Resolving ambiguity in case of repeater-based positioning

Abstract

Techniques for communication are disclosed. In an aspect, a location server transmits to a network node a PRS configuration for a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources, where the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be transmitted on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be transmitted on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to transmit towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a measurement report comprising a measurement of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 489,317, filed on March 9, 2023, entitled “RESOLVING AMBIGUITY IN CASESOF REPEATER-BASED POSITIONING,” which is assigned to the assignee of this patent application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0004] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications.

[0005] 2. Description of Related Technologies

[0006] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, internet-enabled wireless services, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0007] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data speeds, increased connectivity, and improved coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink Positioning Reference Signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS procedures and technology, and high-density deployments of 5G, enable highly accurate positioning based on 5G. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary should not be considered an exhaustive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0009] In an aspect, a method of communication performed by a location server includes: sending, to a network node, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receiving, from at least one user equipment (UE), a measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0010] In an aspect, a method of communication performed by a location server includes sending a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a repeater; and sending a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to the first network node for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the repeater.

[0011] In one aspect, a method of communication performed by a network node includes: configuring a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at multiple time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; attempting to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on-times of the repeater; attempting to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off-times of the repeater; and sending an indication to a location server of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0012] In one aspect, a method of communication performed by a network node includes: configuring a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at multiple time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; receiving one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports including measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and sending an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both were obtained.

[0013] In one aspect, a location server includes: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: send, to a network node via the one or more transceivers, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent toward a repeater associated with the network node; and receive, from at least one user equipment (UE) via the one or more transceivers, a measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0014] In one aspect, a location server includes: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: send a first message configuring a first donor of a forwarder to a first network node via the one or more transceivers; and send a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the forwarder to the first network node via the one or more transceivers.

[0015] In one aspect, a network node includes: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at multiple time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least multiple time instances; attempt to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on times for the repeater; attempt to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off times for the repeater; and send an indication to a location server via the one or more transceivers as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0016] In one aspect, a network node includes: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at multiple time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; receive one or more measurement reports from the UE via the one or more transceivers, the one or more measurement reports including measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and send an indication to a location server via the one or more transceivers as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both were obtained.

[0017] In one aspect, a location server includes: means for sending, to a network node, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and means for receiving, from at least one user equipment (UE), a measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0018] In an aspect, a location server includes: means for sending a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a forwarder; and means for sending, to the first network node, a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor towards the forwarder.

[0019] In one aspect, a network node includes: means for configuring a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at multiple time instances; means for configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; means for attempting to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on-times of the repeater; means for attempting to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off-times of the repeater; and means for sending an indication to a location server of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0020] In one aspect, a network node includes: components for configuring a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at multiple time instances; components for configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; components for receiving one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports including measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and components for sending an indication to a location server of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0021] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: send, to a network node, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources from the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources from the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receive, from at least one user equipment (UE), a measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0022] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: send a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a forwarder; and send to the first network node a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the forwarder.

[0023] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, causes the network node to: configure a user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least a plurality of time instances; attempt to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on-times for the repeater; attempt to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off-times for the repeater; and send an indication to a location server of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0024] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, causes the network node to: configure a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at multiple time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least multiple time instances; receive one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports including measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and send an indication to a location server of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances, measurements of the second subset of instances, or both were obtained.

[0025] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the aspects.

[0027] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0028] Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0029] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0030] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0031] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) configuration for two transmit reception points (TRPs) operating in the same positioning frequency layer in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 7 is a diagram of example positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for PRS transmission by a given base station in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figures 8A to 8D Illustrate the difference between repeater functionality and repeater functionality.

[0035] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless environment in which a base station is transmitting PRS to UEs in various geographic areas in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless environment in which a base station is beam-scanning PRS resources toward multiple UEs according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 11 An example uplink enhanced cell identity (E-CID) measurement procedure between a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node and a location management function (LMF) according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0038] Figures 12 to 15 Example methods of communication according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided below in the description and related drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0040] Various aspects generally relate to repeater-based positioning. Some aspects more specifically relate to resolving ambiguity in the context of repeater-based positioning. In some examples, a location server may send a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration to a network node for multiple PRS resources to be transmitted by the network node. The configuration indicates that a first set of PRS resources is to be transmitted toward a repeater over a first set of time domain resources, and a second set of PRS resources is to be transmitted toward the repeater over a second set of time domain resources. The network node transmits the PRS resources as configured, and at least one user equipment (UE) measures the PRS resources and sends a measurement report to the location server. The location server may then determine whether the at least one UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report.

