External sensor data usage for improved dead reckoning

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) determines a validated heading of the UE, where the validated heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and determining a dead reckoning positioning estimate for the UE based at least on the validated heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technologies

[0003] 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 the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0004] 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 high-density deployments of 5G enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the following summary is neither intended to be an exhaustive overview of all contemplated aspects nor to identify key or critical elements of all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present in simplified form certain concepts related to one or more aspects involving the mechanisms disclosed herein prior to the detailed description that follows.

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless positioning performed by a User Equipment (UE) includes: determining a verified heading of the UE, where the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and determining a dead reckoning positioning estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0007] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) 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 being configured to: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for determining a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE; and means for determining a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0009] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0010] 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

[0011] The drawings are presented to assist in describing aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only for illustration and not limitation of the aspects.

[0012] Figure 1 Illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Illustrates an example wireless network structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 3 Illustrates an example user equipment (UE) architecture in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 4 Illustrates an example on-board computer architecture in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 5Illustrates a scenario in which a UE navigates through a tunnel according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 6 Illustrates an example architecture of a UE navigation system according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 7 Illustrates operations according to aspects of the present disclosure Figure 6 An example method of the illustrated UE navigation system.

[0019] Figure 8 Illustrates an example method of wireless positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0020] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description of various examples provided for illustrative purposes and the associated drawings. Alternative aspects may 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.

[0021] The words "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.

[0022] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on a particular application, in part on a desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0023] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, 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 a device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each of the aspects described herein, any such aspect's corresponding form can be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0024] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A 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 variants thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE can communicate with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for a UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are 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 standards, etc.).

[0025] 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, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), and so on. 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 UE. 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 the UE can transmit signals to the base station is called the 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 the 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 the uplink / reverse traffic channel or the downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0026] 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 the 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 the base station employs beamforming). 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 the serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs 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, the TRP is the point by which the base station transmits and receives wireless signals, a reference to transmission from or reception at the base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0027] In some specific implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the wireless access of the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but can alternatively send reference signals to be measured by the UE and / or can receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station can be called a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending signals to the UE) and / or can be called a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0028] 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 the context clearly indicates 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 a "signal".

[0029] Figure 1 An 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 macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell 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 femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0030] 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., 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.

[0031] Among other functions, base station 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting 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 device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) through a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0032] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station in base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 in each geographic 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 may 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 on the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may, depending on the context, refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, provided that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a certain part of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0033] Although the geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas within the geographical coverage area 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographical coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may 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 may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0034] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0035] 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 if the channel is available.

[0036] 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 technology 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.

[0037] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which may operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. The extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to frequencies 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. Communication using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more 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.

[0038] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). 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, thereby 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 may control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each transmitter of one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array"), which 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 in the correct phase relationship 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.

[0039] Transmission beams can be quasi - collocated, which means that they appear to have the same parameters to a receiver (e.g., a UE), regardless of whether the transmission antennas of the network node are physically collocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi - collocation (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 of QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0040] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify the RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a specific direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signals received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when the receiver is said to perform beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains in other directions, or 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 signals received from that direction (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal - to - interference - plus - noise ratio (SINR), etc.).

[0041] Transmission beams and receive beams can be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmission beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmission beam) of 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 transmission 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.

[0042] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the 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 the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0043] 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 designations FR1 (410 MHz – 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz – 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion 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 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the "millimeter wave" band.

[0044] 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 designations 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 designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz – 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz – 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz – 300 GHz). Each of these higher bands falls within the EHF band.

[0045] Taking into account the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used herein, terms such as "below 6 GHz" can generally represent frequencies that can be less than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include intermediate band frequencies. Additionally, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if terms such as "millimeter wave" are used herein, they can generally represent frequencies that can include intermediate band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0046] 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 procedure or initiates the RRC connection reestablishment procedure 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 may only contain 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 exist in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in the cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same holds true for the primary uplink carrier. The network can 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, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0047] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies utilized by macro cell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and the other frequencies utilized by macro cell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers (“SCell”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables 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).

[0048] Wireless communication system 100 may further include UE 164, which may communicate with macro cell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or communicate with mmW base station 180 via mmW communication link 184. For example, macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for UE 164.

