the third terminal. Specifically, the first terminal determines a predetermined target time, which is the time when the first terminal will be positioned in the future. For example, the first terminal is positioned at xx:xx:xx (30 seconds later). The first terminal also obtains the first position of the second terminal at the above target time. Further, the first terminal determines the third terminal from multiple second terminals based on the first position of the second terminal. The communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the above target time is used to position the first terminal. Since the embodiment of the positioning method P1200 determines the third terminal based on the first position, it can ensure that there is an effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning. Thus, during the positioning process of the first terminal based on the predetermined time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connections can be avoided or reduced, and further the positioning accuracy of the first terminal can be guaranteed.

[0219] Figure 13 It is a signaling flowchart of a positioning method P1300 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The signaling interaction between the first terminal, the network side device, and the second terminal during the positioning process is described therein. As Figure 13 shown, the positioning method P1300 provided in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0220] Step 0: The AMF receives a positioning requirement and sends a positioning request to the LMF, which may include a target time (scheduled location time), that is, requests the position of the first terminal at a future moment.

[0221] Step 1: In the SL-MT-LR positioning request sent by the LMF to the first terminal UE1, the above target time and a position request indication of the second terminal associated with the above target time are included.

[0222] Step 2: The first terminal UE1 performs a discovery process. Step 3: The first terminal UE1 sends an SL-MT-LR response to the network-side LMF, including the first location information of the second terminal at the target time. Also, Step 4: The network-side device LMF determines the third terminal as the server.

[0223] Among them, the specific implementation manners of Steps 2 to 4 can refer to: the corresponding embodiments of S620 and S630 in the embodiments of Method P600, and the corresponding embodiments of S720 to S740 in the embodiments of Method P700.

[0224] Step 5: The network-side device obtains ranging and positioning information.

[0225] Step 6: Establish a communication connection between the first terminal UE1 and the third terminal. If the first terminal performs model A discovery or model B discovery in Step 2, the first terminal UE1 establishes a PC5 unicast connection with the selected third terminal; if the first terminal performs a unicast connection discovery process in Step 2, the first terminal UE1 establishes a PC5 unicast connection with the selected third terminal during the discovery process.

[0226] Step 7: Transmit ranging and positioning SLPP information between the first terminal UE1 and the third terminal.

[0227] Through Steps 5 - 7, messages are exchanged among the first terminal UE1, the network-side device LMF, and the third terminal to complete the SL positioning of the first terminal UE1.

[0228] Figure 13 In the illustrated embodiment of positioning Method P1300, the network-side device determines the third terminal and the process of performing SL positioning based on the third terminal. Specifically, the first terminal determines a predetermined target time, which is the time in the future when the first terminal will be positioned. For example, the first terminal is positioned at xx:xx:xx (30 seconds later). The first terminal also obtains the first location of the second terminal at the above target time and sends the above first location to the network-side device. Further, the network-side device determines the third terminal from multiple second terminals based on the above first location, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the above target time is used to position the first terminal. Since the embodiment of Method P1300 determines the third terminal based on the first location, it can ensure that there is an effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning. Thus, during the positioning process of the first terminal based on the predetermined time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connections can be avoided or reduced, and further the positioning accuracy of the first terminal can be guaranteed.

[0229] To facilitate better implementation of the positioning method in the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application further provide a positioning device, which can be applied in a first terminal. Figure 14 FIG. 1400 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 14 shown, the positioning device 1400 provided in this embodiment includes the following modules.

[0230] A first determination module 1410, configured to determine a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when the first terminal is to be positioned; an acquisition module 1420, configured to acquire a first position, where the first position is the position of a second terminal at the target time; wherein, the first position is used to determine a third terminal among a plurality of the second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

[0231] In one implementation manner, the third terminal is determined by the first terminal from among a plurality of the second terminals according to the first position, or the third terminal is determined by a network-side device from among a plurality of the second terminals according to the first position.

[0232] In one implementation manner, the acquisition module 1420 is specifically configured to: determine the first position according to a first message sent by the second terminal; wherein, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the target time, the first position, and the residence duration of the second terminal at the first position.