[0041] In some examples, the location server may configure the network node as a donor network node for the forwarder. Specifically, the location server may send a message to the network node configuring the network node as a donor network node for the forwarder. The location server may also send a PRS configuration to the network node for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the network node toward the forwarder.

[0042] In some examples, the network node may determine whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater. Specifically, the network node may configure the UE to send uplink reference signals at multiple time instances. The network node may also configure the repeater with a set of on-times and a set of off-times that span at least multiple time instances. The network node then attempts to measure a first subset of instances of the uplink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater and a second subset of instances of the uplink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater. The network node may then determine whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on whether measurements were obtained for the first subset of instances, measurements were obtained for the second subset of instances, or both.

[0043] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages: In some examples, by determining whether a UE is within the coverage area of ​​a repeater, the described techniques can be used to provide appropriate positioning configuration to the involved network nodes and UE.

[0044] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0045] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0046] Furthermore, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein may be viewed as being fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or command an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0047] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). Generally speaking, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, consumer asset location device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or "UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally speaking, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (eg, based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.).

[0048] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with UEs, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also known as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0049] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is the point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0050] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead transmit a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0051] An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal" where the context clearly indicates that the term "signal" refers to either a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0052] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0053] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul links 122. The base stations 102 may also interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be integrated with the base stations 102. The UEs 104 may communicate with the location servers 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location servers 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location servers 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), or the like. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0054] Among other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0055] Base stations 102 can communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communicating with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, such as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) that distinguishes cells operating on the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. Furthermore, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0056] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a Home eNB (HeNB), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0057] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may utilize MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0059] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. Small cell base stations 102' employing LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with UEs 182. Extremely high frequencies (EHF) are part of the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 and 10 mm. Radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW frequencies extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 mm. Super high frequencies (SHF) frequency bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. mmW base stations 180 and UEs 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on mmW communication links 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that, in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near-mmW frequencies and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0061] Transmit beamforming is a technique used to focus an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts it in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located relative to the transmitting network node and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing the receiving device with a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate). To alter the directionality of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array"), which forms an RF beam that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship, so that the radio waves from the individual antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling out in undesired directions to suppress radiation.

[0062] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to have the same parameters to a receiver (e.g., a UE), regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically co-located. In NR, four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships exist. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0063] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Therefore, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) for the RF signals received from that direction.

[0064] The transmit beam and receive beam can be spatially correlated. This spatial correlation means that the parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) used for a second reference signal can be derived based on information about the first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam based on the receive beam parameters to transmit an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station.

[0065] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0066] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency ranges designated FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, despite a portion of FR1 being greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes arises with FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, despite being distinct from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz), which is designated as a "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0067] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz-24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz-71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz-114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz-300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0068] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it can be broadly referred to as frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, it can be broadly referred to as frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0069] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," "carrier frequency," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0070] For example, still referring to Figure 1In the example, one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically double the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0071] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0072] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular network standard (e.g., LTE, NR) that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without going through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, and more. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communication may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or, for other reasons, unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communication. In other cases, the sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0073] In one aspect, sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. While various licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded their operation into unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology, commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include various variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0074] It should be noted that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs could be SL-UEs. Furthermore, while only UE 182 is depicted as capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) could be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are beamforming capable, they can beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward a base station (e.g., base stations 102 and 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), and so on. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 could utilize beamforming via sidelink 160.

[0075] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG, the UE illustrated (for simplicity, Figure 1Any UE (shown as a single UE 104 in the figure) can receive signal 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signal 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit a signal with a repeating pseudorandom noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. While typically located in SV 112, the transmitter can sometimes be located in a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE 104 can include one or more specialized receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from SV 112.

[0076] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various 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. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-Assisted Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0077] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 connects to an earth station (also known as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn connects to elements in the 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5G cellular network (5GC). This element, in turn, provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as internet web servers and other user devices. Thus, UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112, either instead of or in addition to communication signals from terrestrial base station 102.

[0078] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth ® wait.

