RF device positioning in wireless network

Abstract

Techniques for determining a location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network are disclosed. In some embodiments, such techniques can involve receiving, at a first wireless device of the wireless network, a first positioning assistance request from an RF reader configured to exchange data with the RF device; positioning the RF device based on a determination to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader, the positioning of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second positioning assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, positioning a positioning resource, or a combination thereof; and transmitting positioning information associated with the RF device to the RF reader based on the made positioning of the RF device.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to determining the location of a radio frequency (RF) device, for example, using one or more wireless devices within a wireless network.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technologies

[0003] There has been interest in passive Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for radio access technologies (RATs). These RATs can utilize passive communications (or low-power communications) such as backscatter communications. In particular, zero-power IoT (ZP-IoT) communications using devices such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags typically do not require an internal power source for operation. As a result, zero-power technologies can achieve low power requirements, small form factors (no batteries and / or wearable devices), and low costs for devices. This technology is gaining popularity due to its advantages for use in process automation and facility automation within industrial wireless sensor networks, smart devices, smart homes, and medical information management. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for determining a location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes: receiving, at a first wireless device of the wireless network, a first location assistance request from an RF reader, the RF reader being configured to exchange data with the RF device; providing location assistance to the RF reader based on determining to provide location assistance, performing location determination of the RF device, the location determination of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second location assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, performing location determination of a location resource, or a combination thereof; and transmitting location information associated with the RF device to the RF reader based on the location determination of the RF device.

[0005] In some embodiments, the method includes: at an RF reader configured to receive data from the RF device: configuring a positioning assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmitting the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and receiving location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

[0006] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless device within a wireless network is disclosed. In some embodiments, the wireless device includes: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with a radio frequency (RF) reader and an RF device, the RF reader configured to exchange data with the RF device; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: receive a first location assistance request from the RF reader; provide location assistance to the RF reader based on a determination to locate the RF device, the location of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second location assistance request to another wireless device of the wireless network, locating a location resource, or a combination thereof; and transmitting location information associated with the RF device to the RF reader based on the location of the RF device.

[0007] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a radio frequency (RF) reader is disclosed. In some embodiments, the RF reader includes: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with an RF device; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: configure a location assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of a wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmit the location assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and receive location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the location assistance request.

[0008] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable apparatus is disclosed. In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable apparatus includes a storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: receive, at a first wireless device in a wireless network, a first location assistance request from an RF reader configured to exchange data with the RF device; perform location assistance on the RF device based on a determination to provide location assistance to the RF reader, the location assistance comprising: transmitting a second location assistance request to a second wireless device in the wireless network, performing location assistance on a location resource, or a combination thereof; and, based on the location assistance performed on the RF device, transmit location information associated with the RF device to the RF reader.

[0009] In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable device includes a storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a radio frequency (RF) reader configured to receive data from a radio frequency (RF) device to: configure a positioning assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmit the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and receive location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

[0010] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus is disclosed. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for receiving, at a first wireless device of a wireless network, a first location assistance request from an RF reader, the RF reader being configured to exchange data with the RF device; means for providing location assistance to the RF reader based on a determination to locate the RF device, the location of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second location assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, locating a location resource, or a combination thereof; and means for transmitting, based on the location of the RF device, location information associated with the RF device to the RF reader.

[0011] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes: a component for configuring a positioning assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; a component for transmitting the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and a component for receiving location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

[0012] This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples are described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram of a positioning system according to an embodiment.

[0014] Figure 2 is a diagram of a 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning system, illustrating a positioning system implemented within a 5G NR communication network (e.g., Figure 1 implementation plan of a positioning system).

[0015] Figure 3A and Figure 3Bis an illustration of a radio frequency (RF) reader and tag that use backscattered RF signals to form a simple communication system.

[0016] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Illustrated are simplified diagrams of example zero-power Internet of Things (ZP-IoT) systems with and without relay devices for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0017] Figure 5 An example positioning scheme with an RF reader and an RF device is shown.

[0018] Figure 6 An example positioning scenario with an RF reader, one or more assistant UEs, and an RF device is shown.

[0019] Figure 7A is an example implementation in which an RF reader transmits a location assistance request to a base station.

[0020] Figure 7B is an example implementation in which an RF reader transmits a location assistance request to a UE.

[0021] Figure 7C is another example embodiment in which an RF reader transmits a location assistance request to a base station.

[0022] Figure 8 is a signaling flow diagram between an RF reader and a nearby assistant UE according to some embodiments.

[0023] Figure 9 is a signaling flow diagram between an RF reader, a base station, and an assistant UE according to some embodiments.

[0024] Figure 10 is a flow chart of a method of determining the location of an RF device within a wireless network according to some embodiments.

[0025] Figure 11 is a flow chart of another method of determining the location of an RF device within a wireless network according to some embodiments.

[0026] Figure 12 is a block diagram of an implementation of a UE that may be utilized in implementations as described herein.

[0027] Figure 13 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a base station that may be utilized in embodiments as described herein.

[0028] Figure 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system (eg, an RF reader) that may be utilized in embodiments as described herein.

[0029] Similar reference symbols in the various figures indicate similar elements according to certain example embodiments. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by following the first digit of the element with a letter or hyphen and a second digit. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first digit is used to refer to such an element, it should be understood that any instance of the element (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b, and 110c) is included. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following description is directed to certain implementations for the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of the various embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as any of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), the IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Technical standards), Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals used for communicating within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G or further implementations thereof.

[0031] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of each RF signal through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0032] Additionally, unless otherwise indicated, references to "reference signals," "positioning reference signals," "reference signals used for positioning," etc., may be used to refer to signals used to locate user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a variety of signal types, but may not necessarily be limited to positioning reference signals (PRS) as defined in relevant wireless standards.

[0033] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the term "positioning" as used herein may include absolute position determination, relative position determination, ranging, or a combination thereof. For the purpose of location or sensing services, such positioning may include and / or be based on timing, angle, phase, or power measurements or a combination thereof (which may include RF sensing measurements).

[0034] Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems, which use passive RF devices such as RFID tags, are mature and widely used in some legacy communication systems. However, current RFID systems are not natively compatible with emerging RATs, such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems. For example, while current RFID systems can operate within the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, NR systems primarily operate in licensed bands. This means that RFID functionality can be used in conjunction with NR systems.

[0035] Therefore, new topologies between current RFID systems and some non-legacy RATs (such as 5G NR systems) would be advantageous and useful. In some example implementations of RFID systems with modern RATs, the location of an RF device, such as an RFID tag, can be determined, for example, so that an RF reader can interact with the RF device. To this end, a different type of communication or communication path can be used, rather than the currently used backscatter communication. Additional details will follow after the initial description of the relevant systems and techniques.

[0036] Figure 1is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100 according to embodiments discussed herein, in which a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 can use the techniques provided herein (using, for example, the UE 105 and / or base station 120) to determine the location of a radio frequency (RF) device. The techniques described herein can be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 can include: a UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)), which can include global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites (e.g., satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.) and / or non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellites; a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 can estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the UE 105 and the known positions of other components that send and / or receive RF signals (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130). Figure 2 Additional details regarding specific position estimation techniques are discussed in more detail.

[0037] It should be pointed out that Figure 1 Only a generalized illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more than one UE 105. Figure 1 A greater or fewer number of base stations 120 and / or APs 130 are illustrated. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, external client 180 may be connected directly to location server 160. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0038] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any one of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may, for example, include any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. In addition, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, a cellular or other mobile network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also known as new radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLAN, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0039] Base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 are communicatively coupled to network 170. In some embodiments, base station 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described below. Depending on the technology of network 170, base station 120 may include a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR Node B (gNB), a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case where network 170 is a 5G network, base station 120, as a gNB or ng-eNB, may be part of a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC). In view of the open radio access network (O-RAN) and / or virtualized radio access network (V-RAN or vRAN) in 5G or higher networks, the functions performed by the base station 120 in the earlier networks (e.g., 3G and 4G) can be divided into different functional components (e.g., radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU) and central unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which can be executed on different devices at different locations connected, for example, via fronthaul connections, midhaul connections and backhaul connections. As referred to herein, a "base station" (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. For example, the AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or AP or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, the UE 105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices such as a location server 160 by accessing the network 170 via the base station 120 using the first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because the AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled with the network 170, the UE 105 can communicate with network-connected and Internet-connected devices (including the location server 160) using the second communication link 135 or via one or more other mobile devices 145. In addition, the UE 105 can transmit and receive information with an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) 136 via a third communication link 137. In some implementations, the third communication link 137 can utilize sidelinks and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies, as described below. In some implementations, the third communication link 137 can utilize IEEE 802.11 standards (including Wi-Fi), or another standardized communication technology. The RF reader 136 may also be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via a third communication link 137 and / or to communicate with the base station 120 via a fourth communication link 138. In some implementations, the fourth communication link 138 may include a Uu interface as described below (e.g., in LTE or NR). Downlink and uplink communications may be performed using the third communication link 137 and the fourth communication link 138. In addition, the RF reader 136 may be configured to communicate with the AP 130 via a fifth communication link 139, which may utilize IEEE 802.11 standards (including Wi-Fi), or another standardized communication technology (including cellular, if capable). As will be further described below, RF reader 136 may also be configured to interact with RF device 142 (e.g., RFID tag or transponder). In some cases, RF reader 136 may participate in zero-power IoT communication by transmitting a carrier wave and receiving backscattered waves (e.g., backscattered RF signals) from RF device 142 (e.g., RFID tag) via communication link 141. In some cases, an active RF device may transmit a signal toward RF reader 136, and RF reader 136 may receive a signal from the RF device.