[0049] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capabilities (SL-UE) may communicate with base station 102 via the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station) through communication link 120. The SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between UEs with sidelink capabilities) through wireless sidelink 160. The wireless sidelink (or simply referred to as “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (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 base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102 or for other reasons may not be able to receive transmissions from base station 102. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving base station 102.

[0050] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between 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 operations 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.

[0051] Note that while Figure 1 only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182), any one of the illustrated UEs may be an SL-UE. Additionally, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any one of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) is 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 stations 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.

[0052] In Figure 1 the example of Figure 1Any one of the UEs 104 shown as a single UE in [the figure] can receive a signal 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 generally 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., the signal 124). Such transmitters typically send signals that are marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code having 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 geographic location information from the SV 112.

[0053] 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), GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or 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.

[0054] 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 an element 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 provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately provides 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., the signal 124) from the SV 112.

[0055] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190), which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In Figure 1 In an example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs in UE 104 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 AP 150 (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), and so on.

[0056] 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 a core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, and specifically connect to user plane function 212 and control plane function 214 respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane function 212. In addition, ng-eNB224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, 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., smart phones or V-UEs).

[0057] 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).

[0058] 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 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, which 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, allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for EPS interoperability, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0059] 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, reflective 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.

[0060] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration at the UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, 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.

[0061] 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 functions similar to those of 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 (e.g., 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).

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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 ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a radio interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0064] The functionality of gNB 222 can be divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically allocated to the gNB-DU 228, including delivering 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 Medium 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 228 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 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC 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.

[0065] Figure 3 Illustrated are several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that can be incorporated into a UE 300, which can correspond to any of the UEs described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different specific implementations in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a System on Chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system can include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Moreover, a given device can include one or more of these components. For example, a device can include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0066] UE 300 includes one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310, which provide components (e.g., components for transmission, components for reception, components for measurement, components for tuning, components for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). Each of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 to communicate 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.) through an interested wireless communication medium (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The one or more WWAN transceivers 310 can be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals 318 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT and vice versa to receive and decode signals 318 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the one or more WWAN transceivers 310 include one or more transmitters 314 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and one or more receivers 312 for receiving and decoding signals 318.

[0067] At least in some cases, UE 300 further includes one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320. The one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and provide components (e.g., components for transmission, components for reception, components for measurement, components for tuning, components for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) via at least one specified RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE-D, Z- PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) through an interested wireless communication medium. The one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 can be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT and vice versa to receive and decode signals 328 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 include one or more transmitters 324 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and one or more receivers 322 for receiving and decoding signals 328. As a specific example, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 can be Wi-Fi transceivers, transceivers, and / or Z- A transceiver, an NFC transceiver, a UWB transceiver, or a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0068] In at least some cases, the UE 300 further includes a satellite signal receiver 330. The satellite signal receiver 330 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and may provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338. In the case where the satellite signal receiver 330 is a satellite positioning system receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 may 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 receiver 330 is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver 330 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the satellite positioning / communication signals 338. The satellite signal receiver 330 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the location of the UE 300.

[0069] The transceiver can be configured to communicate via a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322). In some specific implementations, the transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some specific implementations can include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or can be implemented in other ways in other specific implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of the wired transceiver can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324) can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device (e.g., UE 300) to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322) can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device (e.g., UE 300) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit can share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than receive and transmit both at the same time. The wireless transceiver (e.g., one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320) can also include a network listening module (NLM) and the like for performing various measurements.

[0070] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320) and wired transceivers can generally be characterized as "transceiver", "at least one transceiver", or "one or more transceivers". Thus, it can be inferred whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 300) and a base station will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0071] UE 300 also includes other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 300 includes one or more processors 332 that are used to provide functions related to wireless communication, for example, and to provide other processing functions. Thus, the one or more processors 332 can provide components for processing, such as components for determining, for calculating, for receiving, for transmitting, for indicating, etc. In one aspect, the one or more processors 332 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0072] UE 300 includes memory circuitry that implements a memory 340 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memory 340 can thus provide components for storing, for retrieving, for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 300 can include a positioning component 342. The positioning component 342 can be a hardware circuit that is part of or coupled to the one or more processors 332, and when executed, the one or more processors cause UE 300 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning component 342 can be external to the processor 332 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component 342 can be a memory module stored in the memory 340 that, when executed by the one or more processors 332 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), causes UE 300 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3 Illustrated are possible locations of the positioning component 342, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or can be an independent component.

