Positioning method, device and system

Abstract

The invention provides a positioning method, device and system. Example, the method can be applied to a terminal positioning scene. According to the method, the error aiming at the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result is used as a judgment basis, and the proper positioning technology is dynamically selected aiming at different propagation environments, so that the applicability and the practicability of different positioning technologies can be improved, and the positioning precision and the robustness in different propagation environments can be determined.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a positioning method, apparatus, and system. Background Art

[0002] In a communication system, positioning refers to obtaining the location information of a terminal. Positioning can be applied to fields such as navigation in marine and aviation, surveying and mapping for disaster relief, vehicle navigation, logistics information query, or traffic management. With the rapid development of communication technologies, high-precision positioning has gradually been identified as an important research project in the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The scenarios of new radio (NR) positioning mainly include: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) outdoors, eMBB indoors, ultra reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type of communication (mMTC) / Internet of things (IoT).

[0003] Traditional positioning technologies determine the location information of a terminal by combining received signal strength indicator (RSSI), time of arrival (TOA), time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of arrival (AOA), etc.

[0004] However, affected by factors such as the multipath effect of the channel and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation caused by obstacles, the performance of traditional positioning technologies is limited. As a key infrastructure of the digital general system, the rapid growth of the throughput of 5G base stations has led to an increasingly tight positioning resource. At the same time, the increase in the number of terminals has made the positioning demand grow day by day, putting forward higher requirements for the real-time performance and accuracy of 5G base station positioning. For the positioning enhancement problem, 3GPP has proposed an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) enhanced positioning technology to achieve positioning accuracy and robustness in complex scenarios.

[0005] However, for different propagation environments, how to accurately select the appropriate positioning technology to improve the applicability and practicality of different positioning technologies is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently at present. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a positioning method, device, and system, which can enable devices to accurately select the appropriate positioning technology to improve the applicability and practicality of different positioning technologies, so as to ensure the positioning accuracy and robustness in different propagation environments.

[0007] In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided. This method can be executed, for example, by a positioning management network element, or by a component (such as a circuit, chip, or chip system, etc.) configured in the positioning management network element, or can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the positioning management network element. This application does not make any limitations in this regard. The following description will be made taking the positioning management network element as an example.

[0008] The method includes: determining a first positioning result; the first positioning result is used to indicate the errors of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result; when the first positioning result meets a preset condition, outputting first position information; the first position information is obtained by a first positioning technology; when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, outputting second position information; the second position information is obtained by a second positioning technology; where the first positioning technology is different from the second positioning technology; the preset condition is used to characterize the tolerance of the errors of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0009] Based on the first aspect, the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result is used as the judgment basis; when the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result are relatively consistent, it indicates that the current is in a relatively ideal line-of-sight propagation environment, and the first positioning technology can be directly used to output the first position information. Correspondingly, when there is a significant difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, it indicates that the current is in a complex non-line-of-sight environment, resulting in insufficient positioning confidence, so the second positioning technology can be triggered to output the second position information.

[0010] That is to say, by adopting the solution of this application, the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can be used as the judgment basis, and for different propagation environments, the appropriate positioning technology can be dynamically selected, which can improve the applicability and practicability of different positioning technologies to determine the positioning accuracy and robustness in different propagation environments.

[0011] In the second aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is used to determine the first positioning result; the first positioning result is used to indicate the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result; the processing module is used to output the first position information when the first positioning result meets the preset conditions; the first position information is obtained by the first positioning technology; when the first positioning result does not meet the preset conditions, the second position information is output; the second position information is obtained by the second positioning technology; wherein, the first positioning technology is different from the second positioning technology; the preset conditions are used to characterize the tolerance of the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0012] The second aspect is the implementation on the device side corresponding to the first aspect. The explanations, supplements, and beneficial effects descriptions regarding the first aspect also apply to the second aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0013] In the third aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0014] In one implementation, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0015] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0016] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, including a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be used to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0017] In one implementation manner, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0018] In another implementation manner, the communication device is a chip configured in a satellite. When the communication device is a chip configured in a satellite, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0019] Fifthly, a processor is provided, including: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method in any possible implementation manner of any aspect above.

[0020] In a specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processor can be one or more chips, the input circuit can be input pins, the output circuit can be output pins, and the processing circuit can be transistors, gate circuits, flip-flops, and various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver. The signal output by the output circuit can be output to, for example, but not limited to, a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. And the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as the input circuit and the output circuit at different times respectively. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manners of the processor and various circuits.

[0021] Sixthly, a communication device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The processor is used to read instructions stored in the memory and can receive a signal through a receiver and transmit a signal through a transmitter to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of any aspect above.

[0022] Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

[0023] Seventhly, a computer program product is provided, where the computer program product includes: a computer program (which can also be referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is run, it causes a computer to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of any aspect above.

[0024] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), and when it runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the method in any one of the possible implementation manners in any of the above aspects.

[0025] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which includes one or more processors for calling and running instructions stored in a memory, so that the methods in any of the above aspects or any of the possible implementation manners of each aspect are executed. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0026] Among them, the chip system may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0027] In a tenth aspect, there is provided a communication system including the aforementioned terminal, network device, and positioning management network element terminal device and network device. Optionally, the communication system may further include other devices that communicate with the terminal and / or network device and / or positioning management network element. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the principle of uplink positioning provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the principle of downlink positioning provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 4 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the principle of uplink and downlink positioning provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 5 FIG. is a schematic diagram of a positioning case of an AI / ML model provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 6 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 7 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 8 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of yet another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 9 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of yet another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 10 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of still another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 11 FIG. is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 12 Schematic diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of this application. Detailed implementation manners

[0029] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] The technical solutions provided by this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Sidelink communication system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) communication system, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or New Radio Access Technology (NR). Among them, the 5G mobile communication system can include Non-Standalone (NSA) and / or Standalone (SA). The technical solutions provided by this application can also be applied to future communication systems. This application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0031] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 to which an embodiment of this application is applied. The communication system 100 may include a network device, such as Figure 1 the network device 110 shown. The communication system 100 may further include a terminal device, such as Figure 1 the terminal device 120 shown. The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may communicate through a wireless link. Optionally, the communication system 100 may include a core network device, such as Figure 1The core network device 130 shown. The network device 110 and the core network device 130 can communicate via a wireless link.

[0032] Among them, the network device 110 and the core network device 130 can be independent and different physical devices, or can be the same physical device integrating the functions of the core network and the network device, or can be other possible situations. For example, the functions of the network device and part of the core network device can be integrated on one physical device, and the remaining functions of the core network device are implemented on another physical device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the physical existence forms of the core network device and the network device.

[0033] Figure 1 An example shows a network device 110, a terminal device 120, and a core network device 130. Optionally, the communication system 100 may further include multiple network devices and / or multiple terminal devices.

[0034] The network device in the present application can be a device on the network side such as an access network, a core network device, etc. The access network device is sometimes also called an access node. The access network device has a wireless transceiver function for communicating with the terminal. The access network device includes but is not limited to the base station (base station), evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation NodeB (gNB) in the 5G mobile communication system, the access network device or module in the open RAN (ORAN) system, the satellite in the NTN communication system, the base station in the future mobile communication system, or the access node in the WiFi system, etc. The access network device can also be a module or unit capable of implementing part of the functions of the base station. The access network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a radio controller in the cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the access network device can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The multiple access network devices in the communication system can be of the same type of base station or different types of base stations. The base station can communicate with the terminal or communicate with the terminal through a relay station. The terminal can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the access network device. In the present application, the access network device is abbreviated as the network device.

[0035] In this application, the device for implementing the functions of a network device may be the network device itself, or a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing such functions, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system. This device may be installed in the network device or used in connection with the network device. In the technical solution provided in this application, the case where the device for implementing the functions of the network device is the network device is taken as an example to describe the technical solution provided in this application.