[0233] In one implementation manner, the acquisition module 1420 includes a first sending unit and a first receiving unit; the first sending unit is configured to: send a first request message, where the first request message includes the target time and a first request indication, and the first request indication is an indication of a request for the position of the second terminal at the target time; the first receiving unit is configured to: receive a first response message returned by the second terminal and determine the first position according to the first response message; wherein, the first response message includes the first position, and the first position is determined by the second terminal according to the first request indication when the second terminal receives the first request message.

[0234] In one implementation, the above first request message is a sidelink (SL) positioning request message, and the above target time and the above first request indication are indicated by first RSPP metadata; the above first response message is an SL positioning response message, and the SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the above first location; or, the above first request message is a direct communication request message, and the above target time and the above first request indication are indicated by first RSPP metadata; the above first response message is a direct communication acceptance message, and the direct communication acceptance message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the above first location.

[0235] In one implementation, the above positioning device 1400 further includes: a first sending module and a connection module;

[0236] The above first sending module is configured to send the above first location to the above network-side device after the above obtaining module is used by the first terminal to obtain the first location; the above connection module is configured to receive, by the first terminal, target information sent by the above network-side device, and establish a unicast connection with the above third terminal according to the target information, where the target information includes an identifier of the above third terminal.

[0237] In one implementation, if the above third terminal is determined by the above first terminal from multiple above second terminals according to the above first location; the above obtaining module 1420 includes a third sending unit and a third receiving unit; the third sending unit is configured to: send, by the first terminal, a second request message, where the second request message includes the above target time and location requirement information, and the location requirement information is related to a second location of the first terminal at the above target time; the third receiving unit is configured to: receive a second response message returned by the above second terminal, and determine the above first location according to the second response message; where the second response message includes the above first location, and the above first location is determined after the above second terminal receives the above second request message and determines that the above first location meets the above location requirement information.

[0238] In one implementation, the second request message is a sidelink (SL) positioning request message, and the target time and the location requirement information are indicated by third RSPP metadata; the second response message is an SL positioning response message, the SL positioning response message includes fourth RSPP metadata, and the fourth RSPP metadata includes the first location; or, the second request message is a direct communication request message, and the target time and the location requirement information are indicated by third RSPP metadata; the second response message is a direct communication acceptance message, the direct communication acceptance message includes fourth RSPP metadata, and the fourth RSPP metadata includes the first location.

[0239] In one implementation, the positioning device 1400 further includes: a second determination module and a connection module; the second determination module is configured to determine the third terminal from multiple second terminals according to the first location; the connection module is configured to establish a unicast connection between the first terminal and the third terminal.

[0240] In one implementation, the positioning device 1400 further includes: a screening module;

[0241] The screening module is configured to screen the third terminals according to at least one of the positional relationships between multiple third terminals at the target time and the positional relationship between the third terminal and the first terminal; the connection module is specifically configured to: establish a unicast connection between the first terminal and the third terminal obtained after screening.

[0242] In one implementation, the first determination module 1410 is specifically configured to: the first terminal receives a positioning request from a network-side device, and the positioning request includes the target time; or, the first terminal determines the target time according to the positioning requirements of the application layer.

[0243] In one implementation, the positioning device 1400 further includes: a second sending module;

[0244] The second sending module is configured to, before the target time, the first terminal receives positioning assistance information sent by the third terminal and send the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device, or send the positioning assistance information of the first terminal and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device.

[0245] In one implementation, the first location is obtained by predicting the trajectory of the second terminal, or, if the second terminal is a drone (UAV) terminal, the first location is determined according to the planned path of the UAV terminal.

[0246] It should be understood that the embodiments of the positioning device 1400 provided in the above embodiments can correspond to the embodiments of the positioning method with the first terminal as the execution subject. Similar descriptions can refer to the method embodiments. To avoid repetition, they will not be elaborated here.

[0247] To facilitate better implementation of the positioning method of the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application further provide a positioning device. The above positioning device can be applied to network-side devices. Figure 15 As shown in the structural schematic diagram of a positioning device 1500 provided by the embodiments of the present application, Figure 15 As shown, the positioning device 1500 provided in this embodiment includes the following modules.