[0073] In one aspect, the UE 300 may utilize one or more WWAN transceivers 310 and / or one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 to download one or more maps 302, which may then be stored in the memory 340 and used to obtain navigation map data for vehicle navigation. The maps 302 may be one or more high-definition (HD) maps, which may provide accuracy within an absolute range of 7 cm to 10 cm, a highly detailed inventory of all fixed physical assets associated with roads and paths, such as road lanes, road edges, shoulders, dividers, traffic signals, signage, paint markings, poles, and other data that assist the UE 300 in safely navigating roads and intersections. Information about road lanes may include the number, width, type (e.g., high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) or non-HOV), traffic direction, etc. of the lanes. Alternatively, the maps 302 may be more general or streamlined, where roads are represented as linear segments and / or road headings. Thus, the range of navigation map data that can be obtained from the maps 302 may vary from the location and dimensions of fixed physical assets associated with roads and paths to just road headings.

[0074] In addition, the navigation map data obtained from the maps 302 may vary based on the type of navigation and / or the type of the UE 300. For example, the navigation map data of a handheld UE may not be as detailed as that of a V-UE. Also, for example, the navigation map data for sidewalks may be more detailed than the navigation map data for public transportation routes. Similarly, the level of detail of the maps 302 (e.g., HD maps, road segments, road headings) and / or the navigation map data obtained from the maps 302 may depend on the type of the UE 300 downloading and accessing the maps 302 or the type of navigation being accessed by the UE 300.

[0075] The UE 300 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 independent of 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, the sensors 344 may include one or more 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 sensors. In addition, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the 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. Note that at least the accelerometer and the gyroscope may be referred to as "inertial" sensors.

[0076] The various components of the UE 300 can be communicatively coupled to each other via a data bus 334. In one aspect, the data bus 334 can form or be part of the communication interface of the UE 300.

[0077] In addition, the UE 300 includes a user interface 346 that provides components for providing indications to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon actuation of a sensing device by the user such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.).

[0078] Figure 4 An example architecture of an on-board computer (OBC) 400 of a vehicle in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the OBC 400 can be part of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) or an autonomous driving system (ADS) of a vehicle. The OBC 400 can also be a V-UE of the vehicle. The OBC 400 includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (i.e., a memory 404) and one or more processors 406 communicatively coupled to the memory 404 via a data bus 408. The memory 404 includes one or more storage modules storing computer-readable instructions that can be executed by the one or more processors 406 to perform the functions of the OBC 400 described herein. For example, the one or more processors 406 in combination with the memory 404 can implement the various operations described herein.

[0079] One or more radar camera sensor modules 420 are coupled to the OBC 400 (only one is shown for simplicity) Figure 4 In some aspects, the radar camera sensor module 420 includes at least one camera 412, at least one radar 414, and an optional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor 416. The OBC 400 also includes one or more system interfaces 410 that connect the one or more processors 406 to the radar camera sensor module 420 via the data bus 408 and optionally to other vehicle subsystems (not shown).

[0080] In one aspect, the camera 412 can capture image frames (also referred to herein as camera frames) of a scene within the observation area of the camera 412 at a certain periodic rate. Similarly, the radar 414 can capture radar frames of a scene within the observation area of the radar 414 at a certain periodic rate. The periodic rates at which the camera 412 and the radar 414 capture their respective frames can be the same or different. Each camera and radar frame can be timestamped. Thus, in the case where the periodic rates are different, the timestamps can be used to simultaneously or almost simultaneously select the captured camera frames and radar frames for further processing (e.g., fusion).

[0081] In at least some cases, the OBC 400 also includes one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 430 configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) such as NR networks, LTE networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, etc. One or more WWAN transceivers 430 may be connected to one or more antennas (not shown) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other V-UEs, pedestrian UEs, infrastructure access points, roadside units (RSUs), base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one specified RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over an interested wireless communication medium (e.g., certain time / frequency resource sets in a specific spectrum). One or more WWAN transceivers 430 may be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT and vice versa to receive and decode signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.).

[0082] In at least some cases, the OBC 400 also includes one or more short-range wireless transceivers 440 (e.g., Wi-Fi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, etc.). One or more short-range wireless transceivers 440 may be connected to one or more antennas (not shown) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other V-UEs, pedestrian UEs, infrastructure access points, RSUs, etc.) via at least one specified RAT (e.g., Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), IEEE 802.11p (also known as Wireless Access for Vehicular Environments (WAVE)), Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), etc.) over an interested wireless communication medium. One or more short-range wireless transceivers 440 may be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT and vice versa to receive and decode signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.).