[0036] The terminal device in this application may be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving scheduling and indication information from a network device. The wireless terminal device may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. For example, the terminal device may communicate with one or more core networks or the Internet via a radio access network (RAN). The terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, or satellite communication. The terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver functions, a wearable device, a vehicle, an aircraft (such as a drone, a helicopter, an airplane), a hot air balloon, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the form of the terminal device.

[0037] In this application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device may be the terminal device itself, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing such functions, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system. This device may be installed in the terminal device or used in connection with the terminal device. In the technical solution provided in this application, the case where the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device is the terminal device is taken as an example to describe the technical solution provided in this application.

[0038] The access network device and / or the terminal can be fixed or movable. The access network device and / or the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; and can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the access network device and the terminal. The access network device and the terminal device can be deployed in the same scenario or different scenarios. For example, the access network device and the terminal device are both deployed on land; or, the access network device is deployed on land and the terminal device is deployed on the water surface, etc., and no further examples are given.

[0039] In practical applications, multiple network devices can cooperate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different network devices respectively implement some functions of the base station. For example, the network device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in the radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as included in the remote radio unit (RRU), the active antenna unit (AAU), or the remote radio head (RRH).

[0040] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be called O-DU, the CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be called O-RU. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, and RU can implement different protocol layer functions.

[0041] In the embodiments of the present application, the core network device 130 may include one or more core network elements. Taking 5G as an example, the core network device 130 may include at least one of the following network elements: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM), application function (AF) network element, or location management function (LMF) network element, etc. These core network elements may be hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. The implementation forms of different network elements may be the same or different, which is not limited. Different core network elements may be different physical devices (or may be referred to as core network devices), or multiple different core network elements may be integrated on one physical device, that is, this physical device has the functions of these multiple core network elements.

[0042] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the core network device may be the core network device, or a device capable of supporting the core network device to implement these functions, such as a chip system, hardware power, software module, or a combination of hardware circuit and software module. This device may be installed in the core network device or may be used in combination with the core network device. In the embodiments of the present application, taking the device for implementing the functions of the core network device as the core network device as an example, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0043] Optionally, the positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a positioning management network element in the core network device. This positioning management network element may be the aforementioned LMF network element, or other network elements in the core network device 130 shown above, as long as it can implement the solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 1 As long as it can implement the solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

[0044] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, estimating / predicting the location of a terminal is referred to as positioning, which can be understood as determining the location information of the terminal. Among them, the location information of the terminal can be used to indicate the coordinates of the terminal in physical space. These coordinates can be absolute coordinates in an absolute coordinate system (for example, a Cartesian coordinate system, a polar coordinate system, a geographic coordinate system), or can also be relative coordinates relative to a reference point. The embodiments of this application do not limit this. The explanation of positioning is uniformly described here and will not be repeated below. For ease of understanding the embodiments of this application, the terms involved in this application are briefly described first. Optionally, the explanations of some terms can also refer to the explanations in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard protocol.

[0045] 1. Positioning accuracy.

[0046] Positioning accuracy is used to indicate the degree of proximity between the spatial entity location information of the terminal and the real location information. Specifically, the closer the spatial entity location information of the terminal is to the real location information, the higher the positioning accuracy; on the contrary, the farther the spatial entity location information of the terminal is from the real location information, the lower the positioning accuracy. Taking the location information of the terminal as longitude and latitude coordinates as an example, illustratively, the smaller the difference between the spatial entity coordinate value of the terminal and the real coordinate value, the higher the positioning accuracy; on the contrary, the larger the difference between the spatial entity coordinate value of the terminal and the real coordinate value, the lower the positioning accuracy.

[0047] 2. Traditional positioning technologies.

[0048] Traditional positioning technologies include uplink positioning, downlink positioning, and uplink and downlink positioning.

[0049] (1). Uplink positioning means that the terminal sends an uplink reference signal to at least one base station. Correspondingly, at least one base station receives the uplink reference signal from the terminal. At least one base station measures the uplink reference signal to obtain uplink positioning parameters. Furthermore, at least one base station reports the measured uplink positioning parameters to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element performs positioning based on the uplink positioning parameters reported by the base station.

[0050] Among them, the uplink reference signal can be an uplink synchronization signal, a sounding reference signal (SRS), or other signals whose transmission sequence is known information, without limitation. Among them, the known signal can be predetermined by the protocol or notified to the base station by the terminal in advance through signaling.

[0051] Among them, the uplink positioning parameters may include any one of uplink (UL)-time of arrival (TOA), UL-time difference of arrival (TDOA), UL-angle of arrival (AOA), and multi round trip time (multi-RTT). Optionally, the uplink positioning parameters may further include other parameters, which are not limited. For example, the uplink positioning parameters may further include received signal strength indication (RSSI), etc.

[0052] Exemplarily, as Figure 2 shown, the terminal sends uplink reference signals to three base stations (such as base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3) respectively. The three base stations receive the uplink reference signals from the terminal respectively and measure the uplink reference signals to obtain uplink positioning parameters. Then, the three base stations report the uplink positioning parameters measured by themselves to the LMF network element respectively. The LMF network element can determine the location information of the terminal based on positioning technologies such as UL-TOA, UL-TDOA, UL-AOA, or multi-RTT.

[0053] Among them, UL-TOA, UL-TDOA, and multi-RTT are positioning technologies based on the time of arrival, that is, the base station needs to measure the time of arrival of the uplink reference signal sent by the terminal, and then convert it into the distance information between the terminal and the base station. Finally, the location information of the terminal is obtained based on the trilateration algorithm. Among them, UL-AOA is a positioning technology based on the angle, that is, the base station measures the angle of arrival of the uplink reference signal sent by the terminal, and obtains the location information of the terminal based on the triangulation algorithm.

[0054] (2) Downlink positioning refers to: at least one base station sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink reference signal from at least one base station. The terminal measures the downlink reference signal to obtain downlink positioning parameters. Furthermore, the terminal reports the measured downlink positioning parameters to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element performs positioning based on the downlink positioning parameters reported by the terminal.

[0055] Among them, the downlink reference signal may be a downlink synchronization signal, a positioning reference signal (PRS), or other signals whose transmission sequence is known information, which is not limited. Among them, the known information may be predetermined by the protocol or notified to the terminal by the base station in advance through signaling.

[0056] Among them, the downlink positioning parameters may include any one of downlink (DL)-TOA, DL-TDOA, DL-angle of departure (AOD), and multi-RTT. Optionally, the downlink positioning parameters may also include other parameters, which are not limited. For example, the downlink positioning parameters may also include RSSI, etc.

[0057] Exemplarily, as Figure 3 shown, three base stations (such as base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3) respectively send downlink reference signals to the terminal. The terminal receives the downlink reference signals sent by the three base stations and measures the downlink reference signals to obtain downlink positioning parameters. Then, the terminal reports the measured downlink positioning parameters to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element can determine the location information of the terminal based on positioning technologies such as DL-TOA, DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, or multi-RTT.

[0058] Among them, for DL-TOA, DL-TDOA, and multi-RTT, they are positioning technologies based on the time of arrival, that is, the terminal needs to measure the time of arrival of the downlink reference signal sent by the base station, and then convert it into the distance information between the terminal and the base station, and finally obtain the location information of the terminal based on the trilateration algorithm. Among them, DL-AOD is an angle-based positioning technology, that is, the terminal measures the departure angle of the downlink reference signal sent by the base station and obtains the location information of the terminal based on the triangulation algorithm.

[0059] (3) Uplink and downlink positioning refers to: the terminal sends an uplink reference signal to at least one base station. Correspondingly, at least one base station receives the uplink reference signal from the terminal. At the same time, at least one base station sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink reference signal from at least one base station. At least one base station measures the uplink reference signal to obtain uplink positioning parameters and reports them to the LMF network element; the terminal measures the downlink reference signal to obtain downlink positioning parameters and reports them to the LMF network element. The LMF network element performs positioning through the uplink positioning parameters and downlink positioning parameters obtained by two-way measurement.