[0040] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at a base station 120. A transmit-receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably herein with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station." In some cases, a base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or antenna array of the base station 120. As used herein, the transmit functionality of a TRP may be performed using a transmit point (TP), and / or the receive functionality of a TRP may be performed by a receive point (RP), which may be physically separate or distinct from the TP. That is, a TRP may include both a TP and an RP. A physical transmission point may include an antenna array of the base station 120 (for example, as in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or where the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which may be distributed antenna systems (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or remote radio heads (RRHs) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station).

[0041] As used herein, the term "cell" may generally refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 120 and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish between adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocols) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0042] Satellites 110 may be used to locate UE 105 in one or more ways. For example, satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) may be part of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou. Positioning using RF signals from GNSS satellites may include measuring multiple GNSS signals at the GNSS receiver of UE 105 to perform code-based and / or carrier-based positioning, which may be highly accurate. Additionally or alternatively, satellites 110 may be used for NTN-based positioning, where satellites 110 may functionally operate as TRPs (or TPs) for a network (e.g., an LTE and / or NR network) and may be communicatively coupled with network 170. Specifically, reference signals (e.g., PRSs) transmitted by satellites 110 for NTN-based positioning may be similar to those transmitted by base station 120 and may be coordinated by location server 160. In some embodiments, the satellites 110 used for NTN-based positioning may be different from those used for GNSS-based positioning. In some embodiments, NTN nodes may include non-ground vehicles, such as aircraft, balloons, drones, etc., which may serve as a supplement to or alternative to NTN satellites.

[0043] The location server 160 may include a server and / or other computing device configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) positioning solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information of the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also include an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for LTE radio access of the UE 105. The location server 160 may also include a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for NR or LTE radio access of the UE 105.

[0044] In the CP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of the UE 105 may use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between elements of the network 170 and with the UE 105. In the UP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of the UE 105 may be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data (e.g., data transmitted using the Internet Protocol (IP) and / or the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0045] As previously noted (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated position of UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information regarding the relative distances and / or angles of UE 105 from one or more components in positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, APs 130, base stations 120). The estimated position of UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known positions of the one or more components.

[0046] Although the ground components (such as AP 130 and base station 120) can be fixed, the embodiments are not limited in this regard. Mobile components can be used. For example, in some embodiments, the position of UE 105 can be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 communicated between UE 105 and one or more other mobile devices 145 (the one or more other mobile devices can be mobile or fixed). As illustrated, the other mobile devices can include, for example, mobile phone 145-1, vehicle 145-2, static communication / positioning device 145-3, or other static and / or mobile devices capable of providing wireless signals for locating UE 105, or a combination thereof. The wireless signals from mobile device 145 for positioning of UE 105 can include using, for example, (including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), IEEE 802.11x (e.g. ), ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE 802.15x, or a combination thereof. The mobile device 145 may additionally or alternatively use non-RF wireless signals such as infrared signals or other optical technologies to locate the UE 105.

[0047] The mobile devices 145 may include other UEs communicatively coupled to a cellular network or other mobile network (e.g., network 170). When one or more other mobile devices 145, including a UE, are used in determining the location of a particular UE 105, the UE 105 whose location is to be determined may be referred to as a "target UE," and each of the other mobile devices 145 used may be referred to as an "anchor UE." In order to determine the location of the target UE, the corresponding locations of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between the one or more other mobile devices 145 and the UE 105 may include sidelinks and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. Sidelinks, as defined by 3GPP, are a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards. UWB may be a technology by which measurements from one or more anchor devices (e.g., mobile devices 145) may be used to facilitate the positioning of a target device (e.g., UE 105).

[0048] According to some embodiments, such as when the UE 105 includes and / or is incorporated into a vehicle, a form of D2D communication used by the mobile device 105 may include vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. V2X is a communication standard for vehicles to exchange information about the traffic environment with related entities. V2X may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication between vehicles with V2X capabilities, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication between vehicles and infrastructure-based equipment (commonly referred to as roadside units (RSUs)), vehicle-to-person (V2P) communication between vehicles and nearby people (pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users), etc. In addition, V2X may use any of a variety of wireless RF communication technologies. For example, cellular V2X (CV2X) is a form of V2X that uses cellular-based communications, such as LTE (4G), NR (5G), and / or other cellular technologies, in a direct communication mode defined by 3GPP. Figure 1 The illustrated UE 105 may correspond to a component or device located on a vehicle, an RSU, or other V2X entity for communicating V2X messages. In embodiments where V2X is used, the static communication / positioning device 145-3 (which may correspond to an RSU) and / or the vehicle 145-2 may thus communicate with the UE 105 and may be used to determine the location of the UE 105 using techniques similar to those used by the base station 120 and / or the AP 130 (e.g., using multi-angle measurement and / or multilateration). It may be further noted that, according to some embodiments, the mobile device 145 (which may include a V2X device), the base station 120, and / or the AP 130 may be used together (e.g., in a WWAN positioning solution) to determine the location of the UE 105.

[0049] The estimated position of the UE 105 may be used in a variety of applications, such as to assist the user of the UE 105 with direction finding or navigation or to assist another user (e.g., associated with an external client 180) in locating the UE 105. "Position" is also referred to herein as a "position estimate," "estimated position," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated position," "position fix," or "fix." The process of determining a position may be referred to as "positioning," "position determination," "position determination," or the like. The position of the UE 105 may include the absolute position of the UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude, and possibly altitude) or the relative position of the UE 105 (e.g., expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below some other known fixed position (including, for example, the position of a base station 120 or an AP 130) or some other location (such as the position of the UE 105 at some known previous time, or the position of a mobile device 145 (e.g., another UE) at some known previous time). The location may be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area, such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, stadium, or convention center). The location may alternatively be a city location and may then include one or more of a street address (e.g., including the name or label of the country, state, county, city, road, and / or street, and / or road or street number) and / or a label or name of a place, a building, a portion of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building. The location may also include an uncertainty or error indication, such as a horizontal distance, and possibly a vertical distance, over which the location is expected to be in error, or an indication of a region or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0050] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., accessible by the user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as locating friends or relatives or locating children or pets). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of the UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0051] As previously noted, the example positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network such as an LTE-based or 5GNR-based network. Figure 2A diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 is shown, illustrating an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., positioning system 100) that implements 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 can be configured to determine the location of a UE 105 using access nodes to implement one or more positioning methods. The access nodes can include NR Node Bs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively referred to herein as gNBs 210), ng-eNBs 214, and / or WLANs 216. The gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214 can communicate with Figure 1 The base station 120 corresponds to the WLAN 216, and the WLAN 216 can be connected to the base station 120. Figure 1 130. Optionally, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may be additionally configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using the LMF 220 (which may correspond to the location server 160) to implement one or more positioning methods. Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 includes the UE 105 and components of a 5G NR network, including a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G core network (5G CN) 240. A 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network; NG-RAN 235 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN; and 5G CN 240 may be referred to as an NG core network.

[0052] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also utilize information from satellites 110. As previously indicated, satellites 110 may include GNSS satellites from a GNSS system such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar systems (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)). Additionally or alternatively, satellites 110 may include NTN satellites that may be communicatively coupled with the LMF 220 and operable to serve as TRPs (or TPs) in the NG-RAN 235. As such, satellites 110 may communicate with one or more gNBs 210.

[0053] It should be pointed out that Figure 2Only generalized illustrations of various components are provided; any or all of these components may be utilized as appropriate, and each of these components may be repeated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of satellites 110, gNBs 210, ng-eNBs 214, wireless local area networks (WLANs) 216, access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0054] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a secure user plane location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal data assistant (PDA), a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support the use of one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX TM ), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240), etc. The UE 105 may also support wireless communications using WLAN 216, which is similar to one or more RATs and as previously described for Figure 1 The use of one or more of these RATs may allow the UE 105 (e.g., via Figure 2 240, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) to communicate with an external client 230 and / or allow the external client 230 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 225). When implemented in or communicatively coupled with a 5G NR network, Figure 2 The external client 230 may correspond to Figure 1 External client 180.

[0055] UE 105 may comprise a single entity or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network in which a user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geodetic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) for UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., a postal address or a designation of a point or smaller area in a building, such as a specific room or floor). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume (geodetic or civic-defined) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may also be a relative location, including, for example, a distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined geodetically, municipally, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the descriptions contained herein, use of the term "location" may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved for, and then the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., in terms of latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level) if necessary.

[0056] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown may correspond to Figure 1 The base stations 120 in the NG-RAN 235 may include gNBs 210. Pairs of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., Figure 2 210, or indirectly via other gNBs 210). The communication interface between base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as an Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 210, which may use 5G NR to provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105. The wireless interface between the base station (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as a Uu interface 239. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. In Figure 2, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) can act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location, or can act as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0057] Figure 2 The base stations in the illustrated NG-RAN 235 may additionally or alternatively include a next generation evolved Node B (also referred to as ng-eNB) 214. The ng-eNB 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235—e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 2 Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in the 5G network may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons, which may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or broadcast assistance data to assist in locating the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs. Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB (not shown)) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to function as detection-only nodes, which may scan for signals containing, for example, PRS data, assistance data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (relating to, for example, PRS, assistance data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., one or more components of the 5G CN 240, the external client 230, or a controller), which may receive and store the data or use the data to locate at least the UE 105. It should be noted that although Figure 2 Only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in FIG, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may communicate directly with each other via an Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, the base stations may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200, such as LMF 220 and AMF 215.