[0083] As used herein, a "transceiver" may include a transmitter circuit, a receiver circuit, or a combination thereof, but need not provide both transmit and receive functionality in all designs. For example, in designs where full communication is not necessary, a low-functionality receiver circuit may be employed in some designs to reduce cost (e.g., simply providing a receiver chip or similar circuit for low-level sniffing).

[0084] In at least some cases, the OBC 400 also includes a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver 450. The GNSS receiver 450 may be connected to one or more antennas (not shown) for receiving satellite signals. The GNSS receiver 450 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing GNSS signals. The GNSS receiver 450 requests information and operations from other systems when appropriate and performs the calculations required to determine the location of the vehicle using measurements obtained by any suitable GNSS algorithms.

[0085] In one aspect, the OBC 400 may utilize one or more WWAN transceivers 430 and / or one or more short-range wireless transceivers 440 to download one or more maps 402, which may then be stored in the memory 404 and used to obtain navigation map data for vehicle navigation. The maps 402 may be one or more HD maps, which may provide an accuracy within an absolute range of 7 cm to 10 cm, a highly detailed inventory of all fixed physical assets related to the road, such as road lanes, road edges, shoulders, dividers, traffic signals, signage, paint markings, poles, and other data that assist in the safe navigation of the vehicle on the road and at intersections. The maps 402 may also provide electronic horizon prediction awareness, which enables the vehicle to know what lies ahead. Information about the road lanes may include the number, width, type (e.g., High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) or non-HOV), traffic direction, etc. of the lanes. Alternatively, the maps 402 may be more general or streamlined, where the roads are represented as linear segments and / or road headings. Thus, the range of navigation map data that can be obtained from the maps 302 may range from the location and dimensions of fixed physical assets related to roads and paths to just road headings.

[0086] One or more sensors 460 of the vehicle may be coupled to one or more processors 406 via one or more system interfaces 410. One or more sensors 460 may provide components for sensing or detecting information such as speed, heading (e.g., compass heading), headlight status, fuel consumption, etc. related to the state and / or environment of the vehicle. By way of example, one or more sensors 460 may include an odometer, a speedometer, a tachometer, an accelerometer (e.g., a MEMS device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), etc. Although shown as being located outside the OBC 400, some of these sensors 460 may be located on the OBC 400, and some sensors may be located elsewhere in the vehicle.

[0087] The OBC 400 may further include a positioning component 418. The positioning component 418 may include hardware circuitry that is part of or coupled to the one or more processors 406, which, when executed, cause the OBC 400 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning component 418 may be external to the one or more processors 406 (e.g., part of a positioning processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component 418 may be one or more memory modules stored in the memory 404, which, when executed by the one or more processors 406 (or a positioning processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the OBC 400 to perform the functionality described herein. As a specific example, the positioning component 418 may include multiple positioning engines, a positioning engine aggregator, a sensor fusion module, etc. Figure 4 Illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 418, which may be part of, for example, the memory 404, the one or more processors 406, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0088] Although not shown, the OBC 400 may include or be coupled to a user interface (e.g., a touch screen) for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon actuation of a sensing device by the user, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.).

[0089] For convenience, the UE 300 and / or the OBC 400 are respectively shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 as including various components that may 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, Figure 3 each of the components in

[0090] Figure 3 and Figure 4 are optional in alternative configurations, and aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choices, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, a particular implementation of the UE 300 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or a tablet computer or a PC or a laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor 344, etc. The same is true for the OBC 400. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. Figure 3 andFigure 4 The components can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit 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 302 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 300 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or through appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being "performed by the UE". However, as will be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of UE 300, such as one or more processors 332, one or more transceivers 310 and 320, memory 340, positioning component 342, etc.

[0091] The UE can use sensor-based positioning (e.g., using sensor 344) and / or GNSS-based positioning (e.g., using satellite signal receiver 330) to estimate its position for navigation. Sensor-based positioning is also known as "inertial navigation" or "dead reckoning". Dead reckoning is the process of calculating the current position of the UE by using the previously determined position of the UE and then combining the estimated speed, heading direction, and route during the time elapsed between the previous position fix and the current position fix.