[0248] A third sending module 1510, configured to send a positioning request to the first terminal. The above positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the above target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; a third determining module 1520, configured to determine a third terminal from multiple above second terminals according to a first position, where the above first position is the position of the above second terminal at the above target time; wherein, the communication connection between the above third terminal and the above first terminal at the above target time is used to position the above first terminal.

[0249] In one implementation, the above positioning device 1500 further includes: a receiving module, configured to receive, by the network-side device, positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal before the above target time. The above positioning assistance information includes: positioning assistance information of the above third terminal, or, the above positioning assistance information includes: positioning assistance information of the first terminal and positioning assistance information of the above third terminal; a fourth determining module, configured to, at the above target time, the network-side device perform sidelink SL positioning on the above first terminal according to the above positioning assistance information.

[0250] It should be understood that the embodiments of the positioning device 1500 provided in the above embodiments can correspond to the embodiments of the positioning method with the network-side device as the execution subject. Similar descriptions can refer to the method embodiments. To avoid repetition, they will not be elaborated here.

[0251] The positioning device in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or other devices other than terminals. Exemplarily, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of the above-listed terminal 11, and other devices can be servers, network attached storage (NAS), etc. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0252] As Figure 16As shown in the figure, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1600, including a processor 1601 and a memory 1602. A program or instruction that can run on the processor 1601 is stored on the memory 1602. For example, when the communication device 1600 is a terminal, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1601, it implements the various steps in the above positioning method as Figures 4 to 9 the corresponding embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 1600 is a network-side device, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1601, it implements the above positioning method as Figure 10 and Figure 11 the corresponding embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be elaborated here.

[0253] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, including a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is coupled to the processor. The processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the steps in the method embodiment as Figures 4 to 9 shown. This terminal embodiment corresponds to the above terminal-side method embodiment. Each implementation process and implementation method of the above method embodiment can be applied to this terminal embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. Specifically, Figure 17 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a terminal for implementing an embodiment of the present application.

[0254] The terminal 1700 includes but is not limited to at least some components such as a radio frequency unit 1701, a network module 1702, an audio output unit 1703, an input unit 1704, a sensor 1705, a display unit 1706, a user input unit 1707, an interface unit 1708, a memory 1709, and a processor 1710.

[0255] Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal 1700 may further include a power source (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component. The power source can be logically connected to the processor 1710 through a power management system, so as to implement functions such as management of charging, discharging, and power consumption management through the power management system. Figure 17 The terminal structure shown in does not constitute a limitation on the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements, which will not be elaborated here.

[0256] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the input unit 1704 may include a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 17041 and a microphone 17042. The graphics processor 17041 processes the image data of static pictures or videos obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in the video capture mode or the image capture mode. The display unit 1706 may include a display panel 17061, and the display panel 17061 may be configured in the form of, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 1707 includes at least one of a touch panel 17071 and other input devices 17072. The touch panel 17071 is also referred to as a touch screen. The touch panel 17071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 17072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, which will not be elaborated here.

[0257] In the embodiments of the present application, after receiving downlink data from a network-side device, the radio frequency unit 1701 may transmit it to the processor 1710 for processing; in addition, the radio frequency unit 1701 may send uplink data to the network-side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 1701 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0258] The memory 1709 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 1709 may mainly include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data. Among them, the first storage area may store an operating system, application programs or instructions required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.). In addition, the memory 1709 may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), a synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and a direct rambus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1709 in the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0259] The processor 1710 may include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 1710 integrates an application processor and a modem processor. Among them, the application processor mainly processes operations related to the operating system, user interface, and application programs, etc., and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It can be understood that the above modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 1710.

[0260] Among them, the processor 1710 is used for the first terminal to determine a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when the first terminal will be located; and, the first terminal obtains a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; among them, the first position is used to determine a third terminal among a plurality of the second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to locate the first terminal.