[0058] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that may be connected to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5GCN 240 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., Figure 1 Here, the N3IWF 250 may connect to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access of the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or may support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 with one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. For example, the N3IWF 250 may support: IPSec tunnel establishment with the UE 105, termination of the IKEv2 / IPSec protocol with the UE 105, termination of the N2 and N3 interfaces with the 5G CN 240 for the control plane and user plane, respectively, and relay of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling across the N1 interface between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may be directly connected to elements in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., Figure 2 215) and not via the N3IWF 250. For example, a direct connection of the WLAN 216 to the 5GCN 240 may occur if the WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN for the 5GCN 240 and may use a Trusted WLAN Interworking Function (TWIF) ( Figure 2 It should be noted that although Figure 2 Only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG, but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216.

[0059] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. As noted, this may include a gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, the access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include a cellular network entity that enables communication with the UE 105. Figure 2An access node is an entity that communicates with any of a variety of RATs not illustrated in the present disclosure (which may include non-cellular technologies). Therefore, as used in the embodiments described below, the term "access node" may include, but is not necessarily limited to, a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, or a WLAN 216.

[0060] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216) (alone or in combination with other components of 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to: in response to receiving a request for location information from LMF 220, obtain location measurements for uplink (UL) signals received from UE 105 and / or obtain DL location measurements from UE 105 for downlink (DL) signals received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As noted, although Figure 2 The access nodes (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and WLAN 216) are depicted as being configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, but access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using the LTE protocol for the Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or an eNB using the LTE protocol for the WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE radio access to UE 105, the RAN may include E-UTRAN, which may include base stations including eNBs that support LTE radio access. The core network for EPS may include Evolved Packet Core (EPC). EPS may then include E-UTRAN plus EPC, where Figure 2 , E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 235 and EPC corresponds to 5GCN 240. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of UE 105 may be applicable to such other networks.

[0061] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 can communicate with the AMF 215, which communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functions. The AMF 215 can support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover of the UE 105 from an access node of a first RAT (e.g., gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216) to an access node of a second RAT. The AMF 215 can also participate in supporting signaling connections with the UE 105 and possibly supporting data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning of the UE 105 using a CP positioning solution when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, and may support positioning procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Frequency Difference of Arrival (FDOA), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN positioning, Round Trip Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 215 or from the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225. In some embodiments, a network (such as 5GCN 240) may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP). It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functionality (including determining the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 and / or WLAN 216) and / or using assistance data provided to UE 105 by, for example, LMF 220).

[0062] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 220 may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225 directly or via the AMF 215, and the GMLC 225 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 230.

[0063] A network exposure function (NEF) 245 may be included in the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events regarding the 5GCN 240 and the UE 105 to the external client 230, which may therefore be referred to as an access function (AF), and may enable secure provisioning of information from the external client 230 to the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may connect to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225 for the purpose of obtaining a location (e.g., a municipal location) of the UE 105 and providing the location to the external client 230.

[0064] like Figure 2 As further illustrated, the LMF 220 may communicate with the gNB 210 and / or with the ng-eNB 214 using the NR Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be passed between the gNB 210 and the LMF 220 and / or between the ng-eNB 214 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215. Figure 2 As further illustrated in FIG, the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the serving gNB 210-1 or serving ng-eNB 214 for the UE 105. For example, LPP messages may be communicated between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)-based) and may be communicated between the AMF 215 and the UE 105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network-based positioning methods such as ECID, AoA, uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA) and / or may be used by LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmission from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0065] In the event that the UE 105 accesses the WLAN 216, the LMF 220 may use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of the UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for the UE 105 accessing the gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages may be passed between the WLAN 216 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 and / or to pass other location information from the WLAN 216 to the LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages may be passed between the N3IWF 250 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements that are known to or accessible to the N3IWF 250 and passed from the N3IWF 250 to the LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215, the N3IWF 250, and the serving WLAN 216 of the UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of the UE 105 by the LMF 220.

[0066] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, positioning methods may be categorized as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based." This may depend on where the request to determine the location of the UE 105 originates. For example, where the request originates from the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method may be categorized as UE-based. On the other hand, where the request originates from an external client 230, LMF 220, or other device or service within the 5G network, the positioning method may be categorized as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0067] With UE-assisted positioning methods, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in computing a location estimate for the UE 105. For RAT-dependent positioning methods, the location measurements may include one or more of the following for one or more access points of the gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216: received signal strength indicator (RSSI), round-trip propagation time (RTT), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal time difference (RSTD), time of arrival (TOA), AoA, receive time-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx), differential AoA (DAoA), AoD, or timing advance (TA). Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be made on sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs, which may be used as anchor points for positioning the UE 105 if the locations of these other UEs are known. Position measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements for RAT-independent positioning methods, such as GNSS (eg, GNSS pseudoranges with respect to satellites 110 , GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase), WLAN, and the like.

[0068] Using the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain a position measurement (e.g., which can be the same as or similar to the position measurement of the UE-assisted positioning method) and can further calculate the position of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as LMF 220, SLP or broadcast by gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 or WLAN 216).

[0069] Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214), one or more APs (e.g., in WLAN 216), or N3IWF 250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AoA, or TOA) of signals sent by UE 105, and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105 or, in the case of N3IWF 250, by APs in WLAN 216, and may transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in calculating a position estimate for UE 105.

[0070] Positioning of UE 105 may also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based, depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if positioning is based solely on signals received at UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if positioning is based solely on signals sent by UE 105 (which may be received by, for example, a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals sent and received by UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Sidelink (SL)-assisted positioning includes signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning as described herein may be able to use SL signaling as a supplement to or replacement for SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0071] Depending on the positioning type (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may vary. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may include PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by the base station or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for TDOA measurements, AoD measurements, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include: Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), synchronization signals (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Synchronization Signal (SS)), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), etc. Furthermore, reference signals may be transmitted in a Tx beam and / or received in an Rx beam (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which may affect angle measurements such as AoD and / or AoA.

[0072] As discussed herein, in some embodiments, TDOA assistance data regarding a "reference cell" (which may also be referred to as a "reference resource") and one or more "neighbor cells" or "adjacent cells" (which may also be referred to as "target cells" or "target resources") relative to the reference cell may be provided by a location server (e.g., location server 160) to the UE 105. For example, the assistance data may provide the center channel frequency of each cell, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N PRS 、T PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth), cell global ID, PRS signal characteristics associated with directional PRS, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to TDOA or some other positioning method. By indicating the serving cell for the UE 105 in the TDOA assistance data (e.g., where a reference cell is indicated as the serving cell), PRS-based positioning by the UE 105 may be facilitated.

[0073] In some embodiments, the TDOA assistance data may also include an "expected reference signal time difference (RSTD)" parameter and the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter, which provides the UE 105 with information about the RSTD value that the UE 105 is expected to measure between the reference cell and each neighbor cell at its current location. The expected RSTD and the associated uncertainty may define a search window for the UE 105 within which the UE 105 is expected to measure RSTD values. The TDOA assistance information may also include PRS configuration information parameters that allow the UE 105 to determine when PRS positioning opportunities occur on signals received from various neighbor cells relative to the PRS positioning opportunities for the reference cell, and to determine the PRS sequences sent from the various cells in order to measure signal ToA or RSTD.

[0074] Using RSTD measurements, known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, and known positions of the wireless node physical transmit antennas for the reference cell and neighboring cells, UE positioning may be calculated (e.g., by UE 105 or by location server 160). More specifically, the RSTD of neighbor cell "k" relative to the reference cell "Ref" may be given as (ToA k –ToA Ref ), where the ToA value can be measured modulo one subframe duration (1 ms) to remove the effect of measuring different subframes at different times. The ToA measurements of different cells can then be converted into RSTD measurements and transmitted by the UE 105 to the location server 160. Using (i) RSTD measurements, (ii) known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, (iii) known positioning of the physical transmit antennas for the reference cell and neighboring cells, and / or (iv) directional PRS characteristics (such as transmit direction), the UE 105 position can be determined.

[0075] In some embodiments, phase difference of arrival (PDOA) assisted positioning may be performed, where ranging measurements may be made based on the phase difference of the propagation path between network nodes (e.g., UE 105, base station 120, 210), between a network node and an RF device (e.g., RFID tag), or between an RF reader (e.g., RFID reader) and an RF device to determine the distance to the tag. Due to the very small signal bandwidth and the typically limited distance, the phase error may be small. In some variations, frequency domain PDOA (FD-PDOA), which measures the phase of the tag at different frequencies, may be used to determine the location of the RF device. In other variations, time domain PDOA (TD-PDOA), which measures the phase of the tag at different points in time, or spatial domain PDOA (SD-PDOA), which uses a phased array antenna array to estimate the AoA, may be used to determine the location of the RF device.