[0060] For the example description of the uplink positioning parameters and downlink positioning parameters, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0061] Exemplarily, as Figure 4As shown in the figure, the terminal sends uplink reference signals to three base stations (such as base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3) respectively. The three base stations receive the uplink reference signals from the terminal respectively, measure the uplink reference signals to obtain uplink positioning parameters, and report the uplink positioning parameters to the LMF network element. At the same time, the three base stations send downlink reference signals to the terminal respectively. The terminal receives the downlink reference signals from the three base stations, measures the downlink reference signals to obtain downlink positioning parameters, and reports the downlink positioning parameters to the LMF network element. The LMF network element can combine the uplink positioning reference and downlink positioning parameters, such as TOA, TDOA, AOA, AOD, multi-RTT, etc., and obtain the position information of the terminal through multi-source data fusion algorithms (such as Kalman filtering, least squares method, etc.).

[0062] 3. AI / ML direct positioning.

[0063] AI / ML direct positioning is a method that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to determine the position information of a terminal. AI / ML direct positioning means directly inputting the measurement data obtained from the communication channel (such as channel state information (CSI), reference signals, etc.) into the AI / ML model. The AI / ML model directly outputs the position information of the terminal through learning and analysis of these measurement data.

[0064] This AI / ML direct positioning can effectively improve the positioning accuracy, especially in load environments where traditional positioning technologies are difficult to play a role, such as densely populated urban high-rise areas, underground spaces, forests, etc. In these places, due to factors such as building occlusion, signal reflection, and multipath effects, traditional positioning technologies are easily interfered, while AI / ML direct positioning can identify signal interference in complex environments by learning a large amount of data, thereby positioning more accurately.

[0065] 4. AI / ML assisted positioning.

[0066] AI / ML assisted positioning is a method that combines artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies with traditional positioning technologies to determine the position information of a terminal. AI / ML assisted positioning means first inputting the measurement data obtained from the communication channel into the AI / ML model. The AI / ML model outputs the positioning parameters required for traditional positioning technologies, such as, for line of sight (LOS) and NLOS classification, TOA, TODA, AOA, AOD, multi-RTT, etc. Then, use these positioning parameters processed by the AI / ML model to determine the position information of the terminal.

[0067] That is to say, AI / ML-assisted positioning can preprocess the positioning parameters required by traditional positioning technologies, thereby improving their positioning accuracy. Especially in an environment where signal conditions are complex and variable, it can better adapt to various situations that may affect positioning accuracy. Through this, the AI / ML-assisted positioning also benefits from the existing reliability of traditional positioning technologies, and it is an effective enhancement of traditional positioning technologies rather than a complete replacement.

[0068] It should be noted that the above AI / ML model can be deployed in a base station, a terminal, or an LMF network element based on the 3GPP standard. Exemplarily, the deployment of the AI / ML model in the 3GPP standard can be divided into the following five cases, or include the following five positioning scenarios.

[0069] The first one, Case 1 (case1).

[0070] The AI / ML model is deployed in the terminal, and the terminal can use the AI / ML model to achieve AI / ML direct positioning.

[0071] Exemplarily, as Figure 5 shown in (a) of, the base station sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal. The terminal receives the downlink reference signal sent by the base station, obtains measurement data, directly inputs the measurement data into the AI / ML model, and the AI / ML model outputs the location information of the terminal. Then, the terminal reports the location information of the terminal to the LMF network element.

[0072] The second one, Case 3a (case3a).

[0073] The AI / ML model is deployed in the base station, and the base station can use the AI / ML model to achieve AI / ML-assisted positioning.

[0074] Exemplarily, as Figure 5 shown in (b) of, the terminal sends an uplink reference signal to the base station. The base station receives the uplink reference signal sent by the terminal, obtains measurement data, inputs the measurement data into the AI / ML model, and the AI / ML outputs the positioning parameters required for traditional positioning technologies. Then, the base station reports the positioning parameters output by the AI / ML model to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element determines the location information of the terminal based on the positioning parameters using traditional positioning technologies.

[0075] The third one, Case 3b (case3b).

[0076] The AI / ML model is deployed in the LMF network element, and the LMF network element can use the AI / ML model to achieve AI / ML direct positioning.

[0077] Exemplarily, as Figure 5As shown in (c), the terminal sends an uplink reference signal to the base station, the base station receives the uplink reference signal sent by the terminal, and obtains measurement data. The base station sends the measurement data to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element inputs the measurement data into the AI / ML model, and the AI / ML model directly outputs the location information of the terminal.

[0078] The fourth type, case 2a.

[0079] The AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal, and the terminal can use the AI / ML model to achieve AI / ML-assisted positioning.

[0080] Exemplarily, as Figure 5 As shown in (d), the base station sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal, the terminal receives the downlink reference signal sent by the base station, obtains measurement data, inputs the measurement data into the AI / ML model, and the AI / ML outputs the positioning parameters required for the traditional positioning technology method. Then, the terminal reports the positioning parameters output by the AI / ML model to the LMF network element through the base station, and the LMF network element determines the location information of the terminal by using the traditional positioning technology based on the positioning parameters.

[0081] The fifth type, case 2b.

[0082] The AI / ML model is deployed on the LMF network element, and the LMF network element can use the AI / ML model to achieve AI / ML direct positioning.

[0083] Exemplarily, as Figure 5 As shown in (e), the base station sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal, the terminal receives the downlink reference signal sent by the base station, obtains measurement data, and reports the measurement data to the LMF network element through the base station. The LMF network element receives the measurement data sent by the base station, directly inputs the measurement data into the AI / ML model, and the AI / ML model directly outputs the location information of the terminal.

[0084] It should be noted that in the 3GPP standard, the usage priorities of case 1, case 3a, and case 3b are the first priority, and the usage priorities of case 2a and case 2b are the second priority.

[0085] It should be understood that the technical terms in this application are only examples rather than limitations. For example, with the evolution of technology, the technical terms will also change. In the case of the same technical meaning, other technical terms should also apply to this application.

[0086] It is understandable that the advantages of traditional positioning technologies are low complexity, high real-time performance, and the need for no device support for multi-antennas or high computing power; the disadvantages are that they are easily affected by factors such as channel multipath effects and NLOS transmissions caused by obstacles. The AI / ML model can learn a large amount of data to identify signals in complex environments, thus achieving more accurate positioning; the disadvantage of the AI / ML model is that it requires a large amount of data to train the model to ensure that the model can accurately learn the relationship between signal characteristics and positions in different environments. Moreover, the performance of the AI / ML model may be affected by factors such as data quality, model complexity, and computing resources. In addition, the real-time performance of the AI / ML model is relatively low.

[0087] However, how to quickly judge the propagation environment is the key to realizing the flexible switching between traditional positioning technologies and AI / ML positioning technologies. Existing methods receive a large number of physical layer characteristics in the received signal that reflect the propagation environment, such as time of arrival, multipath structure, channel frequency response, signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio fluctuations, and angle of arrival distribution. These physical layer characteristics have significant differences between LOS and NLOS scenarios and can be used for environment identification. Traditional solutions rely on manually set thresholds, such as judging the relationship between physical layer characteristics and thresholds to identify LOS and NLOS scenarios. The AI method can automatically extract features from the signal to achieve high-precision identification. However, the AI method usually relies on a large amount of training data, has a high training cost, and has limited generalization ability and is not easily adaptable to scene changes.