[0092] Some UE navigation systems (e.g., vehicle navigation systems) can use both dead reckoning and GNSS-based positioning to increase positioning accuracy. For example, challenging GNSS conditions (such as when the UE is surrounded by tall buildings, in a tunnel, in a parking garage, under thick tree canopies, etc.) can cause a degradation in GNSS-based positioning performance. Dead reckoning can be used to continue positioning and / or navigating the UE during these interruptions in GNSS service.

[0093] However, significant approximation errors can occur in dead reckoning. For accurate positioning information, it is necessary to know both the speed and direction (heading) during travel accurately. Notably, dead reckoning does not account for direction drift during travel. These errors tend to exacerbate over larger distances, making dead reckoning a difficult method for navigation over longer journeys. For example, if displacement is measured by the number of rotations of the wheels of a vehicle, any difference between the actual travel distance and the assumed travel distance per rotation due to slippage or surface irregularities will be a source of error. Since each position estimate is related to the previous one, the errors accumulate over time.

[0094] The accuracy of dead reckoning can be significantly improved by obtaining a new positioning fix using other positioning methods (e.g., GNSS) during navigation. Using a combination of GNSS-based positioning and sensor-based positioning to locate a UE requires an accurate estimate of the device's pose (i.e., orientation). The presence of GNSS-based positioning allows for the calibration of sensor biases for sensor-based positioning to achieve a more accurate pose estimate. Thus, the inability to calibrate sensor biases under challenging GNSS conditions can lead to a degradation in dead reckoning performance. In the presence of inaccurate sensor bias estimates from GNSS, large sensor mechanization errors result in a degradation in dead reckoning performance.

[0095] Figure 5 FIG. 500 is an illustration of a scenario in which a UE navigates through a tunnel in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 5 this example, the tunnel provides a road under a port. The UE can be a handheld UE (such as a smartphone) carried by a user in a vehicle or an on-board computer (OBC) of the vehicle (such as OBC 400). As Figure 5 shown, the tunnel follows path 510, but due to the lack of GNSS service within the tunnel and the inability to calibrate sensor biases based on GNSS, the UE has calculated its position as following path (or route) 520.

[0096] The present disclosure provides techniques for using external sensor data to improve dead reckoning navigation. At a high level, when GNSS measurements are unavailable, the positioning fix from a dead reckoning navigation system can be compared with the heading of the UE determined from navigation map data (or simply "map data") to adjust the positioning estimate from the dead reckoning navigation system. More specifically, the map data heading is used to improve the pose estimate. The pose (i.e., orientation) of the UE is estimated by deriving roll estimates and pitch estimates from the extended Kalman filter (EKF) state and yaw estimates from the map heading. The rate (velocity) estimate of the EKF state is adjusted using the map heading, and the positioning state is propagated using sensor-based positioning estimates and the updated pose estimate.

[0097] Figure 6 FIG. 600 illustrates an example architecture of a UE navigation system 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE can be a handheld UE (such as a smartphone) or an on-board computer (OBC) of a vehicle (such as OBC 400). Figure 7 FIG. 700 illustrates an example method 700 for operating a UE navigation system 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0098] As Figure 6As shown, the map verification block 610 receives navigation map data (e.g., from maps 302, 402), GNSS information (e.g., from satellite signal receivers 330, GNSS receivers 450), and accelerometer and gyroscope information (e.g., from sensors 344, 460). As discussed above, the navigation map data can be highly detailed (as in the case of an HD map) or simply indicate the heading of a road. Additionally, the type and / or detail of the map data can depend on the type of UE on which the UE navigation system 600 is implemented and / or the type of navigation (e.g., pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle, public transportation, etc.). In any case, the UE navigation system 600 should be able to determine the heading of the UE (referred to as the "map heading") from the navigation map data. The GNSS information and inertial sensor information (i.e., accelerometer and gyroscope information) also indicate the heading and speed of the UE.

[0099] At stage 710, the map verification block 610 determines the validity of the map data based on the GNSS information and the accelerometer and gyroscope information (i.e., the heading and speed of the UE). That is, the map verification block 610 determines whether the heading of the UE determined from the map data (map heading) is consistent with the heading and speed data determined from the GNSS information and the inertial sensor information.