[0076] Zero-power radio frequency (RF) topology

[0077] RF devices such as RFID tags or transponders are devices that can interact with nearby RF readers or RFID readers to receive, store and / or send data using low-power radio waves. RFID tags typically contain a microchip or integrated circuit (IC), an antenna, and materials that hold the components together. RF devices can be passive, active, or semi-passive. Passive RFID tags operate without an internal power source. These passive RFID tags are powered by electromagnetic energy from an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader). Active RFID tags include their own transmitter and power source. Semi-passive (or battery-assisted passive) tags incorporate a power source with a passive tag configuration. RFID tags can operate in different frequency ranges (e.g., from ultra-high frequencies to low frequencies).

[0078] like Figure 3A and Figure 3B As illustrated, RF readers and tags can form a simple communication system using backscattered RF signals. Figure 3A is a diagram depicting an RF reader 302 (e.g., an RFID reader) and an RF device 304 (e.g., an RFID tag) exchanging a forward link and a backscatter link. The forward link may refer to an electromagnetic signal (also called an interrogation signal) transmitted by the RFID reader to excite an RFID tag 304 in the field, which may prompt a response from the tag 304. The backscatter link may refer to an electromagnetic response signal transmitted from the tag 304 in the field, which may be detected by the reader 302.

[0079] Figure 3BThe corresponding electromagnetic waves carrying information transmitted and received between the reader and the tag are illustrated. The carrier 310 used for the forward link may have been encoded to carry data. The RF reader (e.g., RFID reader 302) can modulate the RF signal (e.g., using a type of amplitude shift keying) and use different encoding methods (e.g., using pulse spacing encoding as shown). The RF device (e.g., RFID tag 304) can respond with backscattered data corresponding to the data in the carrier 310 used for the forward link. The RFID tag 304 can transmit the data back by switching the reflection coefficient of its antenna. This backscattered data modulated and encoded in the corresponding carrier 312 (e.g., using a method different from the forward link, such as phase shift keying modulation and FMO baseband encoding) can be detected and decoded by the reader. Compared to the amplitude of the forward link, the amplitude of the backscattered link may be lower.

[0080] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Illustrated are simplified diagrams of example ZP-IoT systems with and without relay devices for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein. Figure 4A A base station 402 (e.g., a gNB) is depicted communicating with an RF device 404 (e.g., an RFID tag), for example, to perform positioning of the RF device 404. Figure 4B An example scenario involving a relay device 406 is illustrated. In some implementations, the relay device 406 may be a UE (e.g., 105). The UE may perform positioning of the RF device 404. In some cases, the UE may use various positioning methods (e.g., TDOA-assisted, PDOA-assisted, UE-assisted, UE-based) to locate the RF device 404. The UE may communicate with other UEs (e.g., via sidelink communications), which may assist in positioning. The UE may also communicate with the base station 402 (e.g., via the Uu interface 239).

[0081] Additionally, in some implementations, the RF device may be a passive RFID tag that does not have its own internal power source or internal carrier source. Such a passive tag may be powered by electromagnetic energy transmitted from an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) and may use backscattered signals to exchange data with the RF reader, as described with respect to Figure 3A and Figure 3BAs discussed. In some implementations, the RF device can be an active RFID tag (e.g., a battery-powered RFID tag) having its own power source or internal carrier source. Such an active tag can transmit (e.g., broadcast) its own signal, for example, toward an RF reader or other device such as a UE or base station. Active tags can have a longer read range than passive tags and can include a large memory configured to store data, instructions, etc. RF (e.g., RFID) systems (whether they implement passive or active tags) can include an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader or interrogator, such as 302), an RF antenna (e.g., RFID antenna 303), and an RF device (e.g., an RFID tag, such as 304).

[0082] Advantageously, in Figure 4A and Figure 4B In such a topology as shown, wireless network devices (such as base station 402 and / or wireless-enabled UE 406 acting as a relay) can be used for localization and positioning of RF devices, for example, rather than relying solely on a reader to locate the RF device. This is further advantageous because this topology can be used in situations where the RF reader and / or UE are moving (or stationary). In some embodiments, the RF reader can take advantage of the presence of such devices by requesting assistance from nearby UEs or other network devices.

[0083] For example, Figure 5 As shown in the example positioning scheme of FIG, an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) 502 itself (including its communication resources) can determine the distance (d1) to an RF device 504 (e.g., an RFID tag). However, this distance information may not be sufficient to locate the RF device 504. Alternatively, the RF reader 502 can take different multiple positionings (e.g., from three different positions), but this may be cumbersome and slow, or the RF reader 502 may not be able to move fast enough to determine the distance based on a consistent position of the RF device 502, or the RF reader 502 may be stationary.

[0084] On the other hand, Figure 6As shown in the example positioning scheme of FIG. 6 , the use of one or more assistant UEs (e.g., 606a, 606b) that can communicate with an RF reader (e.g., RFID reader) 602 according to embodiments described herein can greatly improve the positioning accuracy of an RF device 604. This approach can additionally improve the distance at which the RF device 604 can be detected (e.g., by one or more assistant UEs 606a, 606b), as well as the quality (e.g., accuracy) and rate of communication and positioning of the RF device 604. As will be discussed in more detail below, in various example embodiments, the RF reader 602 can transmit a positioning assistance request 608 to the network.

[0085] For example, in Figure 7A In the depicted example embodiment, an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) 702 may transmit a positioning assistance request to a base station 704 (e.g., a gNB), which may perform positioning of the RF device. Figure 7B In the depicted example embodiment, the RF reader 702 may transmit a location assistance request to the UE 706, which in some scenarios may perform location determination of the RF device itself, or communicate with a base station or another assisting UE to perform location determination of the RF device. Figure 7C In the depicted example embodiment, the RF reader 702 may transmit a location assistance request to the base station 704, which may transmit its own location assistance request (or relay a location assistance request from the RF reader 702) to the UE 706. This scenario may be considered as Figure 7A An extension of the example embodiment of .

[0086] As previously mentioned, using a network and its devices to locate RF devices can be used to produce more accurate positioning results in some scenarios. For example, there may be situations where an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) is unable to detect an RFID tag because the tag is out of range or not close enough to determine an accurate location. This can be determined to be the case if, for example, the RF reader queries the tag and does not receive a response after one or more queries or after a certain period of time (e.g., several seconds). Alternatively, another possibility may be that the RF reader does receive a response from the tag, but the information obtained (such as the distance to the tag (e.g., d1)) is insufficient to reliably determine the location of the tag on its own.

[0087] Thus, if the RF reader 702 is seeking the location of an RF device (e.g., the three-dimensional (in xyz space) location of an RFID tag), the RF reader 702 may utilize the aforementioned location assistance request that includes pre-configuration information and assistance information for network devices. In some embodiments, such a request may be considered by the RF reader or triggered based on one or more conditions. For example, a reader velocity or Doppler speed (which may be specified as part of the pre-configuration information) not exceeding a threshold may cause such a location assistance request to be deployed. Doppler speed may refer to the speed or velocity of a moving object (e.g., relative to a radar or other detector). As described below, other types of information may be specified in the pre-configuration information. Each of the above example embodiments will be further discussed below.

[0088] 1. RF reader to base station

[0089] In some embodiments, an RF reader (e.g., an RFID reader) may transmit a positioning assistance request to a base station (e.g., a gNB) to obtain the positioning of an RF device (e.g., an RFID tag), such as Figure 7A For example, if the RF reader cannot detect the tag (eg, due to distance, insufficient information for positioning, lack of response from the tag, or other reasons as mentioned above), the RF reader may transmit such a positioning assistance request to the base station.

[0090] The RF reader may include various information in a positioning assistance request to the base station. In different implementations, the information may include a request ID, a target RF device tag ID or other relevant identification information, a positioning method (e.g., based on PDOA, TDOA, RSSI, TOA, or other), a target precision or accuracy (e.g., a desired positioning precision or accuracy), the past and / or current location of the RF reader (which may enable the base station to locate nearby UEs, if desired), a threshold for the velocity or speed of the RF reader, a Doppler velocity associated with the RF reader, a known previous location of the RF device (which may enable the base station to have information about the possible location of the RF device and save signaling overhead), a trust list including information about authorized UEs that may join and perform a positioning procedure (e.g., UEs that are associated with each other, such as those associated with family members), the detectability of the tag and / or the detection capability of the RF device (e.g., whether the RF reader can detect the tag, for example, based on distance or lack of response from the tag), information related to the expected time of the positioning activity (e.g., start, end, window, duration), or a combination thereof.

[0091] In some implementations, a base station may use a positioning assistance request to dispatch a UE for positioning. For example, based on information in the positioning assistance request regarding the tag's detectability and / or the detection capabilities of the RF device, the base station may determine that the RF reader can detect the tag. In this case, the base station may dispatch nearby UEs to the RF reader for assisted positioning. If the base station determines that the RF reader cannot detect the tag, the base station may recruit other UEs that are not necessarily close to the RF reader.

[0092] In some implementations, to save signaling overhead, when transmitting RF-related information (e.g., RF reader location information) with a positioning assistance request to a base station, such RF reader location information may include the area ID of the RF reader at the time of transmission or configuration of the positioning assistance request. In V2X communication, an area ID may refer to an identifier indicating which partition of a given area the transmitting device is located in. In some variants, the RF reader location information may include one or more area IDs that the RF reader was previously located in during a trailing time period (e.g., the past 30 minutes). In some implementations, the area ID or other cell information may be used to select a UE that can perform a positioning procedure.