[0079] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is illustrated. For example, 5GC 210 (also known as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered to include control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form the core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNBs 222 to 5GC 210, specifically to user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In additional configurations, ng-eNBs 224 can also connect to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Furthermore, ng-eNBs 224 can communicate directly with gNBs 222 via backhaul connections 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0080] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each can correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0081] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 can be functionally considered to include control plane functions provided by the access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and user plane functions provided by the user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264's functionality also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which it uses to derive access network-specific keys. The AMF 264's functionality also includes location service management for regulated services, transport of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 230), transport of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperability with EPS, and notification of UE 204 mobility events. Furthermore, the AMF 264 supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0082] The UPF 262 functions include serving as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the delivery of location service messages between the UE 204 and a location server (such as the SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0083] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration at the UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0084] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each can correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functionality as the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 on a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0085] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) of the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or external client. The third-party servers 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0086] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223, referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0087] The functionality of a gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RUs) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and more, in addition to those functions specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols for the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that typically hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers for the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0088] The deployment of a communication system, such as a 5G NR system, can be arranged in a variety of ways using various components or elements. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, RAN nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network equipment (such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in a converged or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), a NR base station, a 5G NR base station, an access point (AP), a transmit / receive point (TRP), or a cell) can be implemented as a converged base station (also known as a standalone base station or a single-chip base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0089] A converged base station can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed across two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU can be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs can be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, can be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0090] Base station type operation or network design may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as the network configuration initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which enables flexibility in network design. The various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0091] Figure 2C An example disaggregated base station architecture 250 according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226), which may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via backhaul links, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both. CUs 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via corresponding midhaul links, such as the F1 interface. DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via corresponding fronthaul links. The RUs 287 can communicate with corresponding UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0092] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, as well as near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via the wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, to one or more of the other units over the wireless transmission medium.

[0093] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher-layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0094] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more higher physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.), depending at least in part on a functional split (such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, the DU 285 may also host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285 or with control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0095] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functionality, low-PHY layer functionality (such as performing Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs), Inverse FFTs (iFFTs), digital beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, both real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communications with the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0096] The SMO framework 255 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate with 4G RAN hardware (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0097] The non-RT RIC 257 can be configured to include logic that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 can be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 259 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 can be configured to include logic that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and actions via an interface (e.g., via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 259.

[0098] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259. This information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to execute corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0099] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) are illustrated that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent thereof). Figure 2A and Figure 2B The depicted NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as a dedicated network) is implemented to support the operations described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0100] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a particular spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a designated RAT, and conversely, receive and decode the signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0101] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth ® 、Zigbee ® 、Z-Wave ®, PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) and other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) (e.g., components for transmitting, receiving, measuring, tuning, blocking, etc.). Short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth ® Transceiver, Zigbee ® and / or Z-Wave ® transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0102] At least in some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), and the like. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0103] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. For another example, network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0104] A transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired or wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, a transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some implementations can include separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry, or in other implementations can be implemented in other ways. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow a corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming," as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow a corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), so that a corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 , short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 ) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0105] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally referred to as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0106] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, as well as for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for computing, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, and the like. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0107] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively, include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry that is part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, and that, when executed, causes UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations are illustrated for a location component 342, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or can be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations are illustrated for a location component 388, which can be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or can be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations are illustrated for a location component 398, which can be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or can be a standalone component.

[0108] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, sensors 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0109] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0110] Referring in more detail to the one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0111] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM). The coded and modulated symbols may then be separated into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time and / or frequency domains, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can modulate an RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0112] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives the signal via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial streams destined for UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency-domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, along with the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0113] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0114] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0115] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0116] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0117] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. The IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0118] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C1 is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, Figures 3A to 3C Various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of , a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In certain embodiments, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0119] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between the different logical entities.

[0120] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of the present invention may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Each circuit may utilize and / or incorporate at least one memory component to store information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 through 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 through 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 through 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions may be described herein as being performed "by a UE," "by a base station," "by a network entity," and the like. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by a specific component or combination of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc. (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0121] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may operate independently of a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0122] NR supports multiple cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. Figure 4Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process illustrated in scenario 410, the UE measures the difference between the arrival times (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurements) and reports these differences to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurement results, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the UE's position.

[0123] For DL-AoD positioning, as illustrated in scenario 420, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's position based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0124] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) sent by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE sends one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the time of reception of the reference signal (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-to-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the UE's position.

[0125] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle of the receive beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the UE's position.