[0100] Note that at least both GNSS and sensor information should be used to verify the map heading. More specifically, when GNSS information is available, the map heading is latched to that GNSS information. When it is not available, the latched heading is simply propagated using motion sensors (e.g., accelerometer and gyroscope), and the latched heading is used to verify the map heading.

[0101] In one aspect, although Figure 6 it is illustrated that the speed and heading are determined based on accelerometer and gyroscope information, it will be understood that other external sensors can be used. For example, the speed and heading can also be estimated from camera data (e.g., camera frames from camera 412), radar data (e.g., radar frames from radar 414), and / or lidar data (e.g., lidar frames from LiDAR sensor 416).

[0102] The verified map data (e.g., the verified heading) is passed to the propagation block 620. The propagation block includes an attitude adjustment block 630, a rate adjustment block 640, and a sensor mechanization block 650. The propagation block 620 additionally takes as inputs accelerometer and gyroscope information (e.g., from sensors 344, 460) and the previous EKF state. Based on this information, at stage 720, the attitude adjustment block 630 uses the yaw (i.e., the left - right movement of the UE) information from the external map heading and the roll and / or pitch (i.e., the up - down movement of the UE) information from the EKF block 660 to update the attitude (i.e., orientation) estimate of the UE. More specifically, the updated attitude is estimated by deriving the roll and / or pitch from the EKF state and the yaw from the map heading (i.e., from the verified map data).

[0103] At stage 730, the rate adjustment block 640 updates the rate / velocity estimate of the UE. The rate of the EKF state is adjusted based on the map heading verified at stage 710. The method 700 then proceeds to stage 740. If the external heading and / or velocity is not verified at stage 720, the method 700 also proceeds to stage 740.

[0104] At stage 740, based on these updates, the sensor mechanization block 650 performs sensor mechanization and outputs the propagated EKF state to the EKF block 660. Sensor mechanization is the process of using inertial sensors to track the position and direction of travel. Thus, the propagated EKF state indicates a new position estimate of the UE determined based on the updated attitude and rate from the attitude adjustment block 630 and the rate adjustment block 640, respectively.

[0105] At stage 750, based on the sensor mechanization performed at stage 740, the rate / velocity estimate is updated using the injection velocity (if available). This stage is performed after the sensor mechanization block 650 and before the EKF block 660.

[0106] In addition to the propagated EKF state from the propagation block 620, the EKF block 660 also takes as inputs information from the GNSS measurement engine 670 (e.g., satellite signal receivers 330, GNSS receivers 450) (if determined to be available at stage 760) and the inertial navigation system (INS) parameter module 680. The input from the GNSS measurement engine 670 can include pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), and carrier phase. The input from the INS parameter module 680 can include initialization and constraint parameters. The INS parameter module 680 itself takes accelerometer and gyroscope information (e.g., from sensors 344, 460) as inputs. The initialization and constraint parameters use the absolute user movement trajectory to constrain the sensor - based propagation from the propagation block 620.

[0107] At stage 770, based on the received information, the EKF block 660 fuses or integrates the GNSS measurements from the GNSS measurement engine 670 and the sensor-based positioning fix from the propagation block 620 to output an EKF state to the propagation block 620. The EKF state represents the positioning of the UE calculated by the EKF block 660 based on sensor information and GNSS measurements.

[0108] If GNSS information is not available, GNSS-based EKF updates cannot be performed at stage 770. Thus, if GNSS information is not available, at stage 780, constraints from the INS parameter module 680 are used to perform a measurement update to propagate the previous GNSS state.

[0109] Figure 7 The method 700 illustrated in can be performed at any time the UE is navigating, whether GNSS is available or not. However, as will be appreciated, the method 700 provides improved navigation results when GNSS service is unavailable or unreliable.

[0110] Figure 8 An example method 800 of wireless positioning in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the method 800 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0111] At 810, the UE determines a verified heading of the UE, where the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE. In one aspect, operation 810 can be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any one or all of which can be considered a component for performing the operation. In one aspect, operation 810 can be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 430, one or more processors 406, memory 404, and / or positioning component 418, any one or all of which can be considered a component for performing the operation.

[0112] At 820, the UE determines a dead reckoning positioning estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE. In one aspect, operation 820 can be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any one or all of which can be considered a component for performing the operation. In one aspect, operation 820 can be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 430, one or more processors 406, memory 404, and / or positioning component 418, any one or all of which can be considered a component for performing the operation.