[0093] 2. RF reader to nearby UE

[0094] In some embodiments, the RF reader may transmit a location assistance request to one or more nearby UEs to obtain the location of the RF device, such as Figure 7B For example, if the RF reader cannot detect the tag (e.g., due to distance, insufficient information for positioning, lack of response from the tag, or other reasons as mentioned above), the RF reader may transmit such a positioning assistance request to the UE. In various implementations, the positioning assistance request may be transmitted via sidelink communication (e.g., if directly from the RF reader to the UE), a Uu interface (e.g., if relayed by a base station), or any other interface configured to transfer data between devices.

[0095] The RF reader may include various information in a positioning assistance request to a nearby UE. In different implementations, the types of information may include those described above with respect to positioning assistance requests transmitted to a base station. Additional information may be included as described below.

[0096] In some implementations, the information in the positioning assistance request to the nearby UE may also include a threshold or target for velocity and / or a threshold or target for Doppler speed or requirement for the nearby assistant UE. Providing at least the threshold or target in the positioning assistance request may allow the assistant UE to determine whether to participate in positioning. If the UE is moving too fast (e.g., above the velocity threshold), the UE may not be involved because the accuracy of the positioning may be insufficient. In some cases, the RF reader may know the velocity and / or Doppler speed of the UE, in which case there is no need to transmit a positioning assistance request to the UE that exceeds the threshold because it is not desirable to use such a UE to assist in positioning of the RF device.

[0097] In some implementations, the information in the positioning assistance request for a nearby UE may also include a threshold or target for the distance or distance range of the UE. If the UE is very close to the RF reader (e.g., within a first threshold distance from the RF reader), the UE may not be needed or involved in the positioning of the RF device, because such a UE may have similar detection difficulties as an RF reader from a similar location. If the UE is too far away (e.g., exceeding a second threshold distance from the RF reader), the UE may not be selected for positioning, because the detectability and positioning of the RF device may become problematic at a greater distance.

[0098] In some implementations, the information in the positioning assistance request to the nearby UE may also include communication resources for the UE to provide information about whether the UE can or will assist in positioning the RF device (e.g., these communication resources may be provided by the UE or a base station), which may include feedback related to determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader.

[0099] In some cases, the RF reader may decide which of the multiple assistant UEs should provide assistance, which may be determined based on information such as the UE's velocity (assuming the velocity of at least some of the multiple UEs is known); the UE's distance, direction, or location; the UE's power status (e.g., if the UE has sufficiently low power, it may not be used for positioning); or a combination thereof. This information may be provided from the UE to the RF reader as feedback.

[0100] Figure 8 Illustrated is a signaling flow diagram 800 between an RF reader 802 and a nearby assistant UE 804a, according to some embodiments. Signals and / or messages may be exchanged between the RF reader 802 and one or more assistant UEs (including, for example, UEs 804a, 804b), but for illustrative purposes, signaling is shown with one UE 804a.

[0101] At 806 , RF reader 802 may transmit a location assistance request to nearby assistant UE 804 , as described above (eg, if RF reader 802 cannot detect the tag). Nearby assistant UE 804 a may receive the location assistance request from RF reader 802 .

[0102] In some implementations, based on the location assistance request received by the UE 804a, the UE 804a may determine whether to provide location assistance to the RF reader.

[0103] If UE 804a decides to provide assistance, then at 808, UE 804a may transmit feedback information to RF device 802 indicating that UE 804a will assist and participate in positioning of the RF device.

[0104] At 810, UE 804a may perform positioning to determine location information of the RF device, such as the distance to the RF device and / or the location or estimated location of the RF device. In some cases, positioning may be initiated by transmitting a positioning request to a base station and searching for communication resources. In some cases, positioning may be initiated by sensing suitable communication resources.

[0105] In different implementations, the positioning method may be based on PDOA, TDOA, RSSI, TOA, etc. For example, in PDOA-assisted positioning, ranging measurements may be made based on the phase difference of the propagation path between one or more UEs and the RF device to determine the distance to the RF device. In some implementations, FD-PDOA may be used. As another example, TDOA assistance data may be provided by a location server to one or more UEs to, for example, determine ToA and measure RSTD. As another example, a positioning signal (or a previously known or estimated position) may be transmitted toward the RF device, and measurements (such as RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, TOA) may be obtained by one or more UEs and transmitted to the location server to determine a position estimate for the RF device.

[0106] At 812, UE 804a can transmit location information of the RF device to RF reader 802. Examples of location information can include the distance, location, and / or estimated location of the RF device. In some implementations, in addition to the distance, location, and / or estimated location of the RF device, UE 804a can also transmit additional relevant information, such as whether the RF device is detected, the location of UE 804a (e.g., region ID, world coordinates, or other location information).

[0107] In some cases, the location information transmitted to the RF device may enable the RF reader to locate, detect, or otherwise obtain the location or estimated location of the RF device.The RF reader 802 may then, for example, change position to interact with the RF device.

[0108] 3. Base station to UE

[0109] In some embodiments, the RF reader may transmit a first positioning assistance request to the base station to obtain the location of the RF device, and the base station may transmit a second positioning assistance request to one or more assistant UEs, such as Figure 7C In some cases, the first and second positioning assistance requests may be the same; that is, the base station may forward the received initial positioning assistance request to the assistant UE. For example, if the RF reader cannot detect the tag (e.g., due to distance, insufficient information for positioning, lack of response from the tag, or other reasons as mentioned above), the RF reader may transmit such a positioning assistance request to the base station.

[0110] The base station may include various information in the positioning assistance request to the assistant UE. In different implementations, the types of information may include those described above with respect to positioning assistance requests transmitted to the base station and / or those described above with respect to positioning assistance requests transmitted to nearby UEs.

[0111] In some implementations, information in a positioning assistance request to a base station or to a UE may include a threshold or target for the UE's velocity and / or Doppler speed or requirement. If the UE is moving too fast (e.g., above a velocity threshold), the UE may not be involved because the accuracy of positioning may be insufficient. In some cases, the RF reader may already know the UE's velocity or Doppler speed, in which case there is no need to transmit a positioning assistance request to the base station.

[0112] In some implementations, information in a positioning assistance request to a base station or to a UE can include uplink (UL) resources for the UE to provide feedback information on whether the UE can be assisted.

[0113] Figure 9 A signaling flow diagram 900 is illustrated according to some embodiments between an RF reader 901, a base station 902, and an assistant UE 904. Signals and / or messages may be exchanged between the RF reader 901, the base station 902, one or more assistant UEs (including, for example, UE 904), and an RF device 906 (e.g., an RFID tag), but for illustrative purposes, signaling is shown using one UE 904.

[0114] At 908 , the RF reader 901 may transmit a location assistance request to the base station 902 of the network, as described above (eg, if the RF reader 901 cannot detect a tag).

[0115] At 910, base station 902 can transmit a positioning assistance request to helper UE 904 within the network and communication range of base station 902. In some implementations, the positioning assistance request transmitted to base station 902 can be a first positioning assistance request, and the positioning assistance request transmitted to helper UE 904 can be a second positioning assistance request (including UL communication resources for receiving feedback information from UE 904) that is different from the first positioning assistance request, each positioning assistance request being configured and transmitted by RF reader 901 and base station 902. In some implementations, the same positioning assistance request transmitted to base station 902 can be relayed to helper UE 904.

[0116] In some embodiments, based on a positioning assistance request received by the UE 904 , the UE 904 may determine whether to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader 901 .

[0117] If UE 904 decides to provide assistance, then at 912 , UE 904 may transmit feedback information to base station 902 (eg, based on UL resources provided in a positioning assistance request received by UE 904 ) indicating that UE 904 will assist and participate in positioning of RF device 906 .

[0118] At 914, the base station 902 can grant resources to the UE 904 for querying the RF device 906 and performing positioning of the RF device 906. In some implementations, the grant can be associated with the (second) positioning assistance request via an identifier (e.g., a request ID) or via a timing relationship, or both.

[0119] At 916, the UE 904 may locate the RF device 906, for example, by transmitting a signal toward the RF device 906. At 918, a signal may be received from the RF device 906. In some cases, if the RF device 906 is a passive tag, the received signal may be a backscattered signal. In some cases, if the RF device 906 is an active tag, the received signal may be an active signal transmission.

[0120] In some embodiments, positioning by UE 904 may involve signals and / or messages at 916 and 918. Positioning methods may be based on PDOA, TDOA, RSSI, TOA, etc., and may involve multiple UEs and / or base stations to achieve positioning, as discussed above.

[0121] In some embodiments, based on the performed positioning, the UE 904 may determine location information of the RF device, such as the distance to the RF device and / or the location or estimated location of the RF device.

[0122] At 920, the UE 904 can transmit location information of the RF device to the base station 902. Examples of location information can include the distance, location, and / or estimated location of the RF device. In some implementations, in addition to the distance, location, and / or estimated location of the RF device 906, the UE can also transmit additional relevant information, such as whether the RF device is detected, the location of the UE 904 (e.g., region ID, world coordinates, or other location information).

[0123] At 922, base station 902 may transmit location information to RF reader 901. In some cases, the location information may enable RF reader 901 to locate, detect, or otherwise obtain a location or estimated location of the RF device. RF reader 901 may then, for example, change location to interact with the RF device.

