Signaling details for primary and additional measurement reports for aggregated positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements

Abstract

Techniques for communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a location server: receives a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances are transmitted by the network node in phase coherence; and receiving a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Technical Field

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems have evolved through many generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless services, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and Personal Communication Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0005] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advancements in PRS processes and technologies, and the high-density deployment of 5G enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the following summary is not to be considered an exhaustive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it to be considered identifying critical or decisive elements of all contemplated aspects or delineating the scope of any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description that follows.

[0007] In one aspect, a communication method performed by a location server includes: receiving, from a network node, a report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0008] In one aspect, a location server includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a network node, a report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0009] In one aspect, a location server includes: means for receiving, from a network node, a report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and means for receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0010] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: receive, from a network node, a report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and receive, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0011] Based on the drawings and the detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The accompanying drawings are presented to assist in describing various aspects of the present disclosure, and the drawings are provided for illustration only and not to limit the aspects.

[0013] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B and Figure 2C An example wireless network structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C are simplified block diagrams of several example aspects of components that can be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and are configured to support communication as taught herein.

[0016] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0017] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 is a diagram of an example of frequency-domain positioning reference signal (PRS) stitching in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating aspects of mathematically modeling PRS bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating transient periods and transition considerations in view of PRS bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating transient periods and transition considerations in view of sounding reference signal (SRS) bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating a visual example of PRS-assisted data in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 11 An example "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" information element (IE) 1100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 12Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement" information element (IE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 13 Illustrates an example "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" information element (IE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 14 Is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for primary PRS measurements according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 15 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 16 Is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 17 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 18 Is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 19 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 20 Is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 21 Illustrates an example long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) capability transfer process, auxiliary data transfer process, and location information transfer process between a target device and a location server according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 22 Illustrates an example method of communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0035] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description of various examples provided for illustrative purposes and the associated drawings. Alternative aspects can be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0036] The terms "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as superior or better than other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed features, advantages, or modes of operation.

[0037] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and methods can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, in part depending on the particular application, in part depending on the desired design, in part depending on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0038] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that the various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can be regarded as being fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or direct a relevant processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, all of which have been contemplated within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect can be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0039] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). Generally speaking, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, wearable device (e.g., smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. Generally speaking, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0040] A base station can operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and alternatively can be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station can be mainly used to support the wireless access of the UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, the base station can only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it can provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE can transmit signals to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link by which the base station can transmit signals to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" can refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0041] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be the antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when beamforming is employed at the base station). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP can be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Since, as used herein, a TRP is the point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, a reference to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0042] In some specific implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may send reference signals to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending signals to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0043] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal, the RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal".

[0044] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, etc.

[0045] The base stations 102 may together form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122 and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base stations 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., the AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, the communication between the UE 104 and the location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., via the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via a direct connection 128), where intermediate nodes (if any) are omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0046] Among other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: passing user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via the EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0047] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station in base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can, depending on the context, refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. In addition, since the TRP is usually the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a certain part of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0048] Although the geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 can partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas in the geographical coverage area 110 can substantially overlap with a larger geographical coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (marked as "SC" for "small cell") can have a geographical coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographical coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network can also include a home eNB (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0049] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 can include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 can use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 can pass through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers can be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers can be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) or Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0051] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technologies and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum may enhance the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0052] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate at mmW frequencies and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with a UE 182. Extremely High Frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz, with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The Super High Frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more of the base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0053] Transmit beamforming is a technique used to focus RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal omnidirectionally in all directions. With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates an RF beam that can be "manipulated" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationships so that the radio waves from the individual antennas add together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired directions.

[0054] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means they appear to have the same parameters to a receiver (e.g., a UE), regardless of whether the transmitting antennas of the network node are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived based on information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler frequency shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler frequency shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler frequency shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0055] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting of an antenna array in a specific direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength for the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.).

[0056] Transmit beams and receive beams can be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters of a second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. Then, the UE can form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0057] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving the downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0058] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as Frequency Range Designation FR1 (410 MHz – 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz – 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a part of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, in various documents and articles, FR1 is typically (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band. Regarding FR2, a similar naming issue sometimes occurs, which is typically (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz – 300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0059] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as Frequency Range Designation FR3 (7.125 GHz – 24.25 GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus can effectively extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as Frequency Range Designation FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher bands falls within the EHF band.

[0060] Taking the above aspects into account, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term “sub-6 GHz” etc. is used in this document, it can generally represent frequencies that can be less than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term “millimeter wave” etc. is used in this document, it can generally represent frequencies that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0061] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell, where the UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment process or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment process in the cell. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier can contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same holds for the primary uplink carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which a certain base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0062] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base station 102 can be the anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCells"). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz).

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macro cell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via an mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for the UE 164.

[0064] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 are capable of performing sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capabilities (SL-UE) may communicate with the base station 102 via the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station) through the communication link 120. The SL-UEs (e.g., the UE 164, the UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between UEs with sidelink capabilities) through the wireless sidelink 160. The wireless sidelink (or simply referred to as "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs that utilize sidelink communication may be located within the geographical coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs that communicate via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0065] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs. The "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (specifically those employing small cell access points) have recently extended their operation into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed national information infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, etc.

[0066] Note that while Figure 1 only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be an SL-UE. Additionally, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) are capable of beamforming. In cases where the SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UE 104), towards base stations (e.g., base station 102, 180, small cell 102', access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming over the sidelink 160.

[0067] In Figure 1 the example of, the illustrated UEs (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any one of the UEs 104 shown as a single UE in the figure can receive signals 124 from one or more space vehicles (SVs) 112 in Earth orbit (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 can use as an independent source of position information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a transmitter system (e.g., the SV 112) that is positioned such that a receiver (e.g., the UE 104) can determine its position on or above the Earth at least in part based on positioning signals received from the transmitter (e.g., signal 124). Such transmitters typically send signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code with a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SV 112, the transmitter can sometimes be located at a ground-based control station, a base station 102, and / or another UE 104. The UE 104 can include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographical location information from the SV 112.

[0068] In a satellite positioning system, the use of the signal 124 can be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBASs) that can be associated with or otherwise enable the use of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, an SBAS can include an augmentation system that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided Geo Augmented Navigation or the GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system can include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0069] In one aspect, the SV 112 can additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, an NTN gateway, or a gateway) that in turn is connected to elements in a 5G network, such as an enhanced base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in the 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately provide access to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from the ground base station 102, the UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from the SV 112.

[0070] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In Figure 1 the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE in UE 104 that is connected to one of the base stations in base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through this D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through this D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth ® and so on.