[0088] Existing methods also provide the following two positioning methods: The first one: In response to a positioning request for a target terminal, obtain the uplink signal measurement data of the target terminal from the target LMF corresponding to the target terminal through control plane positioning, and obtain the terminal measurement data of the target terminal from the service location protocol (SLP); generate the fusion fingerprint feature of the target terminal according to the uplink signal measurement data and the terminal measurement data; perform a matching process between the fusion fingerprint feature and a pre-constructed fusion fingerprint library, and obtain the positioning result of the target terminal according to the matching result. Using this method can achieve the fusion of control plane positioning technology and user plane positioning technology. Therefore, even in areas with a low base station density, the positioning accuracy can be improved.

[0089] The second type: New AI-based positioning-related functions are introduced in the NG-RAN node, enabling the terminal to select between an AI positioning model and a non-AI positioning model for terminal location estimation and / or enabling the terminal to select a suitable AI positioning model from different AI positioning models according to an indication provided by the terminal. This method also defines measurement criteria for selecting AI positioning models and non-AI positioning models for terminal positioning estimation and defines relevant signaling procedures to achieve correct interaction between different positioning-related nodes.

[0090] In view of this, the present application provides a positioning method. This method utilizes the errors between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, and dynamically selects a suitable positioning technology for different propagation environments, which can improve the applicability and practicality of different positioning technologies. Moreover, it can also switch between positioning technologies with different precisions to ensure the positioning accuracy and robustness in different propagation environments.

[0091] The following details the solution provided by the present application in conjunction with the corresponding flowcharts. It can be understood that in the schematic flowcharts provided by the present application, different devices (such as terminal devices, network devices, positioning management network elements) are mainly used as the execution entities of the interaction schematic to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution entities of the interaction schematic. For example, the devices (such as terminal devices, network devices, positioning management network elements) in the schematic flowcharts can also be chips, chip systems, or processors that support the device to implement this method, or logical modules or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the device.

[0092] For a unified explanation here, in the interaction process of the embodiments of the present application, the message or signaling interaction involved can adopt the messages or signaling in the standard, or can also be newly introduced messages or signaling. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0093] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a positioning method in the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that Figure 6 the terminal device in Figure 1 can be any terminal device in Figure 1 or can also refer to the devices in the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The network device can be any access network device in Figure 1 or can also refer to the devices in the access network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The positioning management network element can be any network element in the core network device in Figure 1 that can implement the positioning function, such as an LMF network element, etc. For ease of understanding, the following embodiments use the LMF network element as the positioning management network element for illustration. As Figure 6 shown, the method includes the following steps: S610. The LMF network element determines the first positioning result.

[0094] Among them, the first positioning result is used to indicate the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. Or rather, the first positioning result is used to indicate the positioning error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, without limitation.

[0095] In a possible way, the first positioning result can also be described as: used to indicate the degree of difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. The above two descriptions can be replaced with each other, without limitation.

[0096] Among them, the uplink positioning result refers to the location information (such as physical coordinates) of the terminal determined by the LMF network element based on uplink positioning in traditional positioning technology, and the downlink positioning result refers to the location information (such as physical coordinates) of the terminal determined by the LMF network element based on downlink positioning in traditional positioning technology.

[0097] In a possible way, the error (or rather, the degree of difference) between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can also be described as: the difference (or rather, the deviation) between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, that is, the difference (or rather, the deviation) between the location coordinates of the terminal determined by uplink positioning and the physical coordinates of the terminal determined by downlink positioning.

[0098] Optionally, the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can also be described as: the displacement vector between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result; or, the relative position between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result; or, the change amount between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0099] It should be noted that the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result has different descriptions in different dimensions, which will not be elaborated here one by one.

[0100] Optionally, the LMF network element can determine the first positioning result according to the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. Exemplarily, the LMF network element can use the difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as the first positioning result.

[0101] Exemplarily, the uplink positioning result is determined by the LMF network element according to the received uplink positioning parameters (or rather, the second positioning parameters) from the network device. The downlink positioning result is determined by the LMF network element according to the received downlink positioning parameters (or rather, the first positioning parameters) from the terminal.

[0102] Among them, the uplink positioning parameter is related to the SRS signal. For example, the uplink positioning parameter is obtained after the network device measures the SRS signal. The downlink positioning parameter is related to the PRS signal. For example, the downlink positioning parameter is obtained after the terminal measures the PRS signal. For the illustration of the uplink positioning parameter and the downlink positioning parameter, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0103] Exemplarily, the LMF network element can determine the uplink positioning result through uplink positioning in the traditional positioning method, that is, determine the location information of the terminal based on the uplink positioning parameter. Correspondingly, the LMF network element can determine the downlink positioning result through downlink positioning in the traditional positioning method, that is, determine the location information of the terminal based on the downlink positioning parameter.

[0104] Exemplarily, the uplink positioning result determined by the LMF network element can be expressed as: ; The downlink positioning result determined by the LMF network element can be expressed as: . It should be noted that the representation methods of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can be replaced with each other without limitation. For the specific process of the LMF network element determining the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the following embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0105] Exemplarily, the first positioning result determined by the LMF network element based on the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can be expressed as: ; Among them, represents the uplink positioning result, represents the downlink positioning result, represents the first positioning result.

[0106] As an example, the following provides an interaction example of the LMF network element determining the first positioning result. Exemplarily, as Figure 7 shown, the LMF network element determines the first positioning result, that is, the above S610 may specifically include: S710. The terminal sends a positioning request to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the positioning request from the terminal.

[0107] Among them, the positioning request is used to request the LMF network element to provide the location information of the terminal.

[0108] Exemplarily, the terminal may send the positioning request to the currently serving network device (or called the primary base station), and the network device forwards the positioning request to the LMF network element through the AMF. Among them, the AMF is mainly responsible for session management and mobility management and plays a routing role in the positioning process.

[0109] Optionally, the positioning request may include any one of the following a to e: a. Location type: The location type is used to indicate the geographical coordinates of the requesting terminal.

[0110] b. Location service quality: The terminal can specify requirements for the accuracy, response time, horizontal / vertical accuracy, etc. of the location information in the location request.

[0111] c. Target identifier: That is, the identifier of the terminal itself.

[0112] d. Location method: The terminal can directly or indirectly indicate the location method in the location request, or implicitly indicate the preferred location method of the terminal.

[0113] e. Application layer related information: For example, the location request may contain application-related identifiers or context.

[0114] Optionally, the location request can be carried by (or can be) a mobile-originated location request (MO-LR), without limitation.

[0115] In one possible way, after the LMF network element receives a location request from the terminal, the LMF network element screens candidate base stations. Exemplarily, the LMF can comprehensively evaluate the location capabilities of each base station based on key indicators such as timing measurement quality (TMQ), angle measurement quality (AMQ), and phase measurement quality (PMQ), so as to select a suitable base station for terminal location. This process can effectively avoid the interference of low-quality base stations and improve the overall location performance of the network.

[0116] Exemplarily, as Figure 7 shown, the candidate base stations screened by the LMF network element may include neighboring base station 1 and neighboring base station 2. Then, in this way, terminal location can be performed through the serving base station, neighboring base station 1, and neighboring base station 2.

[0117] Optionally, after the LMF network element screens out candidate base stations, the LMF network element can configure resources for the terminal and multiple base stations to achieve terminal location. Exemplarily, the LMF network element can continue to perform the following steps.

[0118] S720. The LMF network element sends the first configuration information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first configuration information from the LMF network element.

[0119] Exemplarily, the LMF network element can send the first configuration information to the network device (i.e., the serving base station) through the AMF. The serving base station can forward the first configuration information to the terminal.

[0120] Optionally, the first configuration information is used to instruct the terminal to perform signal measurement. Exemplarily, the first configuration information can be used to instruct the terminal to receive and measure downlink reference signals (such as PRS) from multiple base stations, and to instruct the terminal to send uplink reference signals (such as SRS) on specific time-frequency domain resources, and to instruct the terminal to report downlink positioning parameters obtained by measuring the downlink reference signals.