[0124] method

[0125] Figure 10 is a flow chart of a method 1000 for determining a location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, according to some embodiments. Figure 10 The structure of the functions illustrated by one or more of the illustrated blocks may be performed by hardware components and / or software components of a computerized device or system (e.g., a UE (e.g., 105) or a base station (e.g., 120, 210). Components of such a computerized device or system may include, for example, a controller device, a computerized system, or a computer-readable device including a storage medium storing computer-readable instructions and / or computer-executable instructions that are configured to cause the processor device or computerized device to perform operations when executed by a processor device. Figure 12 and Figure 13 Example components of a UE and a base station are illustrated in FIG, which are described in more detail below.

[0126] It should also be noted that the operations of method 1000 may be performed in any suitable order, and not necessarily in the same order. Figure 10 In addition, method 1000 may include comparing Figure 10 More or fewer operations may be performed than those depicted.

[0127] At box 1010, the function may include receiving a first positioning assistance request from an RF reader at a first wireless device of the wireless network, the RF reader being configured to exchange data with an RF device. In some embodiments, the RF reader may be, for example, an RFID reader, and the RF device may be, for example, an RFID tag. In some specific implementations, the RF device may be a passive RF device without an internal power source, and the RF reader may be further configured to exchange data with the RF device via RF signals backscattered from the RF reader. In some specific implementations, the RF device may be an active RF device with an internal power source, and the active RF device may be configured to transmit signals to the RF reader, and the RF reader may be configured to receive such signals transmitted by the RF device to the RF reader. More specifically, in some cases, the RF device tag may be a passive RF tag or transponder, or an active RF tag or transponder.

[0128] In some embodiments, the first wireless device of the wireless network may be a first UE or a first base station. That is, in some cases, the first wireless device may be an assistant UE configured to perform positioning of RF devices. UEs 105, 406, 606, 706, 804a, and 904 may be examples of such first UEs. In some cases, the first wireless device may be a first base station (e.g., a gNB). Base stations (e.g., gNBs) 402, 704, and 902 may be examples of such first base stations.

[0129] In some embodiments, the received first positioning assistance request may be an example of a positioning assistance request transmitted from an RF reader to a base station or to an assistant UE (e.g., regarding Figure 7A or Figure 7B In some implementations, the information related to the location of the RF reader may include a region identifier (region ID) of the reader when the positioning assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader.

[0130] In some embodiments, the received first location assistance request may include: a list of wireless devices authorized to perform location assistance for the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the first wireless device of the wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback information related to determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; a method for performing location assistance for the RF device; a threshold value for the velocity of the first wireless device of the wireless network; a velocity of the RF reader; information related to an expected time for location assistance; or a combination thereof. Depending on the specific implementation, the method for performing location assistance for the RF device may be based on PDOA, TDOA, RSSI, TOA, or other suitable UE-assisted method or network-assisted method.

[0131] Means for performing the functions at block 1010 may include processor 1210 or processor 1310, wireless communication interface 1230 or wireless communication interface 1330, wireless communication antenna 1232 or wireless communication antenna 1332, and / or other components of a UE or base station, such as Figure 12 and Figure 13 exemplified.

[0132] At block 1020, the function may include providing positioning assistance to the RF reader based on the determination to locate the RF device. In some embodiments, locating the RF device may include transmitting a second positioning assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, locating a positioning resource, or a combination thereof.

[0133] In some embodiments, the second wireless device of the wireless network can be a second UE configured for data communication with the first base station (as mentioned with respect to box 1010), or a second base station configured for data communication with the first UE (as mentioned with respect to box 1010).

[0134] In some implementations, determining whether to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader can be based on at least information related to the velocity of the first wireless device of the wireless network, the location of the first wireless device, the location of the RF reader, a previously known location of the RF device, or a combination thereof. Such information can also include a velocity or Doppler speed threshold for the first wireless device and / or a distance threshold (e.g., between the RF reader and the first wireless device). In some cases, this type of information can be dynamically configured to the first wireless device of the wireless network (e.g., provided in the first positioning assistance request), or in some cases, this information can be preconfigured in the first wireless device of the wireless network.

[0135] In some embodiments, the second positioning assistance request may be an example of a positioning assistance request transmitted from the base station to the assistant UE (e.g., regarding Figure 7C The first and second positioning assistance requests may include: communication resources for transmitting feedback to the second wireless device regarding a determination to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; a method for performing positioning of the RF device; a threshold value for the velocity of the first wireless device with respect to the wireless network; the velocity of the RF reader; information regarding an expected time to perform positioning assistance; or a combination thereof. In some cases, the first and second positioning assistance requests may be the same and relayed between network devices, e.g., received from the RF reader at a base station and transmitted from the base station to the assistant UE.

[0136] Means for performing the functions at block 1020 may include processor 1210 or processor 1310, wireless communication interface 1230 or wireless communication interface 1330, wireless communication antenna 1232 or wireless communication antenna 1332, and / or other components of a UE or base station, such as Figure 12 and Figure 13 exemplified.

[0137] At block 1030, the function may include transmitting positioning information associated with the RF device to the RF reader based on the performed positioning of the RF device. In some implementations, the positioning information associated with the RF device may include a distance from the RF device to the RF reader, a position of the RF device, information related to a location of the auxiliary wireless device, or a combination thereof.

[0138] In some cases, the positioning information may enable the RF reader to locate, detect, or otherwise obtain the position or estimated position of the RF device. The RF reader may then change position to interact with the RF device, for example, by exchanging signals that could not have been performed prior to positioning assistance by the first wireless device of the wireless network.

[0139] Means for performing the functions at block 1030 may include processor 1210 or processor 1310, wireless communication interface 1230 or wireless communication interface 1330, wireless communication antenna 1232 or wireless communication antenna 1332, and / or other components of a UE or base station, such as Figure 12 and Figure 13 exemplified.

[0140] Figure 1111 is a flow chart of a method 1100 for determining the location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, according to some embodiments. Figure 11 The structure of the functionality illustrated by one or more of the illustrated blocks may be performed by hardware components and / or software components of a computerized device or system, for example, an RF reader (such as an RFID reader). Components of such a computerized device or system may include, for example, a controller device, a computerized system, or a computer-readable device including a storage medium storing computer-readable and / or computer-executable instructions that are configured to cause the processor device or computerized device to perform operations when executed by a processor device. Figure 14 Example components of an RF reader are illustrated in , which is described in more detail below.

[0141] It should also be noted that the operations of method 1100 may be performed in any suitable order, and not necessarily in the same order. Figure 11 In addition, method 1100 may include comparing Figure 11 More or fewer operations may be performed than those depicted.

[0142] At block 1110, the function may include configuring a location assistance request associated with an RF reader, a wireless device of a wireless network, an RF device, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the RF reader may be, for example, an RFID reader, and the RF device may be, for example, an RFID tag. In some implementations, the RF device may be a passive RF device. In some implementations, the RF device may be an active RF device.

[0143] In some embodiments, a wireless device of a wireless network may be a UE or a base station. UE 105, 406, 606, 706, 804a, 904 may be examples of a UE. Base stations (e.g., gNBs) 402, 704, 902 may be examples of base stations.

[0144] Means for performing the functions at block 1110 may include processor 1410 and / or other components of a computer system, such as Figure 14 exemplified.

[0145] At block 1120, the function may include transmitting a location assistance request to a wireless device of the wireless network. In some embodiments, the location assistance request may include various information, such as information related to: the location of the RF reader (which may include the area ID of the reader when the location assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader); a list of wireless devices authorized to perform location assistance for the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the wireless device of the wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback information related to determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; a method for performing location assistance for the RF device; a threshold value for the velocity of the wireless device of the wireless network; the velocity of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of location assistance; or a combination thereof. Other types of information related to a location assistance request (e.g., the aforementioned first location assistance request or the second location assistance request) as described herein may also be included.

[0146] Means for performing the functions at block 1120 may include processor 1410, wireless communication interface 1433, wireless antenna 1450, and / or other components of a computer system, such as Figure 14 exemplified.

[0147] At block 1130, the functionality may include receiving location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the location assistance request. In some embodiments, the location information associated with the RF device (transmitted by the wireless device) may include the distance, location, and / or estimated location of the RF device. In some implementations, the wireless device may also transmit additional information, such as whether the RF device was detected, the location of the wireless device (e.g., region ID, world coordinates, or other location information).

[0148] Means for performing the functions at block 1130 may include processor 1410, wireless communication interface 1433, wireless antenna 1450, and / or other components of a computer system, such as Figure 14 exemplified.

[0149] Device

[0150] Figure 12 is as described above (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 4B 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7B 、 Figure 7C as well as Figures 8 to 10 ) is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE 105 that may be utilized as described herein. For example, the UE 105 may execute Figure 10 One or more of the functions of the method shown. It should be noted that Figure 12 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. It may be noted that in some instances, Figure 12 The illustrated components may be localized into a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different geographical locations. Furthermore, as previously noted, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be provided by Figure 12 One or more of the illustrated hardware components and / or software components execute.