[0071] Figure 2A Illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally regarded as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which cooperate to form the core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, and specifically connect to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214 respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, ng-eNB224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 can have one or more gNB 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. Any one (or both) of gNB222 or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0072] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that may communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Additionally, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0073] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. The 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210) can be functionally regarded as the control plane function provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264, and the user plane function provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which cooperate to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any one of the UEs described herein) and the Session Management Function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and Security Anchor Functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives the key from the SEAF and uses this key to derive the access network specific key. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 230), transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0074] The functions of the UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for the interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the passing of location service messages between the UE 204 and a location server (such as the SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0075] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of the user plane function, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at the UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

[0076] Another optional aspect may include the LMF 270, which may communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and an external client (such as a third-party server 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0077] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may communicate with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) of the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0078] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220, respectively. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between the gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a radio interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0079] The functionality of gNB 222 can be divided among a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically allocated to the gNB-DU 228, including transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and so on. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and media access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228s is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RU 229s, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, SDAP layer, and PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0080] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged in various ways with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, RAN nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network equipment (such as base stations or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit receive point (TRP), or cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as a stand-alone base station or monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0081] A centralized base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A split base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed among one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0082] Base station type operations or network designs may consider the aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, a split base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as a network configuration initiated by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). The split may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. The various units of a split base station or a split RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0083] Figure 2C An example split base station architecture 250 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The split base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226), which may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more split base station units, such as a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link or a non-real-time (non RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255 or both. The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DU 228) via a respective midhaul link, such as an F1 interface. The DU 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RU 229) via a respective fronthaul link. The RU 287 may communicate with a respective UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some embodiments, the UE 204 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 287.

[0084] Each of these units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and the near RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces that are configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or the associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units may include a wired interface that is configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, the units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) that is configured to receive signals or transmit signals or both to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0085] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate regarding signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units may communicate bi-directionally with the CU-CP units via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 285 for network control and signal transmission.

[0086] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation, etc.) at least in part depending on a functional split (such as the functional split defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285 or with control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0087] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, the RUs 287 controlled by the DU 285 may correspond to logical nodes that host RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.) or both at least in part based on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RUs 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some embodiments, the real-time aspects and non-real-time aspects of the control plane communication and user plane communication with the RUs 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and the CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0088] The SMO framework 255 can be configured to support the RAN deployment and orchestration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, the CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near RT RIC 259. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate with the hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 can also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255.

[0089] The non-RT RIC 257 can be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 can be coupled to or communicate with the near RT RIC 259 (such as via the A1 interface). The near RT RIC 259 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface (such as via the E2 interface) through data collection and actions, which connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB to the near RT RIC 259.

[0090] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0091] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) are illustrated, which may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2B The NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted, such as a dedicated network, are implemented to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0092] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively. These wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, receiving, measuring, tuning, blocking transmission, etc.) for communication via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one specified RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on an interested wireless communication medium (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) respectively according to the specified RAT, and conversely to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.) respectively. Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 respectively.

[0093] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 each also include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. Short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366 respectively, and provide for communication on an interested wireless communication medium via at least one specified RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth ® , Zigbee ® , Z-Wave ®, PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) to communicate with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) (e.g., components for transmitting, receiving, measuring, tuning, blocking transmission, etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT, and conversely to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 respectively include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth ® transceivers, Zigbee ® and / or Z-Wave ® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0094] In at least some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, and can provide components for respectively receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for respectively receiving and processing the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can request appropriate information and operations from other systems, and at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to respectively determine the positions of the UE 302 and the base station 304.

[0095] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390 respectively, which provide components (such as components for transmission, components for reception, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (such as other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0096] The transceiver may be configured to communicate via a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (such as transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (such as receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some specific embodiments, the transceiver may be an integrated device (such as implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some specific embodiments may include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or may be implemented in other ways in other specific embodiments. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of a wired transceiver (such as network transceivers 380 and 390 in some specific embodiments) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuit (such as transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (such as antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device (such as UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmission "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuit (such as receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (such as antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device (such as UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit may share the same plurality of antennas (such as antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than receiving and transmitting both at the same time. The wireless transceiver (such as WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) for performing various measurements, etc.

[0097] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 in some embodiments, and network transceivers 380 and 390), and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) may generally be characterized as "a transceiver", "at least one transceiver", or "one or more transceivers". Thus, a particular transceiver may be inferred to be a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver based on the type of communication being performed. For example, fronthaul communication between network devices or servers typically involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0098] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide components for processing, such as components for determining, for calculating, for receiving, for sending, for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0099] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include a memory circuit that implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), and the memory circuit is used to maintain information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Therefore, memories 340, 386, and 396 can provide components for storage, components for retrieval, components for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may each include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394 respectively, and when executed, these hardware circuits cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396 respectively, and when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), these memory modules cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A Illustrates a possible location of positioning component 342, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or can be an independent component. Figure 3B Illustrates a possible location of positioning component 388, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or can be an independent component. Figure 3C Illustrates a possible location of positioning component 398, which can be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or can be an independent component.

[0100] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide components for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information unrelated to movement data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. By way of example, sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Additionally, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0101] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides components for providing an indication to a user (e.g., an audible and / or visual indication) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0102] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, and media access control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with the broadcast of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0103] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 can implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, which includes the physical (PHY) layer, can include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 disposes of the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a stream of time-domain OFDM symbols. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-encoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the encoding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from reference signals transmitted by the UE 302 and / or channel state feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 modulates an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0104] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antennas 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they can be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency-domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on the channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0105] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0106] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission performed by the base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and re-ordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0107] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from reference signals or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate decoding and modulation schemes and facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can modulate RF carriers with the respective spatial streams for transmission.

[0108] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antennas 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carriers and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0109] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0110] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. Specifically, Figures 3A to 3C Various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of a cellular device, a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless cellular network, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0111] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between the different logical entities.

[0112] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit can use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of the UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of the base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of the network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being "performed by the UE", "performed by the base station", "performed by the network entity", etc. However, it should be understood that such operations, actions, and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0113] In some designs, the network entity 306 can be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 can operate differently from the network operator or the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 can be a component of a private network that can be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0114] NR supports a variety of cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. Figure 4Examples of various positioning methods in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process illustrated in scenario 410, the UE measures the difference in the time of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements), and reports these differences to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives in the assistance data the identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., serving base station) and a plurality of non-reference base stations. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., the UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the location of the UE.

[0115] For DL-AoD positioning illustrated in scenario 420, the positioning entity uses a measurement report from the UE of the received signal strength measurements of a plurality of downlink transmission beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0116] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to a plurality of base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and a plurality of non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timings of the involved base stations the reception time of the reference signal (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)). Based on the received-to-received (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the location of the UE.

[0117] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink reception beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angles of the reception beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0118] Downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods include: Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multi-Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT" and "Multi-RTT"). During the RTT process, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or an SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or a PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal or the time difference between the reception time of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as the received-to-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the received signal and the nearest time slot boundary of the transmitted signal. Then, the two entities can transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip propagation time (i.e., the RTT) between the two entities based on these two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., calculated as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity can transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, and then the other entity calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined based on the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning illustrated in scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or a base station) performs the RTT positioning process with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) so that the position of the first entity can be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distances to the second entities and the known positions of the second entities. The RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve the position accuracy, as illustrated in scenario 440.

[0119] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timing advance (TA), and the identifiers of the detected neighboring base stations, the estimated timing, and the signal strength. Then, the position of the UE is estimated based on this information and the known positions of the base stations.

[0120] To assist in the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., including the number of consecutive time slots including the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive time slots including the PRS, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.) and / or other parameters applicable to a specific positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may directly originate from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect adjacent network nodes without using assistance data.