[0261] The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, which is the time when the first terminal will be located in the future. For example, the first terminal will be located at xx:xx:xx (30 seconds later). The first terminal also obtains the first position of the second terminal at the above target time. Further, a third terminal is determined from multiple second terminals based on the first position of the second terminal. The communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the above target time is used to locate the first terminal. Since the solution of the embodiment of the present application determines the third terminal based on the first position, it can ensure that there is an effective communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal during positioning. Therefore, during the positioning process of the first terminal based on the predetermined time, the reliability and effectiveness of the connection can be improved, unreliable communication connections can be avoided or reduced, and thus the positioning accuracy of the first terminal can be guaranteed.

[0262] It can be understood that the implementation processes of the implementation manners mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiment such as Figures 4 to 9 and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, they will not be elaborated here.

[0263] The embodiment of the present application also provides a network-side device, including a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is coupled to the processor. The processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the steps of the method embodiment as shown in Figure 10 and Figure 11 This network-side device embodiment corresponds to the above network-side device method embodiment. Each implementation process and implementation manner of the above method embodiment can be applied to this network-side device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0264] Specifically, the embodiment of the present application also provides a network-side device. As shown in Figure 18 the network-side device 180 includes: an antenna 181, a radio frequency device 182, a baseband device 183, a processor 184, and a memory 185. The antenna 181 is connected to the radio frequency device 182. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 182 receives information through the antenna 181 and sends the received information to the baseband device 183 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 183 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 182. The radio frequency device 182 processes the received information and then sends it out through the antenna 181.

[0265] The method executed by the network-side device in the above embodiments can be implemented in the baseband device 183, and the baseband device 183 includes a baseband processor.

[0266] The baseband device 183 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, and multiple chips are arranged on the baseband board, such as Figure 18As shown, one of the chips, for example, a baseband processor, is connected to the memory 185 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 185 and execute the operations of the network-side device shown in the above method embodiments.

[0267] The network-side device may further include a network interface 186, which is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0268] Specifically, the network-side device 180 in the embodiments of the present invention further includes: instructions or programs stored on the memory 185 and executable on the processor 184. The processor 184 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 185 to execute Figure 15 the methods executed by the modules shown and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, they are not described herein again.

[0269] Specifically, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network-side device. As Figure 19 shown, the network-side device 1900 includes: a processor 1901, a network interface 1902, and a memory 1903. Among them, the network interface 1902 is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0270] Specifically, the network-side device 1900 in the embodiments of the present invention further includes: instructions or programs stored on the memory 1903 and executable on the processor 1901. The processor 1901 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 1903 to execute Figure 15 the methods executed by the modules shown and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, they are not described herein again.

[0271] The embodiments of the present application further provide a readable storage medium. Programs or instructions are stored on the readable storage medium. When the programs or instructions are executed by a processor, the various processes of the above-mentioned positioning method embodiments are implemented, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, they are not described herein again.

[0272] Among them, the processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiments. The readable storage medium includes computer-readable storage media, such as computer read-only memory ROM, random access memory RAM, magnetic disks, or optical discs. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0273] Another embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement each process of the above-described embodiment of the positioning method and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again.

[0274] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a system-on-chip, system chip, chip system, or system-on-chip.

[0275] The embodiments of the present application provide a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement each process of the above-described embodiment of the positioning method and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again.

[0276] The embodiments of the present application further provide a positioning system, including: a terminal and a network-side device. The terminal can be used to execute the steps of the positioning method as Figures 4 to 9 described, and the network-side device can be used to execute the steps of the positioning method as Figure 10 and Figure 11 described.

[0277] It should be noted that in this document, the terms "including", "comprising" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "including one..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application are not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed. They may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in a reverse order according to the functions involved. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted or combined. Additionally, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0278] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-described embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, they can also be implemented by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.) and includes several instructions for causing a terminal or a network-side device to execute the positioning methods provided in the various embodiments of the present application.