[0151] UE 105 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1205 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1210, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 1210 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Figure 12As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1220, depending on the desired functionality. Positioning and / or other determinations based on wireless communication (discussed below) may be provided in the processor 1210 and / or the wireless communication interface 1230. The UE 105 may also include: one or more input devices 1270, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 1215, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0152] The UE 105 may also include a wireless communication interface 1230, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as a Device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, WAN device and / or various cellular devices, etc.), the wireless communication interface can enable UE 105 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 1230 can permit, for example, to communicate (e.g., send and receive) data and signaling with the TRP of the network via an eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations and / or other access node types and / or other network components, computer systems and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP, as described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1232 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1234. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1232 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 1232 may be capable of using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with corresponding digital and / or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 1230 may include such circuitry.

[0153] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1230 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The UE 105 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, a WWAN may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, etc. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as WCDMA, etc. These include IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, LTE-Advanced, 5G NR, and the like. 5G NR, LTE, LTE-Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. It is described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) can also be an IEEE 802.11x network, while a wireless personal area network (WPAN) can be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein can also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0154] The UE 105 may also include sensors 1240. The sensors 1240 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain location-related measurements and / or other information.

[0155] Embodiments of the UE 105 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1280 capable of receiving signals 1284 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 1282 (which may be the same as antenna 1232). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 1280 may extract the location of the UE 105 using conventional techniques from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) covering Japan, the IRNSS covering India, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) covering China, and the like. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1280 may be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), among others.

[0156] It can be pointed out that although Figure 12 1280 is illustrated as a distinct component, but embodiments are not limited thereto. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Thus, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include (as software) a measurement engine executed by one or more processors, such as the processor 1210, the DSP 1220, and / or a processor within the wireless communication interface 1230 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that may use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the position of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a particle filter, or the like. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors, such as the processor 1210 or the DSP 1220.

[0157] The UE 105 may also include and / or communicate with memory 1260. The memory 1260 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0158] The memory 1260 of the UE 105 may also include software elements ( Figure 12 105 ), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications), which software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1260 that can be executed by UE 105 (and / or processor 1210 or DSP 1220 within UE 105). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0159] Figure 13 is as described above (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 4A 、 Figure 4B 、 Figure 7A 、 Figure 7C 、 Figure 9 and Figure 10) is a block diagram of an embodiment of a base station 120 as described and utilized. It should be noted that Figure 13 This is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. In some embodiments, base station 120 may correspond to a gNB, ng-eNB, and / or (more generally) a TRP.

[0160] The base station 120 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 1305 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1310, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Figure 13 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1320, depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 1310 and / or the wireless communication interface 1330 (discussed below). Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1330 may include a separate receiver and transmitter, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters and / or receivers to communicate with the wireless device. The base station 120 may also include one or more input devices, which may include but are not limited to a keyboard, display, mouse, microphone, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices, which may include but are not limited to a display, light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0161] The base station 120 may also include a wireless communication interface 1330, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as The wireless communication interface 1330 may enable the base station 120 to communicate as described herein, such as with a UE, other base stations / TRPs (e.g., eNBs, gNBs, and ng-eNBs), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1332 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1334.

[0162] The base station 120 may also include a network interface 1380, which may include support for wired communication technologies. The network interface 1380 may include a modem, a network card, a chipset, etc. The network interface 1380 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to permit data exchange with a network, a communication network server, a computer system, and / or any other electronic device described herein.

[0163] In many embodiments, the base station 120 may also include memory 1360. The memory 1360 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0164] The memory 1360 of the base station 120 may also include software elements ( Figure 13 13), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1360 that are executable by base station 120 (and / or processor 1310 or DSP 1320 within base station 120). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0165] Figure 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system 1400 that may be used, in whole or in part, to provide a radio frequency (RF) reader (e.g., an RFID reader) as described in embodiments herein (e.g., Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 7A to 7C 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 and Figure 11 It should be noted that Figure 14 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Figure 14 Broadly illustrates how individual system elements can be implemented in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. In addition, it can be noted that Figure 14The illustrated components may be localized to a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different geographical locations.

[0166] Computer system 1400 is shown as including hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via bus 1405 (or can communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1410, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, etc.), and / or other processing structures, which can be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. Computer system 1400 may also include one or more input devices 1415, which may include, but are not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1420, which may include, but are not limited to, a display device, a printer, etc.

[0167] The computer system 1400 may also include (and / or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1425, which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage devices, and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable and / or flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc. Such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be transmitted to one or more devices via the hub, as described herein.

[0168] Computer system 1400 may also include a communication subsystem 1430, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 1433 and a reader interface 1434, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, Universal Serial Bus (USB), etc.). Wireless communication interface 1433 may include one or more wireless transceivers that can transmit and receive wireless signals 1455 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 1450. Reader interface 1434 may be coupled to wireless antenna 1450 to transmit and receive RF signals. Thus, communication subsystem 1430 may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset, etc., which may enable computer system 1400 to communicate with any device on any or all of the communication networks described herein (including user equipment (UE), base stations and / or other TRPs, RF devices (e.g., RFID tags), and / or any other electronic devices described herein). Thus, the communication subsystem 1430 may be used to receive and transmit data, as described in the embodiments herein.

[0169] In many embodiments, the computer system 1400 will also include a working memory 1435, which may include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 1435 may include an operating system 1440, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications 1445), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more of the processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions that can be executed by a computer (and / or a processor within a computer); then, in one aspect, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0170] The set of these instructions and / or codes may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (such as the storage device 1425 described above). In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system such as computer system 1400. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., removable media such as an optical disc) and / or may be provided in the form of an installation package so that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer using the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that can be executed by computer system 1400 and / or may take the form of source and / or installable code that, when compiled and / or installed on computer system 1400 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installers, compression / decompression utilities, etc.), takes the form of executable code.

[0171] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that basic modifications may be made to suit specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed.

[0172] With reference to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved when providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other device for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many specific implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with a hole pattern, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0173] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. In addition, technology may evolve, and therefore many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of this disclosure to those specific examples.

[0174] It proves convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digital symbols, and the like. It will be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as will be apparent from the above discussion, it will be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "process," "calculate," "calculate," "determine," "ascertain," "identify," "correlate," "measure," "perform," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically expressed as physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities, in a memory, register, or other information storage device, a transmitting device, or a display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0175] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include multiple meanings that are also intended to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or", if used in connection with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (where used in an inclusive sense) as well as A, B, or C (where used in an exclusive sense). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe some combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. In addition, the term "at least one of...", if used in connection with a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0176] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, the above elements may be merely components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Additionally, multiple steps may be performed before, during, or after consideration of the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0177] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0178] Clause 1. A method for determining the location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving a first positioning assistance request from an RF reader at a first wireless device of the wireless network, the RF reader being configured to exchange data with the RF device; performing positioning of the RF device based on determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader, the positioning of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second positioning assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, locating a positioning resource, or a combination thereof; and transmitting positioning information associated with the RF device to the RF reader based on the performed positioning of the RF device.

[0179] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the RF device comprises a passive RF device without an internal power source, and the RF reader is further configured to receive data with the RF device via backscattered RF signals.

[0180] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the RF device comprises an active RF device having an internal power source, and the active RF device is configured to transmit a signal to the RF reader.

[0181] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the positioning information associated with the RF device comprises a distance from the RF device to the RF reader, a position of the RF device, information related to a location of an auxiliary wireless device, or a combination thereof.

[0182] Clause 5. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the location of the RF reader; and determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader is based at least on the information related to the location of the RF reader, the location of the first wireless device, a previously known location of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

[0183] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the information related to the location of the RF reader comprises a region identifier of the RF reader when the positioning assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader.

[0184] Clause 7. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the following: a list of wireless devices authorized to perform the positioning of the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the first wireless device of the wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback to the RF reader related to determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; the method of positioning the RF device performed; a threshold for the rate of the first wireless device of the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0185] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader is based at least on a rate of the first wireless device of the wireless network, a rate of the RF reader, or a combination thereof.

[0186] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the second positioning assistance request includes information related to: communication resources for transmitting feedback to the second wireless device related to determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; the method of positioning the RF device performed; a threshold value for the rate of the first wireless device with respect to the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0187] Clause 10. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the first wireless device of the wireless network includes a first base station or a first user equipment (UE); and the second wireless device of the wireless network includes a second UE configured for data communication with the first base station, or a second base station configured for data communication with the first UE.

[0188] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the method of positioning the RF device comprises time difference of arrival (TDOA) based positioning or phase difference of arrival (PDOA) based positioning.

[0189] Clause 12. A wireless device within a wireless network, the wireless device comprising: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with a radio frequency (RF) reader and an RF device, the RF reader configured to exchange data with the RF device; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: receive a first positioning assistance request from the RF reader; perform positioning of the RF device based on determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader, the positioning of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second positioning assistance request to another wireless device of the wireless network, locating a positioning resource, or a combination thereof; and based on the performed positioning of the RF device, transmitting positioning information associated with the RF device to the RF reader.

[0190] Clause 13. The wireless device of clause 12, wherein the RF device comprises a passive RF device without an internal power source, and the RF reader is further configured to receive data with the RF device via backscattered RF signals.

[0191] Clause 14. The wireless device of any of clauses 12-13, wherein the RF device comprises an active RF device having an internal power source, and the active RF device is configured to transmit a signal to the RF reader.

[0192] Clause 15. A wireless device according to any one of clauses 12 to 14, wherein the positioning information associated with the RF device includes a distance from the RF device to the RF reader, a location of the RF device, information related to the location of an auxiliary wireless device, or a combination thereof.