[0121] In the case of the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the assistance data may further include the expected RSTD value and the associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (µs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurement are in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32 µs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for positioning measurement are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8 µs.

[0122] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as positioning estimate, location, positioning, positioning lock, lock, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be civic and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The positioning estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including the area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with a certain specified or default confidence).

[0123] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 5 FIG. 500 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0124] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, different from LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often referred to as frequency tones, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally speaking, modulation symbols are transmitted using OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into multiple subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands respectively.

[0125] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (µ), e.g., 15 kHz (µ = 0), 30 kHz (µ = 1), 60 kHz (µ = 2), 120 kHz (µ = 3), and 240 kHz (µ = 4) or larger subcarrier spacings can be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For 15 kHz SCS (µ = 0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (µs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30 kHz SCS (µ = 1), there are two time slots per subframe, 20 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60 kHz SCS (µ = 2), there are four time slots per subframe, 40 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120 kHz SCS (µ = 3), there are eight time slots per subframe, 80 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (µ = 4), there are 16 time slots per subframe, 160 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0126] In Figure 5 the example of, the parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each subframe being 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. In Figure 5 it, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0127] A resource grid can be used to represent a time slot, and each time slot includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE can correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In Figure 5In the parameter set, for the normal cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For the extended cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0128] Some REs can carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals can include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink communication or downlink communication. Figure 5 An example location (marked as "R") of the REs carrying reference signals is illustrated.

[0129] The set of resource elements (REs) used for the transmission of PRS is referred to as the "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (such as one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0130] The transmission of the PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of the PRB. For example, for a comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, for DL-PRS, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported. Figure 5 An example PRS resource configuration for a comb-4 (which spans four symbols) is illustrated. That is, the location of the shaded REs (marked as "R") indicates the comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0131] Currently, DL-PRS resources use a full-frequency domain interleaving pattern that can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a time slot. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by the higher layer in the time slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the per-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb - 2: {0, 1}; 4-symbol comb - 2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 6-symbol comb - 2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 12-symbol comb - 2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-symbol comb - 4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (as in the example of Figure 5 ); 12-symbol comb - 4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 6-symbol comb - 6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; 12-symbol comb - 6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; and 12-symbol comb - 12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11}.

[0132] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, shared silent mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length selected from: 2^µ * {4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} time slots, where µ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0133] The PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) sent from a single TRP (where one TRP can send one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in the PRS resource set can be sent on different beams, and thus, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not imply anything about whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is sent.

[0134] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which the PRS is expected to be sent. The PRS occasion can also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0135] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported for the PRS), the same point A, the same value for the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code for a pair of physical radio channels specified for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, and the minimum value is 24 PRBs while the maximum value is 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0136] The concept of the frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that the component carrier and BWP are used by a base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while the frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRSs. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE conveys its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0137] Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to: PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" can refer to a downlink positioning reference signal, an uplink positioning reference signal, or a sidelink positioning reference signal, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further differentiation of the type of PRS is needed, the downlink positioning reference signal can be referred to as "DL-PRS", the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., SRS for positioning, i.e., PTRS) can be referred to as "UL-PRS", and the sidelink positioning reference signal can be referred to as "SL-PRS". In addition, for signals that can be transmitted in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink (e.g., DMRS), these signals can be prefixed with "DL", "UL", or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be different from "DL-DMRS".

[0138] NR positioning techniques are expected to provide high accuracy (horizontal and vertical), low latency, network efficiency (scalability, reference signal overhead, etc.), and device efficiency (power consumption, complexity, etc.), especially for commercial positioning use cases (including general commercial use cases and especially (I) IoT use cases). With respect to reference accuracy, it is expected that the accuracy of the position estimate depends on the accuracy of the positioning measurements of the received PRS (e.g., ToA, RSTD, Rx-Tx, etc.), and the larger the bandwidth of the measured PRS, the more accurate the positioning measurement will be.

[0139] PRS is typically transmitted over the entire bandwidth supported by the transmitter. However, the receiver may not be able to measure the PRS transmitted over that entire bandwidth within a single time interval (e.g., one or more symbols or time slots). One technique for increasing the bandwidth of the measured PRS is to aggregate PRS across the frequency domain (referred to as "bandwidth aggregation" or "frequency domain stitching") and / or aggregate PRS across the time domain (referred to as "time domain stitching"). In frequency domain PRS stitching, the PRS (by the base station or UE) is measured over multiple (preferably contiguous) bandwidth intervals within one or more component carriers, frequency bands, or other bandwidth portions (e.g., positioning frequency layers, bandwidth parts (BWPs), or contiguous PRB groups, etc.). By spanning multiple bandwidth intervals, the effective bandwidth of the PRS is increased, resulting in improved positioning measurement accuracy.

[0140] In time-domain PRS stitching, multiple bandwidth intervals also span multiple (preferably contiguous) time intervals (e.g., groups of contiguous symbols, time slots, subframes, etc.). When implementing time-domain and / or frequency-domain PRS stitching, the PRS should preferably be measured over multiple bandwidth intervals and / or time intervals so that the receiver can make certain assumptions about the PRS measured within multiple time slots and / or positioning frequency layers (e.g., QCL type, same antenna port, etc.).

[0141] Figure 6 FIG. 600 is a diagram illustrating an example of frequency-domain PRS stitching according to aspects of the present disclosure. As Figure 6 shown, PRSs 610-1, 610-2, and 610-3 (labeled "PRS1", "PRS2", and "PRS3" respectively) are measured over respective bandwidth intervals (labeled "BW1", "BW2", and "BW3" respectively) within a given frequency band (labeled "B1"). The bandwidth intervals can be, for example, positioning frequency layers. The frequency band "B1" can be a frequency band in FR1 or FR2. The PRS 610 can be a DL-PRS sent by a base station to one or more UEs, a UL-PRS (e.g., SRS) sent by a UE to one or more base stations, or a sidelink PRS sent by a UE to one or more other UEs.

[0142] In Figure 6 , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. Thus, in the example of Figure 6 , the three bandwidth intervals are contiguous in the frequency domain. Although Figure 6 illustrates a single frequency band "B1", the bandwidth intervals can instead span multiple frequency bands (possibly in both FR1 and FR2), with or without guard bands between different frequency bands. Additionally, the bandwidth intervals can span one or more component carriers within one or more frequency bands. Further, although Figure 6 illustrates the PRS 610 being measured over three bandwidth intervals, it should be understood that the PRS 610 can be measured over only two bandwidth intervals or over more than three bandwidth intervals.

[0143] In the time domain, the PRS 610 can be a PRS occasion, a PRS resource, a time slot containing the PRS, etc. The PRSs 610 should generally be the same as each other except for being measured over different bandwidth intervals. However, although the PRSs 610 in Figure 6 are illustrated as starting and ending simultaneously, this is not always the case, and some PRSs 610 can start or end or have a different length from other PRSs 610.

[0144] Although PRS bandwidth aggregation provides improved accuracy, integrity, and power efficiency, using different bandwidth intervals (especially across different component carriers or frequency bands) to transmit and receive PRS 610 may introduce problems such as timing errors, phase shifts, frequency errors, power imbalances, and the like.