[0121] Optionally, the first configuration information may include configuration parameters. Exemplarily, the first configuration information may include one or more of measurement interval, measurement duration, reference signal resource configuration, reporting trigger condition, etc.

[0122] Among them, the reference signal resource configuration may include: PRS resource set ID, PRS resource ID, time domain position, frequency domain position, etc.; it may also include SRS resource set ID, SRS resource ID, time domain position, frequency domain position, etc., which is not limited.

[0123] Among them, the reporting trigger condition is used to indicate the trigger condition (or trigger timing) for the terminal to report downlink positioning parameters. The trigger condition can refer to the trigger conditions defined in existing standards, which will not be elaborated here.

[0124] S730. The LMF network element sends the second configuration information to each of the multiple base stations. Correspondingly, each of the multiple base stations receives the second configuration information from the LMF network element.

[0125] Exemplarily, in S730, the multiple base stations may include a primary base station and neighboring base stations located around the primary base station. In the embodiments of the present application, an example where the multiple base stations include three base stations is used for illustration.

[0126] Optionally, the second configuration information is used to instruct the multiple base stations to perform signal measurement. Exemplarily, the second configuration information can be used to instruct the multiple base stations to receive and measure uplink reference signals (such as SRS) from the terminal, and to instruct the multiple base stations to send downlink reference signals (such as PRS) on specific time-frequency domain resources, and to instruct the multiple base stations to report uplink positioning parameters obtained by measuring the uplink reference signals.

[0127] Optionally, the first configuration information may include configuration parameters. For the illustration of the configuration parameters, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0128] S740. The terminal sends an uplink reference signal to the multiple base stations. Correspondingly, the multiple base stations receive the uplink reference signal from the terminal.

[0129] S750. The multiple base stations measure the uplink reference signal to obtain uplink positioning parameters.

[0130] S760. Multiple base stations report uplink positioning parameters to the LMF network element.

[0131] S770. Multiple base stations send downlink reference signals to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink reference signals sent by multiple base stations.

[0132] S780. The terminal measures the downlink reference signals to obtain downlink positioning parameters.

[0133] S790. The terminal reports the downlink positioning parameters to the LMF network element.

[0134] S7110. The LMF network element determines a first positioning result based on the downlink positioning parameters and the uplink positioning parameters.

[0135] Exemplarily, the LMF network element determines a downlink positioning result through a traditional positioning method based on the downlink positioning parameters, and determines an uplink positioning result through a traditional positioning method based on the uplink positioning parameters. Further, the LMF network element determines the first positioning result based on the downlink positioning result and the uplink positioning result. For example, the LMF network element takes the difference between the downlink positioning result and the uplink positioning result as the first positioning result.

[0136] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the sequence of S720 and S730 is not limited. Exemplarily, S720 may be before S730 or after S730. In addition, the sequence of S740 to S790 is not limited. Exemplarily, S740 to S760 may be after S770 to S790 or before S770 to S790.

[0137] S620. The LMF network element determines whether the first positioning result meets a preset condition.

[0138] Wherein, the preset condition is used to characterize the tolerance of the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. Or rather, the preset condition is used to characterize the tolerance of the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result of the communication system (such as the LMF network element).

[0139] In a possible design, the preset condition is related to a threshold. For example, the preset condition may include: the first positioning result is less than or equal to the threshold. Wherein, the threshold is the maximum error allowed by the LMF network element between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0140] Optionally, the threshold may be pre-configured. For example, the threshold is pre-configured by the terminal, or the threshold is pre-configured by the LMF network element, or the threshold is pre-configured by the network device; or the threshold is predefined by the protocol, which is not limited.

[0141] That is to say, in the above method, the threshold is a static value, that is, pre-configured in the LMF network element, and this threshold will no longer change during subsequent use unless reconfigured.

[0142] Optionally, the threshold can be determined by the LMF network element. In this method, the threshold is related to the signal to noise ratio (SNR), the historical error distribution of the downlink positioning result, and the uplink positioning result.

[0143] Exemplarily, the LMF network element can calculate the currently tolerable maximum error based on the SNR and the historical error distribution, so as to determine the threshold. Among them, the SNR is different in different propagation environments, so the LMF network element can dynamically adjust the threshold based on the SNR and the historical error distribution. That is to say, in this method, the threshold is a dynamic value and can be dynamically set by the LMF network element based on the SNR and the historical error distribution.

[0144] It should be noted that the specific value of the threshold in the embodiments of the present application is not limited and shall be subject to the actual situation. Exemplarily, the unit of the threshold can be a distance unit, such as centimeters (cm) or meters (m), etc., which is not limited.

[0145] In a possible method, for the LMF network element to determine whether the first positioning result meets the preset condition, it can be described as: the LMF network element determines whether the first positioning result is less than or equal to the threshold.

[0146] Exemplarily, the threshold can be expressed as: ; then, whether the first positioning result meets the preset condition can be expressed as: the LMF network element determines .

[0147] Optionally, when the first positioning result meets the preset condition, the LMF network element executes S430; when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, the LMF network element executes S440.

[0148] Optionally, the preset condition can also be: the first positioning result is greater than the threshold. For the LMF network element to determine whether the first positioning result meets the preset condition, it can also be expressed as: the LMF network element determines . On this basis, when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, the LMF network element executes S630; when the first positioning result meets the preset condition, the LMF network element executes S640. The above two descriptions of the preset condition can be replaced with each other, which is not limited. In the embodiments of the present application, the preset condition is taken as an example that the first positioning result is less than or equal to the threshold for illustration.

[0149] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, S620 is an optional step. That is, the LMF network element can continue to execute S630 and S640 after executing S620; or, the LMF network element can directly execute S630 and S640 without executing S620, which is not limited.

[0150] S630. When the first positioning result meets the preset conditions, the LMF network element outputs the first location information.

[0151] Among them, the first location information is obtained by the first positioning technology. Exemplarily, the first positioning technology can be the above-mentioned traditional positioning technology.

[0152] Optionally, the first location information is related to the uplink positioning result and / or the downlink positioning result. For example, the first location information is the uplink positioning result; or, the first location information is the downlink positioning result; or, the first location information is determined by the LMF network element according to the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. Exemplarily, the LMF network element can use the intermediate location information between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as the first location information.

[0153] Optionally, the LMF network element can use the traditional positioning technology to locate the terminal and determine the first location information.

[0154] In S630, if the first positioning result meets the preset conditions, that is, the first positioning result is less than or equal to the threshold, it means that the current is in a relatively ideal LOS propagation environment. The difference between the uplink positioning result determined by the LMF network element through uplink positioning and the downlink positioning result determined through downlink positioning is small. Or rather, the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result are relatively consistent (or there is consistency). On this basis, the LMF network element can directly output the first location information determined by the traditional positioning method.

[0155] In this way, in a relatively ideal LOS propagation environment, the complexity of terminal positioning can be reduced, and the positioning power consumption can be reduced while reducing the computing power.

[0156] S640. When the first positioning result does not meet the preset conditions, the LMF network element outputs the second location information.

[0157] Among them, the second location information is obtained by the second positioning technology, and the first positioning technology is different from the second positioning technology. Exemplarily, the second positioning technology can be the enhanced positioning technology.

[0158] Optionally, the enhanced positioning technology can include: AI / ML positioning technology, high-precision positioning technology, or increasing the number of positioning parameters used to determine the location information of the terminal.

[0159] Among them, the AI / ML positioning technology may include AI / ML direct positioning, AI / ML assisted positioning, etc. For specific examples, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

[0160] Among them, the high-precision positioning technology may include any one of weighted least squares (WLS), extended kalman filter (EKF), and particle filter (PF), without limitation.

[0161] Among them, increasing the number of positioning parameters for determining the location information of the terminal can be understood as: further measuring the reference signal to obtain more positioning parameters (for example, in addition to TOA, TODA, AOA, and AOD, it may also include beam index, power, and / or signal reflection order, etc.).