[0126] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round-trip time (RTT) positioning (also known as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). During the RTT process, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which then transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as the received-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest slot boundary of the received and transmitted signals. The two entities can then transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip propagation time (RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity can transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurements to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning, illustrated in scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to determine the first entity's position based on the distance to the second entities and the known positions of the second entities (e.g., using multilateration). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve position accuracy, as illustrated in scenario 440.

[0127] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers of detected neighboring base stations, along with estimated timing and signal strength. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0128] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive time slots containing PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots containing PRS, the muting sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to the specific positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without the use of assistance data.

[0129] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may also include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value may range from + / - 500 microseconds (µs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 32 µs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 8 µs.

[0130] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position fix, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The location estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0131] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 5 FIG5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0132] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, often referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally speaking, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), while the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for a system bandwidth of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0133] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR supports multiple parameter sets (µ). For example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (µ=0), 30 kHz (µ=1), 60 kHz (µ=2), 120 kHz (µ=3), and 240 kHz (µ=4) or larger may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (µ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (µs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with a 4K FFT size. For a 30 kHz SCS (µ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.5 ms, a symbol duration of 33.3 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 with a 4K FFT size. For 60kHz SCS (µ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (µ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (µ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0134] exist Figure 5 In the example, a 15 kHz parameter set is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 5 , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0135] A resource grid can be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 5In the parameter set for cyclic prefixes, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0136] Some REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), and sounding reference signals (SRS), depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. Figure 5 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled “R”) are illustrated.

[0137] The set of resource elements (REs) used for transmitting PRSs is called a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0138] The PRS resource within a given PRB is transmitted with a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N," the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of one symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb size 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, and 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, for DL-PRS, comb sizes of comb size 2, comb size 4, comb size 6, and comb size 12 are supported. Figure 5 An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans four symbols) is illustrated. That is, the positions of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0139] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol in a slot that is configured by higher layers. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes of 2, 4, 6, and 12 over 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol Comb-2: {0, 1}; 4-symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 6-symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 12-symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1,0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-symbol Comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (as in Figure 5 ); 12-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4,10, 2, 8, 5, 11}.

[0140] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used to transmit a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across all time slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of a first PRS resource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from: 2^µ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots, where µ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0141] The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (one TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not imply whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0142] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically recurring time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity," "PRS positioning instance," "positioning opportunity," "positioning instance," "positioning repetition," or simply "occasion," "instance," or "repetition."

[0143] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to simply as a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with identical values ​​for certain parameters across one or more transmission timeframes (TRPs). Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (implying that all parameter sets supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported for PRS), the same point A, the same value for the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0144] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but differs in that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit data channels, whereas frequency layers are used by several (typically three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it supports when communicating its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it supports one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0145] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, and the like, as defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink positioning reference signals, uplink positioning reference signals, or sidelink positioning reference signals, unless the context indicates otherwise. If further distinction is needed between the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "DL-PRS," the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., the SRS used for positioning, i.e., PTRS) may be referred to as "UL-PRS," and the sidelink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "SL-PRS." In addition, for signals that can be sent in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink (e.g., DMRS), these signals may be prefixed with "DL," "UL," or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be different from "DL-DMRS."

[0146] Figure 6 FIG6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an example PRS configuration for two TRPs (labeled “TRP1” and “TRP2”) operating in the same positioning frequency layer (labeled “Positioning Frequency Layer 1”) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. For a positioning session, assistance data indicating the illustrated PRS configuration may be provided to the UE. Figure 6 In the example of FIG, a first TRP ("TRP1") is associated with (e.g., transmits) two PRS resource sets labeled "PRS Resource Set 1" and "PRS Resource Set 2," and a second TRP ("TRP2") is associated with one PRS resource set labeled "PRS Resource Set 3." Each PRS resource set includes at least two PRS resources. Specifically, the first PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 1") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 1" and "PRS Resource 2," the second PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 2") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 3" and "PRS Resource 4," and the third PRS resource set ("PRS Resource Set 3") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS Resource 5" and "PRS Resource 6."

[0147] When the UE is configured with a number of PRS resources exceeding its capabilities in the assistance data of the positioning method, the UE assumes that the PRS resources in the assistance data are sorted in descending order of measurement priority. Currently, the 64 TRPs of each frequency layer are sorted according to priority, and the two PRS resource sets of each TRP of the frequency layer are sorted according to priority. However, the four frequency layers may or may not be sorted according to priority, and the 64 PRS resources in the PRS resource set of each TRP of each frequency layer may or may not be sorted according to priority. The reference indicated by the assistance data parameter "nr-DL-PRS-ReferenceInfo" for each frequency layer has the highest priority at least for the DL-TDOA positioning process.