[0145] Figure 7 FIG. 700 illustrates aspects of mathematically modeling PRS bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. As Figure 7 shown, two PRSs (e.g., DL-PRS, SL-PRS, UL-PRS) are measured on two different bandwidth segments during two different time intervals. Mathematically, the channel on which the first PRS (e.g., PRS 610-1) is measured can be represented as h1(f1, t1), where f1 represents frequency, t1 represents time, and h1 represents the channel as a function of frequency f1 and time t1. The channel on which the associated PRS (e.g., the PRS to be stitched together with the first PRS, such as PRS 610-2) is measured can be represented as h2(f2, t2). The following equation shows how the second PRS is related to the first PRS.

[0146]

[0147] In the above equation, A is the amplitude offset, R is the phase slope (which is related to the time drift between the two PRSs), is the transmit time difference (e.g., when the two PRSs are transmitted, the transmit time difference between them, where "TOD" stands for "time of departure"), and is the phase shift (or phase difference or phase offset of phase discontinuity) between the channel on which the first PRS is measured and the channel on which the associated PRS is measured. The relationship between is only valid when |t2 – t1| is less than or equal to some maximum timing coherence.

[0148] Phase shift is the phase difference or phase discrepancy between two waveforms. Phase shift can occur in both in-band PRS and inter-band PRS (i.e., PRS on bandwidth intervals within the same component carrier or frequency band or on bandwidth intervals within multiple component carriers or frequency bands). Phase shift is particularly evident when two signals (waveforms) are combined by a physical process (such as by the analog front end of a receiver). However, phase shift can be caused by the architectures of both the transmitter and the receiver. For example, any change in the transmit / receive RF chain can cause phase discontinuity of the PRS 610. Phase shift between the waveforms of PRSs measured on multiple bandwidth intervals can lead to additional measurement errors in the measurement estimation process (e.g., ToA estimation process), which reduces the positioning accuracy.

[0149] Despite these issues, it is still desirable to support PRS and SRS bandwidth aggregation. For example, Wi-Fi and UWB provide competitive positioning performance by leveraging their large system bandwidths. Specifically, Wi-Fi 6 can utilize up to 160 MHz of bandwidth, and Wi-Fi 7 is expected to increase the supported bandwidth to 320 MHz. Commercially available UWB-based positioning utilizes at least 500 MHz of bandwidth and even higher in some scenarios.

[0150] The spectra of interest include licensed bands such as 200 MHz among the 3400 MHz to 3600 MHz band, 160 MHz among the 2496 MHz to 2690 MHz band, and 150 MHz among the 3550 MHz to 3700 MHz Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band (in the United States). In FR2, the licensed bands of interest include the 28 GHz band and the 39 GHz band. Regarding unlicensed bands, the 3GPP standard does not prevent / block PRS from transmitting in unlicensed spectrum, even though further enhancements of PRS operation in unlicensed spectrum are not explicitly specified.

[0151] Therefore, to be competitive in scenarios where NR-based positioning and UWB / Wi-Fi-based positioning may have to compete, PRS and SRS bandwidth aggregation should be supported.

[0152] Figure 8 FIG. 800 is an illustration showing transient periods and transition considerations in view of PRS bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. As Figure 8 shown, a first DL-PRS (labeled "PRS1") is transmitted / measured on a first component carrier (labeled "CC1"), PBCH, SSB, or DMRS is transmitted / measured on a second component carrier (labeled "CC2"), and a second DL-PRS (labeled "PRS2") is transmitted / measured on a third component carrier (labeled "CC3").

[0153] The vertical blocks represent time periods during which there is transition behavior. That is, they are transient periods. During these times, some requirements are not expected to be met since the device is performing a transition.

[0154] At Figure 8In the example, the PBCH, SSB, or DMRS between two DL-PRSs may cause the coherence between PRS1 and PRS2 to be split into three "time-domain coherence blocks". That is, PRS1 and PRS2 may be transmitted / measured coherently during a first time period t1 (with phase θ1), incoherently during a second time period t2 (with phase θ2), and coherently again during a third time period t3 (with phase θ3).

[0155] Figure 9 FIG. 900 illustrates transient periods and transition considerations in view of SRS bandwidth aggregation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. As Figure 9 shown, a first SRS (labeled "SRS1") is transmitted / measured on a first component carrier (labeled "CC1"), a PUSCH is transmitted / measured on a second component carrier (labeled "CC2"), and a second SRS (labeled "SRS2") is transmitted / measured on a third component carrier (labeled "CC3").

[0156] As Figure 8 shown, the vertical blocks represent time periods during which there is transition behavior. That is, they are transient periods. During these times, some requirements are not expected to be met because the device is performing a transition.

[0157] In Figure 9 the example, the PUSCH between two SRSs may cause the coherence between SRS1 and SRS2 to be split into three "time-domain coherence blocks". That is, SRS1 and SRS2 may be transmitted / measured coherently during a first time period t1 (with phase θ1), incoherently during a second time period t2 (with phase θ2), and coherently again during a third time period t3 (with phase θ3).

[0158] To perform DL-PRS aggregation, the UE needs to know whether the DL-PRS resources are transmitted phase-coherently. This is because the UE typically needs to know whether to perform coherent integration on the DL-PRSs measured in different bandwidth intervals (where the PRS is transmitted phase-coherently), perform non-coherent integration (where the PRS is not transmitted phase-coherently), or not perform integration. However, due to dynamic scheduling decisions, the base station may not transmit the PRS resources coherently. For example, as Figure 8 shown, the base station may transmit the PBCH, SSB, or DMRS in a frequency interval between the bandwidth intervals in which the PRS is transmitted.

[0159] As a first technique described herein, a base station (e.g., gNB) may, after transmitting a particular PRS instance, signal (using a timestamp) whether the transmitted PRS resources are transmitted coherently. In other words, after transmitting the PRS, the base station may provide information indicating whether the PRS resources are indeed transmitted coherently to a location server (e.g., LMF). A UE that measures the PRS should report both legacy PRS measurements (i.e., without aggregated PRS) and aggregated PRS measurements to the location server along with the timestamp. If the measurement is not of a coherently transmitted PRS, the location server may ignore the aggregated PRS measurement, or use these aggregated PRS measurements if the PRS is indeed transmitted coherently.

[0160] The signaling details for additional measurements of the aggregated PRS measurements should include which PRS resources in the PRS resources are used to perform PRS aggregation, legacy reporting, and additional path reporting for the PRS aggregation.

[0161] Figure 10 FIG. 1000 is a diagram that illustrates a visual example of PRS assistance data in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. For a positioning session, a location server may provide PRS assistance data for the illustrated PRS configuration to the UE (e.g., in one or more LPP provide assistance data messages). Figure 10 The assistance data illustrated in FIG. 1000 includes assistance data for two TRPs (labeled "TRP1" and "TRP2") operating in the same positioning frequency layer (labeled "Positioning Frequency Layer 1"). The first TRP is associated with (e.g., transmits) two PRS resource sets labeled "PRS Resource Set 1" and "PRS Resource Set 2", and the second TRP is associated with one PRS resource set labeled "PRS Resource Set 3". Each PRS resource set includes at least two PRS resources. Specifically, the first PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 1") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 1" and "PRS Resource 2", the second PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 2") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 3" and "PRS Resource 4", and the third PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 3") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 5" and "PRS Resource 6".