[0162] Alternatively, the terminal or the network device measures more reference signals to obtain more positioning parameters. For example, the LMF network element can re-screen some candidate base stations (i.e., increase the number of candidate base stations) according to key indicators such as time measurement quality, angle measurement quality, and phase measurement quality, and instruct the candidate base stations to send downlink reference signals to the terminal, so that the terminal can receive and measure more downlink reference signals to obtain more downlink positioning parameters. Correspondingly, the terminal can send uplink reference signals to more candidate base stations, so that more candidate base stations can receive and measure the uplink reference signals to obtain more uplink positioning parameters.

[0163] The above examples of the enhanced positioning technology are only for illustration and do not constitute a limitation to this application. It should be understood that the enhanced positioning technology may also include other positioning technologies specified in existing standard protocols, or may also be other positioning technologies defined in future protocols, without limitation.

[0164] It should be noted that in a relatively ideal LOS propagation environment, when the terminal is positioned through uplink positioning and downlink positioning, theoretically, relatively consistent positioning results can be obtained. However, in a complex environment, due to factors such as diffraction, scattering, and occlusion in signal propagation, there will be a large deviation between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, and this deviation is inconsistent due to the non-difference or random factors of the uplink positioning parameters and the downlink positioning parameters, ultimately resulting in an obvious difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0165] Based on the above analysis, in S640, if the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, that is, the first positioning result is greater than the threshold, it indicates that the current is in a complex NLOS propagation environment. The difference between the uplink positioning result determined by the LMF network element through uplink positioning and the downlink positioning result determined through downlink positioning is relatively large. Or rather, the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result are inconsistent (or rather, the consistency is poor). On this basis, the LMF network element can output the second position information obtained through enhanced positioning technology to improve the positioning accuracy and robustness in complex scenarios.

[0166] In this way, in a complex NLOS propagation environment, the LMF network element can output the second position information obtained through enhanced positioning technology, thereby achieving precise positioning in complex scenarios.

[0167] In summary, adopting the solution of the embodiment of the present application, using the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as the judgment basis; when the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result are relatively consistent, it indicates that the current is in a relatively ideal LOS propagation environment, and the traditional positioning technology can be directly used to output the first position information, which can reduce the complexity of terminal positioning, reduce computing power, and reduce positioning power consumption.

[0168] Correspondingly, when there is a significant difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, it indicates that the current is in a complex NLOS propagation environment, resulting in insufficient positioning confidence, so that the enhanced positioning technology can be triggered to output the second position information, thereby achieving more accurate positioning in complex environments.

[0169] That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result can be used as the judgment basis, and the appropriate positioning technology can be dynamically selected for different propagation environments, which can improve the applicability and practicability of different positioning technologies to ensure the positioning accuracy and robustness in different propagation environments.

[0170] Exemplarily, the solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the following communication scenarios: 1. UAV and unmanned system navigation scenarios.

[0171] In an environment with severe multipath effects or NLOS occlusion, the traditional positioning technology and the enhanced positioning technology can be dynamically switched to improve the safety of navigation.

[0172] 2. Internet of Things positioning.

[0173] For low-power and low-cost Internet of Things devices, by self-selecting the traditional positioning technology or the enhanced positioning technology, the energy efficiency and positioning performance of the Internet of Things devices can be optimized.

[0174] 3. Emergency communication and disaster rescue positioning.

[0175] In scenarios where traditional positioning technology fails or the positioning accuracy of traditional positioning technology is insufficient, enhanced positioning technology can be quickly enabled to ensure positioning continuity and reliability.

[0176] Optionally, as Figure 8 shown, in the case where the first positioning result does not meet the preset conditions, the LMF network element outputs the second location information, which may specifically include the following steps: S810. The LMF network element determines the state of the AI / ML model.

[0177] Among them, the state of the AI / ML model may include "available state" and "unavailable state".

[0178] Optionally, the AI / ML model may also be referred to as an AI / ML positioning module. On this basis, S810 may also be replaced with: the LMF network element determines the state of the AI / ML positioning module. Among them, the state of the AI / ML positioning module may include "available state" and "unavailable state".

[0179] Or, S810 may also be replaced with: the LMF network element determines the computing power of the AI / ML positioning module. Among them, the computing power of the AI / ML positioning model includes "sufficient computing power of the AI / ML positioning module" and "insufficient computing power of the AI / ML positioning module".

[0180] Optionally, S810 may also be replaced with: the LMF network element determines the state of the AI / ML model file. Among them, the state of the AI / ML model file includes "AI / ML model file exists" and "AI / ML model file does not exist".

[0181] For ease of understanding, the following embodiments of the present application are illustrated by taking the LMF network element determining the state of the AI / ML model as an example. Exemplarily, when the state of the AI / ML model is the available state, the LMF network element executes S820; when the state of the AI / ML model is the unavailable state, the LMF network element executes S830.

[0182] S820. When the state of the AI / ML model is the available state, the LMF network element triggers the AI / ML positioning technology and outputs the second location information.

[0183] Among them, for the illustrative examples of the AI / ML positioning technology, reference may be made to the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0184] S830. When the state of the AI / ML model is the unavailable state, the LMF network element executes the high-precision positioning technology to output the second location information.

[0185] Alternatively, optionally, when the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state, the LMF network element increases the number of positioning parameters for determining the second location information. On this basis, the number of positioning parameters for determining the second location information is greater than the number of positioning parameters for determining the first location information.

[0186] For the illustrative description of the high-precision positioning technology and the illustrative description of increasing the number of positioning parameters for determining the second location information, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0187] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the AI / ML model may be deployed on the terminal; or, the AI / ML model may be deployed on the network device; or, the AI / ML model may be deployed on the LMF network element. The following describes the specific situations where the AI / ML model is deployed on different devices.

[0188] Situation 1: The AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal.

[0189] Exemplarily, as Figure 9 shown, when the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal, the LMF network element determines the state of the AI / ML model, and the LMF network element outputting the second location information (i.e., S810 to S830) may specifically include: S910: The LMF network element sends a first instruction to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first instruction from the LMF network element.

[0190] Among them, the first instruction is used to call the AI / ML model.

[0191] Exemplarily, after receiving the first instruction from the LMF network element, the terminal detects the state of the AI / ML model. For example, the terminal can automatically detect the state of the AI / ML model through a model state detection module included in the terminal.

[0192] Optionally, when the state of the AI / ML model is an available state, the method includes S920 to S940; when the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state, the method may further include S950 to S960.

[0193] S920: The terminal sends a second instruction to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the second instruction from the terminal.

[0194] Among them, the second instruction is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML model is an available state. Or rather, the second instruction is used to indicate the existence of the AI / ML model file; or rather, the second instruction is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML positioning module is an available state; or rather, the second instruction is used to indicate that the computing power of the AI / ML positioning module is sufficient, etc., which is not limited.

[0195] The S930 and LMF network elements send the first information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first information from the LMF network element.

[0196] Among them, the first information is used to instruct the terminal to perform positioning through the AI / ML model. Or rather, the first information is used to instruct the terminal to determine the location information of the terminal through the AI / ML model.

[0197] Optionally, after receiving the first information from the LMF network element, the terminal performs positioning through the AI / ML model to determine the location information of the terminal, that is, to determine the second location information.

[0198] S940, the terminal sends the second information to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the second information from the terminal.

[0199] Among them, the second information is used to indicate the second location information. Or rather, the second information includes the second location information. Or rather, the second information carries the second location information, without limitation.