[0113] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 800 is improved navigation results.

[0114] 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 an intention that the example clauses have more features than those expressly recited in each clause. On the contrary, aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer features than all of the features of the individual example clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the following clauses are hereby incorporated into the description, where each clause itself may serve as 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 should be 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. Aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless expressly stated or readily inferable 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 the clause does not directly depend on the independent clause.

[0115] Specific example embodiments are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0116] Clause 1. A method of wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and determining a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0117] Clause 2. The method according to clause 1, wherein determining the dead reckoning position estimate comprises: determining an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; and determining the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0118] Clause 3. The method according to clause 2, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more extended Kalman filter (EKF) states.

[0119] Clause 4. The method according to clause 3, wherein a rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

[0120] Clause 5. The method according to any one of Clauses 3 to 4, wherein the positioning estimation of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimation of the attitude.

[0121] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 3 to 5, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

[0122] Clause 7. The method according to Clause 6, wherein: the one or more initialization and constraint parameters include the trajectory of the UE, and the trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

[0123] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein the verified heading is further based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0124] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 8, wherein determining the verified heading of the UE includes: determining that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

[0125] Clause 10. The method according to any one of Clauses 8 to 9, wherein the GNSS measurements include: pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), carrier phase, or any combination thereof.

[0126] Clause 11. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a radar, a lidar, or any combination thereof.

[0127] Clause 12. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 11, the method further includes: displaying a route of the UE on a user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes a dead reckoning positioning estimate of the UE.

[0128] Clause 13. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning positioning estimate.

[0129] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the UE includes: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

[0130] Clause 15. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0131] Clause 16. The UE according to clause 15, wherein the at least one processor being configured to determine the dead reckoning position estimate includes the at least one processor being configured to: determine an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; and determine the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0132] Clause 17. The UE according to clause 16, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more extended Kalman filter (EKF) states.

[0133] Clause 18. The UE according to clause 17, wherein the rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

[0134] Clause 19. The UE according to any one of clauses 17 to 18, wherein the position estimate of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0135] Clause 20. The UE according to any one of clauses 17 to 19, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

[0136] Clause 21. The UE according to clause 20, wherein: the one or more initialization and constraint parameters include a trajectory of the UE, and the trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

[0137] Clause 22. The UE according to any one of clauses 15 to 21, wherein the verified heading is further based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0138] Clause 23. The UE according to Clause 22, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine that the verified heading of the UE includes the at least one processor being configured to: determine that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

[0139] Clause 24. The UE according to any one of Clauses 22 to 23, wherein the GNSS measurements include: pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), carrier phase, or any combination thereof.

[0140] Clause 25. The UE according to any one of Clauses 15 to 24, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a radar, a lidar, or any combination thereof.

[0141] Clause 26. The UE according to any one of Clauses 15 to 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: display a route of the UE on a user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE.

[0142] Clause 27. The UE according to any one of Clauses 15 to 26, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning position estimate.

[0143] Clause 28. The UE according to any one of Clauses 15 to 27, wherein the UE includes: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

[0144] Clause 29. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: means for determining a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and means for determining a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0145] Clause 30. The UE according to Clause 29, wherein the means for determining the dead reckoning position estimate includes: means for determining an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; and means for determining the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0146] Clause 31. The UE according to Clause 30, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) states.

[0147] Clause 32. The UE according to Clause 31, wherein the rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

[0148] Clause 33. The UE according to any one of Clauses 31 to 32, wherein the position estimate of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0149] Clause 34. The UE according to any one of Clauses 31 to 33, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

[0150] Clause 35. The UE according to Clause 34, wherein: the one or more initialization and constraint parameters include the trajectory of the UE, and the trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

[0151] Clause 36. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 35, wherein the verified heading is further based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0152] Clause 37. The UE according to Clause 36, wherein the component for determining the verified heading of the UE includes: a component for determining that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

[0153] Clause 38. The UE according to any one of Clauses 36 to 37, wherein the GNSS measurements include: pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), carrier phase, or any combination thereof.

[0154] Clause 39. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 38, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a radar, a lidar, or any combination thereof.

[0155] Clause 40. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 39, the UE further includes: a component for displaying the route of the UE on the user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes the dead reckoning position estimate of the UE.

[0156] Clause 41. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 40, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning position estimate.