[0162] When the UE is configured with multiple PRS resources in the assistance data of the positioning method that are beyond its capabilities, the UE assumes that the DL-PRS resources in the assistance data are sorted in descending order of measurement priority. Thus, the four frequency layers may or may not be sorted according to priority, the 64 TRPs of each frequency layer are sorted according to priority, the two PRS resource sets of each TRP of the frequency layer are sorted according to priority, and the 64 PRS resources of the PRS resource set of each TRP of each frequency layer may or may not be sorted according to priority. The reference indicated by the parameter "nr-DL-PRS-ReferenceInfo-r16" for each frequency layer has the highest priority at least for DL-TDOA positioning.

[0163] Figure 11 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" information element (IE) 1100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100 is used by a target UE (i.e., the UE being positioned) to provide NR-DL-TDOA measurements to a location server. The "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100 may be provided in an LPP provide location information message.

[0164] Figure 12 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement" information element (IE) 1200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement" IE 1200 is pointed to by the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100. The UE may be configured to report up to four DL-RSTD measurements per pair of "dl-PRS-ID" subject to UE capabilities, where each measurement is made between different DL-PRS resource pairs or DL-PRS resource set pairs configured for those "dl-PRS-ID" within the DL-PRS. Up to four measurements performed on the same pair of "dl-PRS-ID" and all DL-RSTD measurements in the same report use a single reference timing.

[0165] Both the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100 and the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement" IE 1200 are described in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 37.355, which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This disclosure discusses the NR-DL-TDOA positioning method, but it should be understood that the techniques described herein apply to all positioning methods.

[0166] Return reference for signaling details for reporting additional measurements for aggregated PRS measurements. In one aspect, the UE may perform independent reporting for PRS aggregation. For example, the UE may report an aggregated measurement information element, which is referred to herein as "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18". This information element should be backward compatible with earlier versions of the 3GPP standard.

[0167] If PRS measurements are obtained by PRS aggregation, the UE shall report the following information. For example, the "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" IE may include: a maximum PRS aggregation field (referred to herein as "MaxPRSaggregation-r18"), which indicates the maximum number of PRS resources that are aggregated to generate the result; and a PRS aggregation set field (referred to herein as "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18"), which indicates a tuple of PRS ID, PRS resource set ID, and PRS resource ID used for PRS aggregation. The reported primary PRS measurement (e.g., in the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100) may be aggregated by different PRS IDs, PRS resource set IDs, and / or PRS resource IDs.

[0168] Figure 13 An example "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" information element (IE) 1300 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In Figure 13In the example of, the "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" IE 1300 can be used to report aggregated PRS measurements for primary PRS measurements (e.g., the PRS measurements reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100). The combination identification of the PRS ID ("dl-PRS-ID-r16"), PRS resource set ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID-r16"), and PRS resource ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID-r16") reported in the legacy reporting element (e.g., the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100) identifies the first PRS resource (e.g., PRS 610-1) to be aggregated.

[0169] The "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" IE 1300 includes the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1350. The "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1350 includes one or more combinations of the PRS ID ("dl-PRS-ID-r16"), PRS resource set ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID-r16"), and PRS resource ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID-r16"). These values correspond to additional PRS resources (e.g., PRS 610-2 and 610-3) aggregated with the PRS resources (e.g., PRS 610-1) reported in the legacy reporting structure (e.g., the "NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement" IE 1100).

[0170] Figure 14 FIG. 1400 is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for primary PRS measurements in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 14 the example of, the UE aggregates positioning measurements (PRS measurements) of a first PRS resource ID (labeled "PRS Resource ID 0") in a first PRS ID and a second PRS ID (labeled "PRS ID 1" and "PRS ID2"). Note that the PRS ID is a proxy for the TRP ID and effectively indicates the positioning frequency layer (PFL).

[0171] Figure 15 FIG. illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) 1500 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 15In the example of, the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500 can be used to report aggregated PRS measurements for the additional PRS measurements reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200. That is, the UE can report both the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200 and the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500.

[0172] The "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500 includes the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1550. In Figure 15 the example of, the PRS resources identified by the combination of the PRS ID ("dl-PRS-ID-r16"), the PRS resource set ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID-r16"), and the PRS resource ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID-r16") in the additional measurement report element (e.g., the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500) are aggregated with the PRS resources identified in the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1550. In this way, the additional measurement report is only forced to follow the TRP location association defined in the additional measurement report element (e.g., the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500).

[0173] Figure 16 FIG. 1600 is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 1600 illustrates how the Figure 15 "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" IE 1500 illustrated in can be used to report additional PRS measurements. In Figure 16In the example, the UE aggregates the PRS measurements of the first PRS resource ID (labeled as "PRS Resource ID 0") in the first PRS ID and the second PRS ID (labeled as "PRS ID 1" and "PRS ID 2") to obtain the aggregated primary PRS measurement (reported in the "nr-DL-TDOA-AggregatedMeasurements-r18" IE 1300). The UE also aggregates the positioning measurements of the second PRS resource ID (labeled as "PRS Resource ID 1") in the first PRS ID and the third PRS ID to obtain additional aggregated PRS measurements (reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500).

[0174] Still referring to Figure 16 , the reporting of the main path (i.e., the primary PRS measurement) and the additional path (e.g., the additional PRS measurement in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1500) is independent because both contain the same sequence of the three-element tuple {PRS ID, PRS resource set ID, resource ID} for PRS resource reporting. In other words, the additional measurement may be due to aggregating PRS resources according to a different PRS-ID tuple compared to the PRS-ID tuple used in the primary measurement. For example, as Figure 16 shown, the primary measurement uses PRS ID1 and PRS ID, while the additional measurement uses PRS ID1 and PRS ID3.

[0175] Figure 17 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) 1700 according to aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 17 the example, the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1700 can be used to report the aggregated PRS measurements for the additional PRS measurements reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200. That is, the UE can report both the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200 and the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1700.

[0176] The "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1700 includes the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1750. In Figure 17 In the example of

[0177] Figure 18 FIG. 1800 is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 1800 illustrates how the Figure 17 "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1700 illustrated in Figure 18 can be used to report additional PRS measurements. In the example of

[0178] In Figure 18 the example of Figure 18In the example, the UE aggregates the positioning measurements of the second PRS resource ID (labeled as "PRS resource ID 1") in the first PRS resource set of the first PRS ID (labeled as "PRS resource set 0") and the first PRS resource ID ("PRS resource ID 0") in the second PRS resource set of the second PRS ID (labeled as "PRS resource set 1") to obtain the aggregated additional PRS measurements (reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1700).

[0179] Note that Figure 18 the "measurement" in the example is the RSTD measurement. Therefore, there is always the same reference (here, PRS ID1). Then, the first measurement has the TRP with PRS ID2 as the target TRP, and the same is the case for the additional measurement.

[0180] Figure 19 Illustrates an example "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" information element (IE) 1900 according to aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 19 the example, the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900 can be used to report the aggregated PRS measurements for the additional PRS measurements reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200. That is, the UE can report both the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r16" IE 1200 and the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900.