[0193] Clause 16. A wireless device according to any one of clauses 12 to 15, wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the location of the RF reader; and determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader is based at least on the information related to the location of the RF reader, the location of the wireless device, a previously known location of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

[0194] Clause 17. The wireless device of any of clauses 12 to 16, wherein the information related to the location of the RF reader comprises a region identifier of the RF reader when the positioning assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader.

[0195] Clause 18. A wireless device according to any one of clauses 12 to 17, wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the following: a list of wireless devices authorized to perform the positioning of the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the wireless devices within the wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback to the RF reader related to determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; the method of positioning the RF device performed; a threshold for the rate of the wireless device within the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0196] Clause 19. The wireless device of any of clauses 12 to 18, wherein determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader is based at least on a velocity of the wireless device within the wireless network, a velocity of the RF reader, or a combination thereof.

[0197] Clause 20. A wireless device according to any one of clauses 12 to 19, wherein the second positioning assistance request includes information related to: communication resources for transmitting feedback to the other wireless device related to determining to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; the method of positioning the RF device performed; a threshold value for the rate of the wireless device within the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0198] Clause 21. A wireless device according to any one of clauses 12 to 20, wherein the wireless device comprises a first base station or a first user equipment (UE); and the other wireless device of the wireless network comprises a second UE configured for data communication with the first base station, or a second base station configured for data communication with the first UE.

[0199] Clause 22. The wireless device of any one of clauses 12 to 21, wherein the method of positioning the RF device comprises time difference of arrival (TDOA) based positioning or phase difference of arrival (PDOA) based positioning.

[0200] Clause 23. A method for determining the location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, the method comprising: at an RF reader configured to receive data from the RF device: configuring a location assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmitting the location assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and receiving location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the location assistance request.

[0201] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the RF reader is further configured to exchange data with the RF device via RF signals backscattered from the RF reader, or to receive signals transmitted by the RF device to the RF reader.

[0202] Clause 25. A method according to any one of clauses 23 to 24, wherein the positioning assistance request includes: information related to the location of the RF reader; a list of wireless devices authorized to perform the positioning of the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the wireless devices of the wireless network; identification information of the RF device; a method for positioning the RF device to be performed by the wireless devices of the wireless network; a threshold value for the rate of the wireless devices of the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0203] Clause 26. The method of any one of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the location information associated with the RF device comprises a distance of the RF device, an estimated position of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

[0204] Clause 27. A radio frequency (RF) reader, comprising: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with an RF device; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: configure a positioning assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of a wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmit the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and receive location information associated with the RF device from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

[0205] Clause 28. The RF device of Clause 27, wherein the RF reader is further configured to exchange data with the RF device via RF signals backscattered from the RF reader, or to receive signals transmitted by the RF device to the RF reader.

[0206] Clause 29. An RF device according to any one of clauses 27 to 28, wherein the positioning assistance request includes: information related to the location of the RF reader; a list of wireless devices authorized to perform the positioning of the RF device, the list of wireless devices including the wireless devices of the wireless network; identification information of the RF device; a method for positioning the RF device to be performed by the wireless devices of the wireless network; a threshold value for the rate of the wireless devices of the wireless network; the rate of the RF reader; information related to the expected time of the positioning; or a combination thereof.

[0207] Clause 30. The RF device of any one of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the location information associated with the RF device comprises a distance of the RF device, an estimated position of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

Claims

1. A method for determining a location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving, at a first wireless device of the wireless network, a first location assistance request from an RF reader, the RF reader being configured to exchange data with the RF device; Based on the determination to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader, performing positioning of the RF device, the positioning of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second positioning assistance request to a second wireless device of the wireless network, positioning a positioning resource, or a combination thereof; as well as Based on the performed positioning of the RF device, positioning information associated with the RF device is transmitted to the RF reader.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RF device comprises a passive RF device having no internal power source, and the RF reader is further configured to receive data with the RF device via backscattered RF signals. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the RF device comprises an active RF device having an internal power source, and wherein the active RF device is configured to transmit a signal to the RF reader.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning information associated with the RF device comprises a distance from the RF device to the RF reader, a location of the RF device, information related to a location of an auxiliary wireless device, or a combination thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the location of the RF reader; and Determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader is based at least on the information related to the location of the RF reader, the location of the first wireless device, a previously known location of the RF device, or a combination thereof. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the information related to the location of the RF reader includes a region identifier of the RF reader when the positioning assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to: a list of wireless devices authorized to perform said positioning of said RF device, said list of wireless devices including said first wireless device of said wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback to the RF reader related to determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; The method of positioning the RF device is performed; a threshold value for a rate of the first wireless device of the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader is based on at least a rate of the first wireless device of the wireless network, a rate of the RF reader, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second positioning assistance request includes information related to: communication resources for transmitting feedback to the second wireless device related to a determination to provide location assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; The method of positioning the RF device is performed; a threshold value for a rate of the first wireless device of the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first wireless device of the wireless network comprises a first base station or a first user equipment (UE); and The second wireless device of the wireless network includes a second UE configured for data communication with the first base station, or a second base station configured for data communication with the first UE.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method of locating the RF device comprises positioning based on time difference of arrival (TDOA) or positioning based on phase difference of arrival (PDOA).

12. A wireless device within a wireless network, the wireless device comprising: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with a radio frequency (RF) reader and an RF device, the RF reader configured to exchange data with the RF device; Memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: receiving a first positioning assistance request from the RF reader; Based on the determination to provide positioning assistance to the RF reader, performing positioning of the RF device, the positioning of the RF device comprising: transmitting a second positioning assistance request to another wireless device of the wireless network, positioning a positioning resource, or a combination thereof; as well as Based on the performed positioning of the RF device, positioning information associated with the RF device is transmitted to the RF reader.

13. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the RF device comprises a passive RF device having no internal power source, and the RF reader is further configured to receive data with the RF device via backscattered RF signals.

14. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the RF device comprises an active RF device having an internal power source, and wherein the active RF device is configured to transmit a signal to the RF reader.

15. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the positioning information associated with the RF device comprises a distance from the RF device to the RF reader, a location of the RF device, information related to a location of an auxiliary wireless device, or a combination thereof.

16. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein: The received first positioning assistance request includes information related to the location of the RF reader; and Determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader is based at least on the information related to the location of the RF reader, the location of the wireless device, a previously known location of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

17. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein the information related to the location of the RF reader includes a region identifier of the RF reader when the positioning assistance request is transmitted by the RF reader.

18. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the received first positioning assistance request includes information related to: a list of wireless devices authorized to perform said locating of said RF device, said list of wireless devices including said wireless device within said wireless network; communication resources for transmitting feedback to the RF reader related to determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; The method of positioning the RF device is performed; a threshold value for a rate of the wireless device within the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

19. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader is based at least on a velocity of the wireless device within the wireless network, a velocity of the RF reader, or a combination thereof.

20. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the second positioning assistance request includes information related to: communication resources for transmitting feedback to the other wireless device related to determining to provide location assistance to the RF reader; identification information of the RF device; The method of positioning the RF device is performed; a threshold value for a rate of the wireless device within the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

21. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein: The wireless device comprises a first base station or a first user equipment (UE); and The other wireless device of the wireless network includes a second UE configured for data communication with the first base station, or a second base station configured for data communication with the first UE.

22. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the method of positioning the RF device comprises positioning based on time difference of arrival (TDOA) or positioning based on phase difference of arrival (PDOA).

23. A method for determining a location of a radio frequency (RF) device within a wireless network, the method comprising: At an RF reader configured to receive data from the RF device: configuring a location assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmitting the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; and Location information associated with the RF device is received from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the RF reader is further configured to exchange data with the RF device through an RF signal backscattered from the RF reader, or to receive a signal transmitted by the RF device to the RF reader.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the positioning assistance request comprises: information related to the location of the RF reader; a list of wireless devices authorized to perform said positioning of said RF device, said list of wireless devices including said wireless devices of said wireless network; identification information of the RF device; a method of positioning said RF device to be performed by said wireless device of said wireless network; a threshold value for a rate of the wireless device of the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the location information associated with the RF device comprises a distance of the RF device, an estimated position of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

27. A radio frequency (RF) reader, comprising: one or more transceivers configured to communicate with an RF device; Memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory and configured to: configuring a location assistance request associated with the RF reader, a wireless device of the wireless network, the RF device, or a combination thereof; transmitting the positioning assistance request to the wireless device of the wireless network; as well as Location information associated with the RF device is received from the wireless device based on the positioning assistance request.

28. The RF device of claim 27, wherein the RF reader is further configured to exchange data with the RF device through an RF signal backscattered from the RF reader, or to receive a signal transmitted by the RF device to the RF reader.

29. The RF device of claim 27, wherein the positioning assistance request comprises: information related to the location of the RF reader; a list of wireless devices authorized to perform said positioning of said RF device, said list of wireless devices including said wireless devices of said wireless network; identification information of the RF device; a method of positioning said RF device to be performed by said wireless device of said wireless network; a threshold value for a rate of the wireless device of the wireless network; the speed of the RF reader; information relating to the expected time of said position fix; or A combination of them.

30. The RF device of claim 27, wherein the location information associated with the RF device comprises a distance of the RF device, an estimated position of the RF device, or a combination thereof.

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