[0148] Figure 7 is a diagram of an example PRS configuration 700 for PRS transmission for a given base station in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7 In , time is represented horizontally, increasing from left to right. Each long rectangle represents a time slot, and each short (shaded) rectangle represents an OFDM symbol. Figure 7 In the example shown in FIG. 1 , a PRS resource set 710 (labeled as “PRS resource set 1”) includes two PRS resources: a first PRS resource 712 (labeled as “PRS resource 1”) and a second PRS resource 714 (labeled as “PRS resource 2”). The base station transmits PRS on PRS resources 712 and 714 in the PRS resource set 710 .

[0149] The PRS resource set 710 has an opportunity length (N_PRS) of two slots and a periodicity (T_PRS) of, for example (for a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing) 160 slots or 160 milliseconds (ms). Thus, both PRS resources 712 and 714 are two consecutive slots in length and repeat every T_PRS slots, starting with the slot in which the first symbol of the respective PRS resource appears. Figure 7 In the example of , the PRS resource 712 has a symbol length (N_symb) of two symbols, and the PRS resource 714 has a symbol length (N_symb) of four symbols. The PRS resource 712 and the PRS resource 714 may be transmitted on separate beams of the same base station.

[0150] Each instance of a PRS resource set 710 (illustrated as instances 720a, 720b, and 720c) includes two opportunities of length "2" (i.e., N_PRS = 2) for each PRS resource 712, 714 in the PRS resource set. PRS resources 712 and 714 repeat once every T_PRS time slot up to a muting sequence periodicity of T_REP. Therefore, a bitmap of length T_REP is required to indicate which opportunities of instances 720a, 720b, and 720c of the PRS resource set 710 are muted (i.e., not transmitted).

[0151] In one aspect, additional constraints may be placed on PRS configuration 700. For example, a base station may configure the following parameters to be the same for all PRS resources (e.g., PRS resources 712, 714) in a PRS resource set (e.g., PRS resource set 710): (a) opportunity length (N_PRS), (b) number of symbols (N_symb), (c) comb type, and / or (d) bandwidth. Furthermore, the subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix may be configured to be the same for all PRS resources in all PRS resource sets, either for one base station or for all base stations. Whether this is configured for one base station or for all base stations may depend on the UE's ability to support the first and / or second options.

[0152] Cellular repeaters are used to improve network connectivity. A repeater typically consists of a donor antenna that receives downlink signals from a nearby base station and a rebroadcast antenna that transmits the downlink signals to one or more UEs. On the uplink, the rebroadcast antenna receives uplink signals from one or more UEs, and the donor antenna transmits these signals to a nearby base station. Repeater communication can increase throughput, data rates, and cellular coverage, and is particularly beneficial because it can increase diversity gain in fading environments.

[0153] Figures 8A to 8D This article illustrates the differences between forwarder and repeater functions, as well as some of the technical challenges faced by conventional forwarder and repeater functions. As used herein, the general term forwarder / repeater unit (RU) is used to refer to a network node that performs forwarder functions, relay functions, or both. Where an RU performs a specific function, it will be referred to as a forwarder or repeater.

[0154] Figure 8A A repeater function is shown, where the repeater receives a first signal (labeled "X") from a transmitter node (labeled "N1") and transmits a second signal (labeled "X'") to a receiver node (labeled "N2"). In this scenario, the repeater essentially regenerates signal X as X', for example by replicating the frequency tone of X. From a signal processing perspective, X and X' appear identical at the receiver node N2.

[0155] In one example, the transmitter node N1 may be a gNB and the receiver node N2 may be a UE, in which case the connection between the gNB and the forwarder is called a fronthaul link, while the connection between the forwarder and the UE is called an access link. Figures 8A to 8D The example shown in is called an Integrated Access Fronthaul (IAF) network.

[0156] Figure 8B A repeater function is shown, where the relay node receives a first signal (labeled "X") from a transmitter node (labeled "N1") and generates a second signal (labeled "Y") that carries information about or derived from the first signal X. The relay node does not replicate the tones of the original signal X, but instead contains substantially the same content as the first signal X, but in a different form (denoted as "f(X)"). As a downlink example, signal X can be a fronthaul physical downlink shared channel (FH-PDSCH) with a payload carrying some information (e.g., IQ samples), and signal Y can be a legacy PDSCH generated based on this information. As an uplink example, signal X can be a legacy physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and signal Y can be a fronthaul physical uplink shared channel (FH-PUSCH) with a payload carrying some information derived from signal X.