[0279] The embodiments of the present application have been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the above specific implementation manners. The above specific implementation manners are merely illustrative rather than restrictive. Under the inspiration of the present application, those of ordinary skill in the art can also make many forms of implementation manners without departing from the purpose of the present application and the scope protected by the claims. These implementation manners all fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized in that, Including: The first terminal determines a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time for positioning the first terminal. The first terminal obtains a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time. Wherein, the first position is used to determine a third terminal among multiple second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The third terminal is determined by the first terminal among multiple second terminals according to the first position, or The third terminal is determined by a network-side device among multiple second terminals according to the first position.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first terminal obtaining the first position includes: The first terminal determines the first position according to a first message sent by the second terminal. Wherein, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the first position, the target time, and the residence duration of the second terminal at the first position.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first terminal obtaining the first position includes: The first terminal sends a first request message, where the first request message includes the target time and a first request indication, and the first request indication is a request indication for the position of the second terminal at the target time. The first terminal receives a first response message returned by the second terminal and determines the first position according to the first response message. Wherein, the first response message includes the first position, and the first position is determined according to the first request indication when the second terminal receives the first request message.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The first request message is a sidelink SL positioning request message, and the target time and the first request indication are indicated by first measurement positioning protocol RSPP metadata; the first response message is an SL positioning response message, and the SL positioning response message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the first position; or The first request message is a direct communication request message, and the target time and the first request indication are indicated by first RSPP metadata; the first response message is a direct communication acceptance message, and the direct communication acceptance message includes second RSPP metadata, and the second RSPP metadata includes the first position.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, After the first terminal obtains the first position, the method further includes: The first terminal sends the first position to the network-side device. The first terminal receives target information sent by the network-side device, and the first terminal establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal according to the target information, and the target information includes an identifier of the third terminal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, If the third terminal is determined by the first terminal among multiple second terminals according to the first position; the first terminal obtaining the first position includes: The first terminal sends a second request message, where the second request message includes the target time and location requirement information, and the location requirement information is related to the second location of the first terminal at the target time; The first terminal receives a second response message returned by the second terminal, and determines the first location according to the second response message; Wherein, the second response message includes the first location, and the first location is determined after the second terminal receives the second request message and determines that the first location meets the location requirement information.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The second request message is a sidelink SL positioning request message, and the target time and the location requirement information are indicated by third measurement positioning protocol RSPP metadata; the second response message is an SL positioning response message, and the SL positioning response message includes fourth RSPP metadata, and the fourth RSPP metadata includes the first location; or, The second request message is a direct communication request message, and the target time and the location requirement information are indicated by third RSPP metadata; the second response message is a direct communication acceptance message, and the direct communication acceptance message includes fourth RSPP metadata, and the fourth RSPP metadata includes the first location.

9. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5 or claim 7 or 8, characterized in that After the first terminal obtains the first location, the method further includes: The first terminal determines the third terminal from among the plurality of second terminals according to the first location; The first terminal establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal.

10. The method according to claim 6 or claim 9, characterized in that After determining the third terminal from among the plurality of second terminals, the method further includes: The first terminal screens the third terminal according to at least one of the position relationships among the plurality of third terminals at the target time and the position relationship between the third terminal and the first terminal; The first terminal establishing a unicast connection with the third terminal includes: The first terminal establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal obtained after screening.

11. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 10, characterized in that, The first terminal determining the predetermined target time includes: The first terminal receives a positioning request from the network-side device, and the positioning request includes the predetermined target time; or, The first terminal determines the predetermined target time according to the positioning requirements of the application layer.

12. The method according to any one of claims 6 or 9 to 11, characterized in that, After the first terminal establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal, the method further includes: Before the target time, the first terminal receives positioning assistance information sent by the third terminal, and sends the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device, or sends the positioning assistance information of the first terminal and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device.

13. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 12, characterized in that, The first location is obtained by predicting the trajectory of the second terminal, or, if the second terminal is a drone UAV terminal, the first location is determined according to the planned path of the UAV terminal.

14. A positioning method, characterized in that, Including: The network device sends a positioning request to the first terminal, and the positioning request includes a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; The network device determines a third terminal among multiple second terminals according to a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; Wherein, the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The positioning request further includes an indication of a request for the position of the second terminal at the target time.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein The method further includes: Before the target time, the network device receives positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal, where the positioning assistance information includes: the positioning assistance information of the third terminal, or the positioning assistance information of the first terminal and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal; At the target time, the network device positions the sidelink SL of the first terminal according to the positioning assistance information.