[0200] It can be understood that the AI / ML model positioning includes AI / ML direct positioning and AI / ML assisted positioning. Among them, when the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal, the terminal can use AI / ML direct positioning or AI / ML assisted positioning to determine the location information of the terminal. For the example description of the terminal using AI / ML direct positioning to determine the location information of the terminal, reference can be made to the relevant description of case1 above. For the example description of the terminal using AI / ML assisted positioning to determine the location information of the terminal, reference can be made to the relevant description of case2a above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0201] S950, the terminal sends the third instruction to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the third instruction from the terminal.

[0202] Among them, the third instruction is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state. Or rather, the third instruction is used to indicate that the AI / ML model file does not exist; or rather, the third instruction is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML positioning module is an unavailable state; or rather, the third instruction is used to indicate that the computing power of the AI / ML positioning module is insufficient, etc., without limitation. Optionally, the third instruction can also be used to instruct the LMF network element to use high-precision positioning technology for positioning; or rather, the third instruction is also used to indicate an increase in the number of positioning parameters used to locate the terminal.

[0203] S960, the LMF network element outputs the second location information through high-precision positioning technology.

[0204] Exemplarily, after the LMF network element receives the third instruction from the terminal, the LMF network element can determine the location information of the terminal through high-precision positioning technology and output the second location information; alternatively, the LMF network element increases the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal and outputs the second location information.

[0205] Case 2: The AI / ML model is deployed in a network device (hereinafter referred to as the main base station for ease of description).

[0206] Exemplarily, as Figure 10 shown, when the AI / ML model is deployed in the main base station, the LMF network element determines the state of the AI / ML model, and the specific steps for the LMF network element to output the second location information (i.e., S810 to S830) may include: S1001: The LMF network element sends a fourth instruction to the main base station. Correspondingly, the main base station receives the fourth instruction from the LMF network element.

[0207] Among them, the fourth instruction is used to invoke the AI / ML model.

[0208] Exemplarily, after the main base station receives the fourth instruction from the LMF network element, the main base station detects the state of the AI / ML model. For example, the main base station can automatically detect the state of the AI / ML model through the model state detection module included in the network device.

[0209] Optionally, when the state of the AI / ML model is in an available state, the method includes S1002 to S1004; when the state of the AI / ML model is in an unavailable state, the method may further include S1005 to S1006.

[0210] S1002: The main base station sends a fifth instruction to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the fifth instruction from the main base station.

[0211] Among them, the fifth instruction is similar to the above-mentioned second instruction, and the relevant description of the second instruction can be referred to, and will not be elaborated here.

[0212] S1003: The LMF network element sends the third information to the main base station. Correspondingly, the main base station receives the third information from the LMF network element.

[0213] Among them, the third information is used to instruct the main base station to perform positioning through the AI / ML model. Or rather, the third information is used to instruct the main base station to determine the location information of the terminal through the AI / ML model.

[0214] Optionally, after the main base station receives the third information from the LMF network element, the main base station performs positioning through the AI / ML model to determine the location information of the terminal, that is, to determine the second location information.

[0215] S1004. The master base station sends the fourth information to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the fourth information from the master base station.

[0216] For the illustration of the fourth information, reference can be made to the relevant description of the second information above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0217] When the AI / ML model is deployed at the master base station, the master base station can use or AI / ML-assisted positioning to determine the location information of the terminal. For the illustration of the master base station using AI / ML-assisted positioning to determine the location information of the terminal, reference can be made to the relevant description of case3a above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0218] S1005. The master base station sends the sixth instruction to the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the sixth instruction from the master base station.

[0219] Among them, the sixth instruction is similar to the above third instruction. Reference can be made to the relevant description of the third instruction above, which will not be elaborated here. In addition, for the illustration of S1005, reference can be made to the relevant description of S950 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0220] S1006. The LMF network element outputs the second location information through high-precision positioning technology.

[0221] Exemplarily, after the LMF network element receives the sixth instruction from the terminal, the LMF network element can determine the location information of the terminal through high-precision positioning technology and output the second location information; or the LMF network element increases the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal and outputs the second location information.

[0222] It should be noted that the above first information and third information can be collectively referred to as the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is used to indicate that the network device or terminal performs positioning through the AI / ML model. The above second information and fourth information can be collectively referred to as the second indication information, that is, the second indication information is used to indicate the second location information. The above third instruction and sixth instruction can be collectively referred to as the third indication information, that is, the third indication information is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML model is unavailable; or, the third indication information is used to indicate that the AI / ML model file does not exist; or, the third indication information is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML positioning module is unavailable; or, the third indication information is used to indicate that the computing power of the AI / ML positioning module is insufficient; or, the third indication information can also be used to indicate that the LMF network element uses high-precision positioning technology for positioning; or, the third indication information is also used to indicate increasing the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal, etc., without limitation.

[0223] Case 3. The AI / ML model is deployed at the LMF network element.

[0224] Exemplarily, when the AI / ML model is deployed in the LMF network element, the LMF network element can detect the state of the AI / ML model. For example, the LMF network element can automatically detect the state of the AI / ML model through the model state detection model included in the LMF network element.

[0225] Optionally, when the state of the AI / ML model is an available state, the LMF network element locates through the AI / ML model to determine the location information of the terminal, that is, to determine the second location information.

[0226] It can be understood that the AI / ML model positioning includes AI / ML direct positioning and AI / ML assisted positioning. Among them, when the AI / ML model is deployed in the LMF network element, the LMF network element can use AI / ML direct positioning to determine the location information of the terminal. For the illustrative examples of the LMF network element using AI / ML direct positioning to determine the location information of the terminal, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of case2b and case3b above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0227] In one possible way, in the above cases 1 to 3, the LMF network element uniformly outputs the location information of the terminal (such as the second location information). On this basis, the LMF network element can report the location information of the terminal to the upper-layer application of the terminal to trigger the upper-layer application of the terminal to execute operations related to the location information of the terminal; or, the LMF network element can report the location information of the terminal to other relevant network elements of the core network device to trigger other relevant network elements to execute operations related to the location information of the terminal.

[0228] Based on the above solution, the LMF network element can use the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as a judgment basis, which can reflect the complexity of the current propagation environment, and then reflect the positioning accuracy and the confidence level of the positioning parameters. The LMF network element can dynamically select traditional positioning methods or enhanced positioning technologies, or can switch between positioning technologies with different positioning accuracies, so as to improve the applicability and practicability of different positioning technologies to ensure the positioning accuracy and robustness in different propagation environments.

[0229] Specifically, the LMF network element can use the inconsistency between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as a judgment basis. When it is detected that there is a significant difference between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result, it indicates that the current is in a complex NLOS propagation environment, and the LMF network element will trigger enhanced positioning technology to improve the positioning accuracy and robustness in complex scenarios.

[0230] It should be understood that Figures 1 to 10 The flowchart or scenario diagram shown is only for easy understanding and does not intend to limit the embodiments of the present application to the examples shown in the diagram. In fact, those skilled in the art are based on Figures 1 to 10In the examples, equivalent transformations can be performed to obtain more implementation methods.

[0231] As described above in conjunction with Figures 1 to 10 , the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application has been described in detail. Next, the device embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in conjunction with Figures 11 to 12 It should be understood that the communication device of the embodiments of the present application can execute various positioning methods of the foregoing embodiments of the present application, that is, the specific working processes of the following various products can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0232] In the foregoing embodiments, the LMF network element can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments; the terminal device can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments; the network device can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments. These steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or various deformations of the operations. In addition, the various steps can be executed in different orders presented in the embodiments, and it is possible not to execute all the operations in the embodiments of the present application. Moreover, the magnitudes of the sequence numbers of the steps do not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0233] Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 11 shown, the communication device may include a communication module 1120. The communication module 1120 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the communication functions can be the internal communication functions of the communication device or the communication functions between the communication device and other devices. Optionally, the communication module 1120 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver module. Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing module 1110. The processing module 1110 can implement corresponding processing functions.

[0234] Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage module, which can be used to store instructions and / or data; the processing module 1110 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the communication device can implement the foregoing method embodiments.