[0181] The "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900 includes the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1950. In Figure 19In the example, the PRS resources identified by the PRS resource ID ("nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID-r16") in the additional measurement report element (e.g., "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900) are aggregated with the PRS resources identified in the "nr-PRS-Aggregator-set-r18" IE 1950. In this way, the additional measurement report is forced to follow the association of the PRS ID and the PRS resource set ID defined in the additional measurement report element (e.g., "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900).

[0182] Figure 20 FIG. 2000 is a diagram illustrating an example of an aggregated report for additional PRS measurements in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 2000 illustrates how Figure 19 the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900 illustrated in Figure 20 the example can be used to report additional PRS measurements. In the

[0183] example of Figure 20 , the additional measurement report is forced to follow the association of the PRS ID and the PRS resource set ID defined for the primary measurement report. That is, additional measurements are performed only across PRS resources. Thus, the UE aggregates the positioning measurements of the second PRS resource ID (labeled "PRS Resource ID 1") in the first PRS resource set (labeled "PRS Resource Set 0") of the first PRS ID and the second PRS ID to obtain the aggregated additional PRS measurements (reported in the "NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurementElement-r18" IE 1900).

[0184] Figures 11 to 13 , Figure 15 , Figure 17 and Figure 19The information elements illustrated herein may be LPP messages sent by a UE to a location server. LPP is used point-to-point between a location server (e.g., LMF 270) and a target device (e.g., UE) to locate the target device using location-related measurements obtained by one or more reference sources (physical entities or parts of physical entities that provide signals measurable by the target device to obtain the location of the target device). An LPP session is used between the location server and the target device to obtain location-related measurements or location estimates, or to transfer assistance data. Currently, a single LPP session is used to support a single location request, and multiple LPP sessions can be used between the same endpoints to support multiple different location requests. Each LPP session includes one or more LPP transactions (or procedures), where each LPP transaction performs a single operation (capability exchange, assistance data transfer, or location information transfer). Each LPP transaction involves the exchange of one or more LPP messages between the location server and the target device. The general format of an LPP message consists of a set of common fields followed by a body. The body (which may be empty) contains information specific to a particular message type. Each message type contains information specific to one or more positioning methods and / or information common to all positioning methods.

[0185] An LPP session typically includes at least a capability transfer or indication procedure, an assistance data transfer or delivery procedure, and a location information transfer or delivery procedure. Figure 21 An example LPP capability transfer procedure 2110, an LPP assistance data transfer procedure 2130, and an LPP location information transfer procedure 2150 between a target device (labeled "Target") and a location server (labeled "Server") in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0186] The purpose of the LPP capability transfer procedure 2110 is to enable the transfer of capabilities from a target device (e.g., UE 204) to a location server (e.g., LMF 270). In this context, capabilities refer to positioning and protocol capabilities related to LPP and positioning methods supported by LPP. In the LPP capability transfer procedure 2110, the location server (e.g., LMF 270) indicates the types of capabilities required by the target device (e.g., UE 204) in an LPP request capabilities message. The target device responds with an LPP provide capabilities message. The capabilities included in the LPP provide capabilities message should correspond to any of the capability types specified in the LPP request capabilities message. Specifically, for each positioning method for which a request for a capability is included in the LPP request capabilities message, if the target device supports the positioning method, the target device includes in the LPP provide capabilities message the target device's capabilities for the supported positioning method. For the LPP capability indication procedure, the target device provides unsolicited (i.e., not in response to an LPP request capabilities message) capabilities to the location server in the LPP provide capabilities message.

[0187] The purpose of the LPP auxiliary data delivery process 2130 is to enable the target device to request auxiliary data from the location server to assist in positioning, and to enable the location server to deliver auxiliary data to the target device without request. In the LPP auxiliary data delivery process 2130, the target device transmits an LPP request auxiliary data message to the location server. The location server responds to the target device with an LPP provide auxiliary data message containing auxiliary data. The delivered auxiliary data should match or be a subset of the auxiliary data requested in the LPP request auxiliary data. The location server may also provide any unrequested information that it deems useful to the target device. The location server may also send one or more additional LPP provide auxiliary data messages containing further auxiliary data to the target device. For the LPP auxiliary data delivery process, the location server provides unsolicited auxiliary data necessary for positioning. Assistance data may be provided periodically or aperiodically.

[0188] The purpose of the LPP location information delivery process 2150 is to enable a location server to request location measurement data and / or location estimates from a target device, and to enable a target device to deliver location measurement data and / or location estimates to a location server without a request. In the LPP location information delivery process 2150, the location server transmits an LPP request location information message to the target device to request location information, thereby indicating the type of location information required and potentially associated QoS. The target device responds to the location server with an LPP provide location information message to deliver location information. Unless the location server explicitly allows additional location information, the delivered location information should match or be a subset of the location information requested by the LPP request location information. More specifically, if the requested information is compatible with the capabilities and configuration of the target device, the target device includes the requested information in the LPP provide location information message. Otherwise, if the target device does not support one or more of the requested positioning methods, the target device continues to process the message as if the message only contains information of the supported positioning methods, and handles the signaling content of the unsupported positioning method through LPP error detection. If requested by the LPP Request Location Information message, the target device transmits an Additional LPP Provide Location Information message to the location server to deliver additional location information.The LPP Location Information Delivery procedure supports the delivery of positioning estimates based on unsolicited services.

[0189] Figures 11 to 13 , Figure 15 , Figure 17 and Figure 19 The information elements illustrated in may be included in one or more LPP Provide Location Information messages.

[0190] LPP also defines procedures related to error indications when the receiving endpoint (target device or location server) receives an error or unexpected data or detects some data loss. Specifically, when the receiving endpoint determines that the received LPP message contains an error, the receiving endpoint may return an error message indicating one or more errors to the sending endpoint and discard the received / erroneous message. If the receiving endpoint is able to determine that the erroneous LPP message is an LPP error or abort message, the receiving endpoint discards the received message without returning an error message to the sending endpoint.

[0191] LPP also defines procedures related to abort indications to allow the target device or location server to abort an ongoing procedure due to an unexpected event (e.g., the LCS client cancels a location request). The abort procedure can also be used to stop an ongoing procedure (e.g., periodic location reporting from the target device). During the abort procedure, the first endpoint determines that procedure P must be aborted and transmits an abort message carrying the transaction ID of procedure P to the second endpoint. Then, the second endpoint aborts procedure P.

[0192] Figure 22 An example communication method 2200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, method X00 may be performed by a location server (e.g., LMF 270).

[0193] At 2210, the location server receives a report from a network node indicating that one or more transmissions of one or more PRS resources sent by the network node in one or more previous PRS instances were sent coherently by the network node. In one aspect, operation 2210 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any one or all of which may be considered a component for performing the operation.

[0194] At 2220, the location server receives a measurement report from a UE, the measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources. In one aspect, operation 2220 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any one or all of which may be considered a component for performing the operation.

[0195] It should be understood that the technical advantage of method 2200 is that positioning performance is improved in that aggregated positioning measurements of PRS resources can be used even in scenarios where there are dynamic decisions from network nodes that cause the coherence state of PRS resources to change dynamically.