[0157] Figure 8C Shown Figure 8A but the roles of sender node X1 and receiver node X2 are reversed. Similarly, Figure 8D Shown Figure 8C but the roles of sender node X1 and receiver node X2 are reversed.

[0158] A repeater can act as a PRS transmission point. If a repeater can forward (or reflect or relay) PRS, the positioning entity can use the repeater as an anchor node (i.e., a transmitter with a known location) to locate the target UE. Figure 9FIG900 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless environment in which a base station is transmitting PRSs to UEs in various geographic regions, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, base station 902 is transmitting a first PRS (labeled "PRS1") to a first UE 904-1 (labeled "UE1") in a first region 910-1 (labeled "Region 1"), a second PRS (labeled "PRS2") to a repeater 920, and a third PRS (labeled "PRS3") to a second UE 904-2 (labeled "UE2") in a second region 910-2 (labeled "Region 2"). Repeater 920 is configured to forward (or reflect or relay) "PRS2" to the second UE 904-2 and a third UE 904-3 (labeled "UE3") in a third region 910-3 (labeled "Region 3").

[0159] Therefore, in Figure 9 In the example shown, areas 910-1 and 910-2 are within the direct coverage area of ​​base station 902, while area 910-3 is outside the direct coverage area of ​​base station 902. In addition, area 910-2 is within the coverage area of ​​both base station 902 and repeater 920. A UE (e.g., UE 904-3) that is only within the coverage area of ​​repeater 920 may be referred to as a "remote" UE.

[0160] Note that although Figure 9 A single UE 904 is illustrated in each area 910, but it should be understood that there may be more than one UE 904 in an area 910. Figure 9 It is illustrated that the base station 902 transmits three PRSs (eg, PRS resources) on three downlink transmission beams, but it should be understood that there may be more or less than three PRSs and more or less than three beams.

[0161] like Figure 9 As shown, a UE may be capable of receiving PRS only from a base station (e.g., UE 904-1), or may be capable of receiving PRS only from a repeater (e.g., UE 904-3), or may be capable of receiving PRS from both a base station and a repeater (e.g., UE 904-2). In the latter case, the SSB / PRS from the base station and the repeater may be the same or different.

[0162] Repeaters can cause interference and confusion to other base stations and / or UEs. Furthermore, when locating a UE, it is important to determine whether the target UE is measuring the PRS from the base station or the repeater, as the difference will affect, for example, time-of-flight (ToF) calculations. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a mechanism to correctly configure or disable the PRS transmission of the repeater in order to determine within which coverage area the target UE is located (e.g., the coverage area of ​​the base station, the repeater, or both).

[0163] The present disclosure provides techniques for resolving ambiguity in the context of repeater-based positioning. Figure 10 FIG1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless environment in which a base station is beam-scanning PRS resources toward multiple UEs according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 10 In the example of FIG, for downlink-based positioning, a base station 1002 (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) is configured to beam scan N PRS resources across N downlink transmit beams. More specifically, the base station 1002 is configured to transmit at least a first PRS resource (labeled “PRS 1”) toward a second UE 1004-2 (labeled “UE2”) and to transmit at least an Nth PRS resource (labeled “PRS N”) toward a first UE 1004-1 (labeled “UE1”).

[0164] The base station 1002 is further configured to transmit a plurality of PRS resources toward a repeater 1020 (eg, any of the repeaters described herein). Figure 10 In the example shown in FIG, the base station 1002 transmits PRS resources n+1 and n+2 (labeled as “PRS n+1” and “PRS n+2”) toward the repeater 1020. However, as will be appreciated, the base station 1002 may transmit more than two PRS resources toward the repeater 1020. Note that the base station 1002 transmits multiple PRS resources toward the repeater 1020 to enable the repeater 1020 to perform beam scanning on the received PRS resources. Figure 10 It is illustrated that the base station 1002 transmits PRS resources n+1 and n+2 on different beams, but they may alternatively be transmitted on the same beam.