[0157] Clause 42. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 41, wherein the UE includes: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

[0158] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0159] Clause 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 43, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to determine the dead reckoning position estimate include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: determine an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; and determine the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0160] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 44, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more extended Kalman filter (EKF) states.

[0161] Clause 46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 45, wherein a rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

[0162] Clause 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 45 to 46, wherein a position estimate of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

[0163] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 45 to 47, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

[0164] Clause 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 48, wherein: the one or more initialization and constraint parameters include the trajectory of the UE, and the trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

[0165] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 43 to 49, wherein the verified heading is further based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

[0166] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 50, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to determine the verified heading of the UE include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: determine that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

[0167] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 50 to 51, wherein the GNSS measurements include: pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), carrier phase, or any combination thereof.

[0168] Clause 53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 43 to 52, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a radar, a lidar, or any combination thereof.

[0169] Clause 54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 43 to 53, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: display the route of the UE on the user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes the dead reckoning position estimate of the UE.

[0170] Clause 55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 43 to 54, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning position estimate.

[0171] Clause 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 43 to 55, wherein the UE includes: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

[0172] Those skilled in the art should understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, 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.

[0173] In addition, those skilled in the art should understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm 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.

[0174] 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 application specific integrated circuit (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.

[0175] 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 modules can 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.

[0176] In one or more example aspects, the functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. The computer-readable medium 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, magnetic 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 usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0177] While 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. Additionally, the functions, steps, and / or acts of the method claims in accordance with 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 method of wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Determining a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; And Determining a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the dead reckoning position estimate comprises: Determining an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; And Determining the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more extended Kalman filter (EKF) states.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the position estimate of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The one or more initialization and constraint parameters include a trajectory of the UE, and The trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the verified heading is further based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein determining the verified heading of the UE comprises: Determining that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the GNSS measurements include: Pseudorange (PR), Pseudorange rate (PRR), Carrier phase, or Any combination thereof.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: An accelerometer, A gyroscope, A camera, A radar, A lidar, or Any combination thereof.

12. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: Displaying a route of the UE on a user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes the dead reckoning position estimate of the UE.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning position estimate.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE comprises: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

15. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) 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: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in the memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

16. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the at least one processor being configured to determine the dead reckoning position estimate comprises the at least one processor being configured to: determine an estimate of the attitude of the UE, wherein the estimate of the attitude is determined based on a roll estimate, a pitch estimate, and a yaw estimate of the UE, and wherein the yaw estimate is based on the verified heading; and determine the dead reckoning position estimate based at least on the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

17. The UE according to claim 16, wherein the roll estimate and the pitch estimate are determined based on one or more extended Kalman filter (EKF) states.

18. The UE according to claim 17, wherein the rate estimate of the one or more EKF states is updated based on the verified heading.

19. The UE according to claim 17, wherein the position estimate of the one or more EKF states is propagated using the sensor information and the estimate of the attitude.

20. The UE according to claim 17, wherein the one or more EKF states are based on one or more initialization and constraint parameters.

21. The UE according to claim 20, wherein: the one or more initialization and constraint parameters include the trajectory of the UE, and the trajectory of the UE is based on the sensor information.

22. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the verified heading is further based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements obtained by the UE and the sensor information from the one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

23. The UE according to claim 22, wherein the at least one processor being configured to determine the verified heading of the UE comprises the at least one processor being configured to: determine that a first heading of the UE determined based on the navigation map data is consistent with a second heading of the UE determined based on the GNSS measurements and the sensor information.

24. The UE according to claim 22, wherein the GNSS measurements include: pseudorange (PR), pseudorange rate (PRR), Carrier phase, or any combination thereof.

25. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the one or more environmental sensors include: an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a radar, a lidar, or any combination thereof.

26. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: display a route of the UE on a user interface of the UE, wherein the route of the UE is superimposed on a map displayed on the user interface of the UE, and wherein the route of the UE includes a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE.

27. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the UE does not have GNSS service during the determination of the dead reckoning position estimate.

28. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the UE includes: a handheld UE, or an on-board computer of a vehicle.

29. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: means for determining a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and means for determining a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine a verified heading of the UE, wherein the verified heading is determined based at least on navigation map data stored in a memory of the UE; and determine a dead reckoning position estimate of the UE based at least on the verified heading and sensor information from one or more environmental sensors of the UE.

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