[0196] In the foregoing detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the various examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as intending that the example clauses have more features than those expressly recited in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all of the features of the individual example clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the following clauses are hereby considered incorporated into the description, where each clause by itself may be a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clause to a particular combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to the particular combination. It is understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clauses with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause or any features with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless expressly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., conflicting aspects such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Additionally, it is contemplated that aspects of the clauses may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause does not directly depend on the independent clause.

[0197] Specific example embodiments are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0198] Clause 1. A communication method performed by a location server, the method comprising: receiving, from a network node, a report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node phase coherently; and receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0199] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, wherein: the report further comprises one or more transmission timestamps indicating the times at which the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and the measurement report further comprises one or more reception timestamps indicating the times at which the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

[0200] Clause 3. The method according to Clause 2, the method further comprising: estimating the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0201] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 3, the method further comprising: estimating the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on each of the one or more received timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmitted timestamps.

[0202] Clause 5. The method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 4, the method further comprising: discarding the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more received timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement is not obtained from the one or more transmissions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0203] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 5, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: a primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; and one or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

[0204] Clause 7. The method according to Clause 6, wherein: the first PRS resource is identified by a first PRS identifier, a first PRS resource set identifier, and a first PRS resource identifier, and the at least one second PRS resource is identified by at least one second PRS identifier, at least one second PRS resource set identifier, and at least one second PRS resource identifier.

[0205] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein the measurement report further comprises: the maximum number of measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, the identifier of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or a combination thereof.

[0206] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 8, wherein the identifier of the one or more PRS resources comprises: a PRS identifier, a PRS resource set identifier, a PRS resource identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0207] Clause 10. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the measurement report further comprises at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node.

[0208] Clause 11. The method according to Clause 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have a different PRS identifier, a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or any combination thereof from the one or more PRS resources.

[0209] Clause 12. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 11, wherein the PRS identifier, PRS resource set identifier, and PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS identifier, PRS resource set identifier, and PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0210] Clause 13. The method according to Clause 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource set identifier, different PRS resource identifier, or both, from the one or more PRS resources.

[0211] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 and 13, wherein the PRS resource set identifier and PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource set identifier and PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0212] Clause 15. The method according to Clause 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier and the same PRS resource set identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource identifier from the one or more PRS resources.

[0213] Clause 16. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 and 15, wherein the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources is independent of the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0214] Clause 17. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 16, wherein the at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement is repeated one or more times by the one or more second measurements of the one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node in the one or more previous PRS instances.

[0215] Clause 18. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 17, wherein the measurement report includes a location information message provided by the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0216] Clause 19. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 18, wherein the network node includes: a base station, a transmission and reception point (TRP), or a second UE.

[0217] Clause 20. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 19, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a UE receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0218] Clause 21. A location server, the location server comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node phase coherently; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0219] Clause 22. The location server according to Clause 21, wherein: the report further comprises one or more transmission timestamps indicating the times at which the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and the measurement report further comprises one or more reception timestamps indicating the times at which the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

[0220] Clause 23. The location server according to Clause 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0221] Clause 24. The location server according to any one of Clauses 22 to 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on each of the one or more reception timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmission timestamps.

[0222] Clause 25. The location server according to any one of Clauses 22 to 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: discard the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more received timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement is not obtained from one or more transmissions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0223] Clause 26. The location server according to any one of Clauses 21 to 25, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement includes: a primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; and one or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

[0224] Clause 27. The location server according to Clause 26, wherein: the first PRS resource is identified by a first PRS identifier, a first PRS resource set identifier, and a first PRS resource identifier, and the at least one second PRS resource is identified by at least one second PRS identifier, at least one second PRS resource set identifier, and at least one second PRS resource identifier.

[0225] Clause 28. The location server according to any one of Clauses 21 to 27, wherein the measurement report further includes: the maximum number of measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, the identifier of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or a combination thereof.

[0226] Clause 29. The location server according to Clause 28, wherein the identifier of the one or more PRS resources includes: a PRS identifier, a PRS resource set identifier, a PRS resource identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0227] Clause 30. The location server according to any one of Clauses 21 to 29, wherein the measurement report further includes at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node.

[0228] Clause 31. The location server according to Clause 30, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have a different PRS identifier, a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or any combination thereof from the one or more PRS resources.

[0229] Clause 32. The location server according to any one of Clauses 30 to 31, wherein the PRS identifiers, PRS resource set identifiers, and PRS resource identifiers of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS identifiers, PRS resource set identifiers, and PRS resource identifiers of the one or more PRS resources.

[0230] Clause 33. The location server according to Clause 30, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifiers as the one or more PRS resources and different PRS resource set identifiers, different PRS resource identifiers, or both, from the one or more PRS resources.

[0231] Clause 34. The location server according to any one of Clauses 30 and 33, wherein the PRS resource set identifiers and PRS resource identifiers of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource set identifiers and PRS resource identifiers of the one or more PRS resources.

[0232] Clause 35. The location server according to Clause 30, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifiers and the same PRS resource set identifiers as the one or more PRS resources and different PRS resource identifiers from the one or more PRS resources.

[0233] Clause 36. The location server according to any one of Clauses 30 and 35, wherein the PRS resource identifiers of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource identifiers of the one or more PRS resources.

[0234] Clause 37. The location server according to any one of Clauses 30 to 36, wherein the at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement is repeated one or more times for the one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node in the one or more previous PRS instances.

[0235] Clause 38. The location server according to any one of Clauses 30 to 37, wherein the measurement report includes a Location Protocol for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) (LPP) Provide Location Information message.

[0236] Clause 39. The location server according to any one of Clauses 21 to 38, wherein the network node includes: a base station, a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), or a second UE.

[0237] Clause 40. A location server according to any one of Clauses 21 to 39, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a UE receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0238] Clause 41. A location server, the location server comprising: means for receiving a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and means for receiving a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0239] Clause 42. The location server according to Clause 41, wherein: the report further comprises one or more transmission timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and the measurement report further comprises one or more reception timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

[0240] Clause 43. The location server according to Clause 42, the location server further comprising: means for: based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources, using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement to estimate the location of the UE.

[0241] Clause 44. The location server according to any one of Clauses 42 to 43, the location server further comprising: means for: based on each of the one or more reception timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmission timestamps, using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement to estimate the location of the UE.

[0242] Clause 45. The location server according to any one of Clauses 42 to 44, the location server further comprising: means for: based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was not obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources, discarding the at least one aggregated positioning measurement.

[0243] Clause 46. The location server according to any one of Clauses 41 to 45, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement includes: a primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; and one or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

[0244] Clause 47. The location server according to Clause 46, wherein: the first PRS resource is identified by a first PRS identifier, a first PRS resource set identifier, and a first PRS resource identifier, and the at least one second PRS resource is identified by at least one second PRS identifier, at least one second PRS resource set identifier, and at least one second PRS resource identifier.

[0245] Clause 48. The location server according to any one of Clauses 41 to 47, wherein the measurement report further includes: the maximum number of measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, the identifier of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or a combination thereof.

[0246] Clause 49. The location server according to Clause 48, wherein the identifier of the one or more PRS resources includes: a PRS identifier, a PRS resource set identifier, a PRS resource identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0247] Clause 50. The location server according to any one of Clauses 41 to 49, wherein the measurement report further includes at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node.