[0235] In a possible design, the communication device can correspond to the LMF network element in the foregoing method embodiments, or a component (such as a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) configured in the LMF network element. The communication device can be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the LMF network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0236] Exemplarily, the communication module 1120 is used to determine a first positioning result, and the first positioning result is used to indicate the errors of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result; the processing module 1110 is used to output first location information when the first positioning result meets a preset condition, and the first location information is obtained by the first positioning technology; when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, output second location information, and the second location information is obtained by the second positioning technology; wherein, the first positioning technology is different from the second positioning technology; the preset condition is used to characterize the tolerance of the errors of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0237] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically configured to output the second location information when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an available state; the second location information is the location information output by the AI / ML model; wherein, the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on the network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on the positioning management network element.

[0238] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically configured to output the second location information when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state; wherein, the second positioning technology includes any one of WLS, EKF, and particle filtering; or, the second positioning technology is used to trigger the positioning management network element to increase the positioning parameters for positioning the terminal.

[0239] Optionally, the preset condition includes: the first positioning result is greater than a threshold; the threshold is the maximum error of the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result allowed by the positioning management network element.

[0240] Optionally, the threshold is pre-configured; or, the threshold is determined by the positioning management network element; the threshold is related to the signal-to-noise ratio, the historical error distribution of the downlink positioning result and the uplink positioning result.

[0241] Optionally, the AI / ML model is deployed on the network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal; wherein, the processing module 1110 is specifically configured to send a first indication message to the first device when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an available state; the first indication message is used to indicate that the first device performs positioning through the AI / ML model; receive a second indication message from the first device; the second indication message is used to indicate the second location information; the first device is the terminal or the network device.

[0242] Optionally, the AI / ML model is deployed in the network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed in the terminal; wherein, the processing module 1110 is specifically configured to receive third indication information from the first device when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition; the third indication information is used to indicate that the status of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state; or, the third indication information is used to indicate to perform positioning using the target positioning technology; or, the third indication information increases the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal; output the second position information through the target positioning technology; or, increase the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal and output the second position information.

[0243] Optionally, the communication module 1120 is specifically configured to determine a downlink positioning result according to the first positioning parameters received from the terminal; the first positioning parameters are related to the PRS signal; determine an uplink positioning result according to the second positioning parameters received from the network device; the second positioning parameters are related to the SRS signal; determine the first positioning result according to the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

[0244] The above are only examples, and the detailed steps or processes can refer to the description of the foregoing embodiments.

[0245] Figure 12 It is another schematic block diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication device can be a chip, a chip system, or a processor, etc. of a terminal device or a network device to implement the above method. The communication device can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiments, and specifically can refer to the description in the above method embodiments.

[0246] As Figure 12 shown, the communication device may include one or more processors 1210. The processor 1210 may also be referred to as a processing unit or a processing module, and can implement certain control functions. The processor 1210 can be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it can be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a user, a user chip), execute software programs, and process the data of the software programs.

[0247] In an alternative design, the processor 1210 may also store instructions and / or data, and the instructions and / or data can be run by the processor 1210, so that the communication device executes the method described in the above method embodiments.

[0248] In another alternative design, the communication device may include a communication interface 1220 for implementing receiving and sending functions. For example, the communication interface 1220 may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver for implementing receiving and sending functions may be separate or integrated together. The above transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for signal transmission or transfer.

[0249] Optionally, the communication device may include one or more memories 1230, on which instructions may be stored, and the instructions may be run on the processor 1210, so that the communication device executes the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 1230. Optionally, instructions and / or data may also be stored in the processor 1210. The processor 1210 and the memory 1230 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0250] It should be understood that in a possible design, the steps in the method embodiments provided in this application may be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or the instructions in software form. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of this application may be directly embodied as being executed and completed by the hardware processor, or executed and completed by the combination of the hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and combines its hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0251] In one implementation, the communication device may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiments and may be used to execute each step and / or process executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The processor 1210 may be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1230, and when the processor 1210 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1210 is used to execute each step and / or process of the above method embodiment corresponding to the terminal device.

[0252] In another implementation, the communication device may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiments and may be used to execute each step and / or process executed by the network device in the above method embodiments. The processor 1210 may be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1230, and when the processor 1210 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1210 is used to execute each step and / or process of the above method embodiment corresponding to the network device.

[0253] It should be understood that the above processing device can be one or more chips. For example, the processing device can be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro controller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0254] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include but not be limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0255] According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a chip system, which includes one or more processors for calling and running instructions stored in a memory, so that the method of the embodiments of the present application is executed. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0256] Among them, the chip system may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0257] According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a communication system, which includes the foregoing network device, terminal device, and LMF network element.

[0258] According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute each step or process performed by the network device, terminal device, and LMF network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0259] According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute each step or process performed by the network device, terminal device, and LMF network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0260] The computer-readable storage medium may be the foregoing volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile memory and non-volatile memory.

[0261] In the embodiments of the present application, each term and English abbreviation are exemplary examples given for convenience of description and shall not constitute any limitation to the present application. The present application does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future protocols.

[0262] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part.

[0263] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of the device or unit can be in an electrical, mechanical, or other form.

[0264] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the magnitude of the sequence numbers of the respective processes does not imply the order of execution. The order of execution of the respective processes should be determined according to their functions and internal logics, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0265] In summary, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the technical solution of the present application, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized in that, Applied to a positioning management network element; the method includes: Determine a first positioning result; the first positioning result is used to indicate the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result. When the first positioning result meets a preset condition, output first position information; the first position information is obtained through a first positioning technique. When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, output second position information; the second position information is obtained through a second positioning technique. Wherein, the first positioning technique is different from the second positioning technique; the preset condition is used to characterize the tolerance of the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, outputting the second position information includes: When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an available state, output the second position information; the second position information is the position information output by the AI / ML model supported by the second positioning technique. Wherein, the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on a network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on the positioning management network element.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, outputting the second position information includes: When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state, output the second position information. Wherein, the second positioning technique includes any one of WLS, EKF, and particle filtering; or, the second positioning technique is used to trigger the positioning management network element to increase positioning parameters for positioning the terminal.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the preset condition includes: the first positioning result is greater than a threshold; the threshold is the maximum error allowed by the positioning management network element between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the threshold is pre-configured; or the threshold is determined by the positioning management network element; the threshold is related to the signal-to-noise ratio and the historical error distribution of the downlink positioning result and the uplink positioning result.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein The AI / ML model is deployed on the network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal; Wherein, when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an available state, outputting the second position information includes when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an available state, send a first indication message to a first device; the first indication message is used to instruct the first device to perform positioning through the AI / ML model. Receive a second indication message from the first device; the second indication message is used to indicate the second position information, and the first device is the terminal or the network device.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The AI / ML model is deployed in the network device; or, the AI / ML model is deployed in the terminal; Wherein, when the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition and the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state, outputting the second location information includes: When the first positioning result does not meet the preset condition, receiving third indication information from a first device; the third indication information is used to indicate that the state of the AI / ML model is an unavailable state; or, the third indication information is used to indicate using any one of the WLS, the EKF, and the particle filter for positioning; or, the third indication information is used to indicate increasing the number of positioning parameters for positioning the terminal; In response to the third indication information, outputting the second location information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 5 - 7, characterized in that The determining of the first positioning result includes: Determining the downlink positioning result according to the received first positioning parameters from the terminal; the first positioning parameters are related to the PRS signal; Determining the uplink positioning result according to the received second positioning parameters from the network device; the second positioning parameters are related to the SRS signal; Taking the error between the uplink positioning result and the downlink positioning result as the first positioning result.

9. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions, the processor executing the programs or instructions such that the communication device is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program or instructions are executed, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising the communication device according to claim 9.

12. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system includes one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to call and run instructions stored in a memory from the memory, such that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is executed.

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