17. A positioning device, characterized in that, Including: A first determination module, configured to determine a predetermined target time, where the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; An acquisition module, configured to acquire a first position, where the first position is the position of the second terminal at the target time; Wherein, the first position is used to determine a third terminal among multiple second terminals, and the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein The acquisition module is specifically configured to: determine the first position according to a first message sent by the second terminal; Wherein, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the first position, the target time, and the residence duration of the second terminal at the first position.

19. The device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein The acquisition module includes a first sending unit and a first receiving unit; the first sending unit is configured to: send a first request message, where the first request message includes the target time and a first request indication, and the first request indication is an indication of a request for the position of the second terminal at the target time; the first receiving unit is configured to: receive a first response message returned by the second terminal and determine the first position according to the first response message; Wherein, the first response message includes the first position, and the first position is determined by the second terminal according to the first request indication when the second terminal receives the first request message.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that, The device further includes: a first sending module and a connection module; The first sending module is configured to: after the acquisition module acquires the first position, send the first position to the network device; The connection module is configured to: the first terminal receives target information sent by the network device, and establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal according to the target information, where the third terminal identifier is included in the target information.

21. The device according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that, If the third terminal is determined by the first terminal among multiple second terminals according to the first position; The obtaining module includes a third sending unit and a third receiving unit; the third sending unit is configured to: the first terminal sends a second request message, the second request message includes the target time and location requirement information, and the location requirement information is related to the second location of the first terminal at the target time; The third receiving unit is configured to: receive a second response message returned by the second terminal, and determine the first location according to the second response message; Wherein, the second response message includes the first location, and the first location is determined after the second terminal receives the second request message and determines that the first location meets the location requirement information.

22. The device according to claim 18 or claim 21, characterized in that, The device further includes: a second determination module and a connection module; The second determination module is configured to determine the third terminal from multiple second terminals according to the first location; The connection module is configured to establish a unicast connection between the first terminal and the third terminal.

23. The device according to claim 20 or claim 22, characterized in that The device further includes: a screening module; The screening module is configured to screen the third terminal according to at least one of the position relationships between multiple third terminals at the target time and the position relationship between the third terminal and the first terminal; The connection module is specifically configured to: the first terminal establishes a unicast connection with the third terminal obtained through screening.

24. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that, The first determination module is specifically configured to: the first terminal receives a positioning request from a network-side device, and the positioning request includes the target time; or, the first terminal determines the target time according to the positioning requirement of the application layer.

25. The device according to claim 20 or claim 22 or claim 23, characterized in that, The device further includes: a second sending module; The second sending module is configured to: before the target time, the first terminal receives positioning assistance information sent by the third terminal, and sends the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device, or sends the positioning assistance information of the first terminal and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal to the network-side device.

26. A positioning device, characterized in that, It includes: A third sending module, configured to send a positioning request to a first terminal, the positioning request includes a predetermined target time, and the target time is the time when the first terminal will be positioned; A third determination module, configured to determine a third terminal from multiple second terminals according to a first location, and the first location is the location of the second terminal at the target time; Wherein, the communication connection between the third terminal and the first terminal at the target time is used to position the first terminal.

27. The device according to claim 26, characterized in that, The device further includes: A receiving module, configured to: before the target time, the network-side device receives positioning assistance information sent by the first terminal, and the positioning assistance information includes: the positioning assistance information of the third terminal, or the positioning assistance information of the first terminal and the positioning assistance information of the third terminal; A positioning module, configured to: at the target time, the network-side device performs sidelink SL positioning on the first terminal according to the positioning assistance information.

28. A terminal, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, and the memory stores programs or instructions that can run on the processor. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 are implemented.

29. A network-side device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, and the memory stores programs or instructions that can run on the processor. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 14 to 16 are implemented.

30. A readable storage medium, characterized in that, Programs or instructions are stored on the readable storage medium. When the programs or instructions are executed by a processor, the positioning method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 is implemented, or the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 14 to 16 are implemented.

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