[0248] Clause 51. The location server according to Clause 50, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have a different PRS identifier, a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or any combination thereof from the one or more PRS resources.

[0249] Clause 52. The location server according to any one of Clauses 50 to 51, wherein the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0250] Clause 53. The location server according to clause 50, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or both, from the one or more PRS resources.

[0251] Clause 54. The location server according to any one of clauses 50 and 53, wherein the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0252] Clause 55. The location server according to clause 50, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier and the same PRS resource set identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource identifier from the one or more PRS resources.

[0253] Clause 56. The location server according to any one of clauses 50 and 55, wherein the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources is independent of the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0254] Clause 57. The location server according to any one of clauses 50 to 56, wherein the at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement is repeated one or more times by the network node for the one or more second PRS resources transmitted in the one or more previous PRS instances.

[0255] Clause 58. The location server according to any one of clauses 50 to 57, wherein the measurement report includes a Location Protocol for Long-Term Evolution (LPP) Provide Location Information message.

[0256] Clause 59. The location server according to any one of clauses 41 to 58, wherein the network node includes: a base station, a transmission and reception point (TRP), or a second UE.

[0257] Clause 60. The location server according to any one of clauses 41 to 59, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement includes: a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurement, a UE Received Transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, an Enhanced Cell Identifier (E-CID) measurement, a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0258] Clause 61. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: receive a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and receive a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0259] Clause 62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 61, wherein: the report further includes one or more transmission timestamps indicating when the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and the measurement report further includes one or more reception timestamps indicating when the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

[0260] Clause 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 62, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0261] Clause 64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 62 to 63, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on each of the one or more reception timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmission timestamps.

[0262] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 62 to 64, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: discard the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was not obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

[0263] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 61 to 65, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement includes: a primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; and one or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

[0264] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 66, wherein: the first PRS resource is identified by a first PRS identifier, a first PRS resource set identifier, and a first PRS resource identifier, and the at least one second PRS resource is identified by at least one second PRS identifier, at least one second PRS resource set identifier, and at least one second PRS resource identifier.

[0265] Clause 68. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 61 to 67, wherein the measurement report further includes: the maximum number of measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, the identifier of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or a combination thereof.

[0266] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 68, wherein the identifier of the one or more PRS resources includes: a PRS identifier, a PRS resource set identifier, a PRS resource identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 61 to 69, wherein the measurement report further includes at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node.

[0268] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 70, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have a different PRS identifier, a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or any combination thereof from the one or more PRS resources.

[0269] Clause 72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 70 to 71, wherein the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0270] Clause 73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 70, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource set identifier, different PRS resource identifiers, or both, from the one or more PRS resources.

[0271] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 70 and 73, wherein the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0272] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 70, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier and the same PRS resource set identifier as the one or more PRS resources and different PRS resource identifiers from the one or more PRS resources.

[0273] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 70 and 75, wherein the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources is independent of the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

[0274] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 70 to 76, wherein the at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement is repeated one or more times by the network node for the one or more second PRS resources transmitted in the one or more previous PRS instances.

[0275] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 70 to 77, wherein the measurement report includes a Location Information message provided by the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0276] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 61 to 78, wherein the network node comprises: a base station, a transmission and reception point (TRP), or a second UE.

[0277] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 61 to 79, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurement, a UE Received Transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, an Enhanced Cell Identifier (E-CID) measurement, a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0278] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may have been mentioned throughout the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0279] In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each particular application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0280] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or executed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0281] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0282] In one or more example aspects, the functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include: compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0283] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps, and / or acts of the method claims according to aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is also contemplated unless expressly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A communication method performed by a location server, the method comprising: Receiving a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node in phase coherence; And Receiving a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The report further includes one or more transmission timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and The measurement report further includes one or more reception timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

3. The method according to claim 2, the method further comprising: Based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources, using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement to estimate the location of the UE.

4. The method according to claim 2, the method further comprising: Based on each of the one or more reception timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmission timestamps, using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement to estimate the location of the UE.

5. The method according to claim 2, the method further comprising: Based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was not obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources, discarding the at least one aggregated positioning measurement.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: A primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; And One or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The first PRS resource is identified by a first PRS identifier, a first PRS resource set identifier, and a first PRS resource identifier, and The at least one second PRS resource is identified by at least one second PRS identifier, at least one second PRS resource set identifier, and at least one second PRS resource identifier.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement report further includes: The maximum number of the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, The identifiers of the one or more PRS resources aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or A combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the identifier of the one or more PRS resources comprises: a PRS identifier, a PRS resource set identifier, a PRS resource identifier, or a combination thereof.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement report further comprises at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have a different PRS identifier, a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or any combination thereof from the one or more PRS resources.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS identifier, the PRS resource set identifier, and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource set identifier, a different PRS resource identifier, or both, from the one or more PRS resources.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources are independent of the PRS resource set identifier and the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein the one or more second PRS resources have the same PRS identifier and the same PRS resource set identifier as the one or more PRS resources and a different PRS resource identifier from the one or more PRS resources.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the PRS resource identifier of the one or more second PRS resources is independent of the PRS resource identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement is a repetition of one or more second measurements of the one or more second PRS resources sent by the network node in the one or more previous PRS instances.

18. The method according to claim 10, wherein the measurement report comprises a Location Information message provided by the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network node comprises: a base station, a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), or a second UE.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement comprises: a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurement, a UE Received Transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, an Enhanced Cell Identifier (E-CID) measurement, a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

21. A location server, the location server comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances were transmitted by the network node phase-coherently; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report including at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

22. The location server according to claim 21, wherein: the report further includes one or more transmission timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were transmitted, and the measurement report further includes one or more reception timestamps indicating the time at which the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources were measured.

23. The location server according to claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

24. The location server according to claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate the location of the UE using the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on each of the one or more reception timestamps corresponding to at least one of the one or more transmission timestamps.

25. The location server according to claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: discard the at least one aggregated positioning measurement based on the one or more reception timestamps indicating that the at least one aggregated positioning measurement was not obtained from the one or more transmission repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

26. The location server according to claim 21, wherein the at least one aggregated positioning measurement includes: a primary aggregated positioning measurement of a first PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources; and one or more additional aggregated positioning measurements of at least one second PRS resource among the one or more PRS resources.

27. The location server according to claim 21, wherein the measurement report further includes: the maximum number of the one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources that were aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, identifiers of the one or more PRS resources that were aggregated to obtain the at least one aggregated positioning measurement, or Their combination.

28. The location server according to claim 21, wherein the measurement report further comprises at least one additional aggregated positioning measurement of one or more second PRS resources transmitted by the network node.

29. A location server, comprising: means for receiving a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances are transmitted by the network node in a phase-coherent manner; and means for receiving a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to perform the following operations: receive a report from a network node, the report indicating that one or more transmission repetitions of one or more PRS resources transmitted by the network node in one or more previous positioning reference signal (PRS) instances are transmitted by the network node in a phase-coherent manner; and receive a measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the measurement report comprising at least one aggregated positioning measurement of one or more measurement repetitions of the one or more PRS resources.

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