[0165] The forwarder 1020 forwards the received subset of the PRS resources (i.e., PRS resources n+1 and n+2) on the access link. As will be appreciated, there may be some time delay between the reception of PRS resources n+1 and n+2 at the forwarder 1020 and the subsequent transmission of PRS resources n+1 and n+2 by the forwarder 1020. This may be due to hardware limitations of the forwarder 1020 in receiving, amplifying, and forwarding the PRS resources.

[0166] In the above scenario, a UE (e.g., any of UEs 1004) may be configured with positioning assistance data for one or both of base station 1002 and repeater 1020 (e.g., in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message from LMF 270). More specifically, as described with reference to Figure 6As described, the assistance data may include PRS resources associated with a first TRP (here, base station 1002) and a second TRP (here, forwarder 1020). For the first TRP (base station 1002) indicated in the assistance data, the assistance data may include the set of PRS resources {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N}. For the second TRP (forwarder 1020), the assistance data may include the set of PRS resources {PRS n+1, PRS n+2}. Therefore, from the perspective of the UE, there are two TRPs: one that transmits N-2 PRS resources (i.e., PRS resources {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRSN}) and the other that transmits two PRS resources (i.e., PRS resources {PRS n+1, PRS n+2}).

[0167] This assistance data configuration will allow UEs to collect measurements both with and without repeater 1020. That is, only UEs within the coverage area of ​​base station 1002 (e.g., UE 1004-1) will be able to measure PRS resources in the set {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N}, while only UEs within the coverage area of ​​repeater 1020 (e.g., UE 1004-3) will be able to measure PRS resources in the set {PRS n+1, PRS n+2}. These UEs may be able to detect PRS resources in the other set, but the signal strength will likely be very low, and the measurements may be rejected as outliers (e.g., by the network).

[0168] In contrast, a UE (e.g., UE 1004-2) in the coverage area of ​​both base station 1002 and repeater 1020 will likely be able to measure PRS resources in both the sets {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N} and {PRS n+1, PRS n+2}. On the network side, the coverage of a UE can be determined by determining which PRS resources are measured and reported by the corresponding UE (e.g., in an LPP Provide Location Information message).

[0169] To prevent the repeater 1020 from forwarding PRS resources in the set {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N}, the repeater 1020 may be turned off during time instances (e.g., symbols) when the PRS resources {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N} are transmitted by the base station 1002, and turned on during time instances when the PRS resources {PRS n+1, PRS n+2} are transmitted by the base station 1002.

[0170] The beam scanning of the PRS resource set {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N} by base station 1002 and the beam scanning of the PRS resource set {PRS n+1, PRS n+2} by repeater 1020 should be on consecutive symbols / timeslots. That is, repeater 1020 should transmit the PRS resources {PRS n+1, PRS n+2} in the symbol or time slot immediately following the symbol or time slot in which base station 1002 transmitted the PRS resources {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N}, rather than simply after any delay caused by the hardware of repeater 1020. In this way, the two PRS resource sets will be within the channel coherence time (the time during which the UE can expect the channel to remain the same), and any measured differences will be due to the on-off pattern of repeater 1020.

[0171] For uplink-based positioning, the repeater 1020 should be turned off so that the base station 1002 can only perform direct measurements from the UE 1004 .

[0172] When a forwarder is available, such as in Figure 10 In the example of a downlink-based positioning, an entity in the network needs to determine whether a transponder should be used for positioning and the configuration to use (e.g., PRS configuration, on-off mode, etc.). For downlink-based positioning, the location server (e.g., LMF 270) can configure / reconfigure / disable a TRP via, for example, a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message. This configuration may include parameters such as bandwidth, periodicity, and forwarding factor.

[0173] A DU (eg, DU 285) may also configure / reconfigure / deactivate a TRP. If applicable, the DU shall consider the location server's request to configure / reconfigure / deactivate a TRP and, if possible, execute the request.

[0174] For uplink-based positioning, the location server can indicate which TRPs should perform SRS measurements, for example, via an NRPPa measurement request message. Thus, the location server can instruct a repeater TRP (e.g., repeater 1020) to shut down during uplink positioning reference signal transmission (e.g., SRS). The DU should consider the location server's request and, if possible, fulfill it.

[0175] Currently, the location server cannot request the time resource on which the TRP should send the PRS resource. Therefore, continue to refer to Figure 10, the location server is currently unable to request the base station 1002 to perform beam scanning of the PRS resource set {PRS 1, ..., PRS n, PRS n+3, ..., PRS N} and the repeater 1020 to perform beam scanning of the PRS resource set {PRS n+1, PRS n+2} on consecutive symbols / time slots.

[0176] Therefore, the present disclosure proposes enabling a location server to indicate the time domain resources to be used for PRS transmission. For example, the location server may indicate the starting symbol or symbol offset of the PRS resource within a time slot. This would allow the location server to indicate a PRS configuration with overlapping and / or contiguous PRS resources transmitted and / or forwarded by a TRP (including a repeater). This would also allow the location server to specify a muting pattern for the PRS resources transmitted or forwarded by the TRP.

[0177] When a repeater is within the coverage area of ​​multiple potential donor TRPs (e.g., base station 1002), the location server can indicate which TRP should be the donor TRP for the repeater. In this way, different sets of PRS resources forwarded by the repeater can come from (and be associated with) different donor TRPs. Non-donor TRPs should be configured to orthogonalize their transmissions from the donor TRP, such that the repeater can be configured not to forward transmissions from non-donor TRPs. For example, non-donor TRPs can transmit on different time and / or frequency resources than the donor TRP.

[0178] like Figure 10 As shown, if base station 1002 needs to communicate with UE 1004-3, or vice versa, regardless of positioning operations, the communication must go through repeater 1020. Therefore, when sending to or receiving from UE 1004-3, base station 1002 needs to configure repeater 1020 to be turned on. However, base station 1002 first needs to determine whether repeater 1020 is required to communicate with UE 1004-3.

[0179] Therefore, as another technique for determining whether a UE is within the coverage area of ​​a repeater (direct, indirect, or overlapping coverage), a serving base station (e.g., base station 1002) may make this determination based on multiple measurements of uplink channel state reference signals (e.g., SRS, etc.). Specifically, base station 1002 may obtain measurements of uplink reference signals during periods when repeater 1020 is on and periods when repeater 1020 is off. If the signal strength of the uplink reference signal is higher when repeater 1020 is on than when it is off, base station 1002 may determine that base station 1002 requires repeater 1020 to be on when communicating with the UE (e.g., UE 1004-3).

[0180] Alternatively or additionally, a serving base station (e.g., base station 1002) may determine whether a UE is within the coverage area of ​​a repeater based on a measurement report of a downlink channel state reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS, PRS, etc.) obtained by the UE. Specifically, the UE may obtain downlink reference signal measurements during periods when the repeater 1020 is on and periods when the repeater 1020 is off. If the signal strength of the downlink reference signal is higher when the repeater 1020 is on than when the repeater 1020 is off, the base station 1002 may determine that the repeater 1020 needs to be on when the base station 1002 communicates with the UE (e.g., UE 1004-3).

[0181] Note that to make this determination, the base station 1002 may need to configure the UE to send more instances of the channel state reference signal than the UE would normally send in order to test instances with the repeater 1020 turned off and on.

[0182] For positioning purposes, it would be beneficial for a serving base station to report to a location server that it is communicating with a UE (e.g., UE 1004-3) via a repeater. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes signaling to enable a serving base station to report to a location server an indication of the type of coverage area (e.g., direct, indirect, or overlapping) of the repeater and / or UE associated with a particular UE. Therefore, with reference to Figure 10 , where base station 1002 is the serving base station for UE 1004, base station 1002 may report to the location server that UE 1004-1 is within the direct coverage of base station 1002, UE 1004-2 is within the overlapping coverage of base station 1002 (i.e., within the coverage areas of both base station 1002 and repeater 1020), and UE 1004-3 is within the indirect coverage of base station 1002. For UEs 1004-2 and 1004-3, base station 1002 may also report an identifier of repeater 1020 or some other indication.

[0183] Currently, a location server can use the E-CID procedure to request the UE's coarse location from the serving base station. In the E-CID positioning method, the UE's location is estimated based on knowledge of the geographic coordinates of the UE's serving ng-eNB or gNB. As an example, the E-CID procedure can be extended to enable reporting of the UE's coverage type and / or the identifier of the forwarder used to communicate with the UE.

[0184] Figure 11 An example E-CID measurement procedure between an NG-RAN node 1120 (e.g., gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224) and LMF 270 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 11An E-CID measurement initiation procedure 1100 and an E-CID measurement reporting procedure 1150 performed through NRPPa signaling are illustrated.

[0185] The purpose of the E-CID measurement initiation procedure 1100 is to allow the LMF 270 to request the NG-RAN node 1120 to report E-CID measurements used by the LMF 270 to calculate the UE's location. Figure 11 As shown, the LMF 270 initiates the E-CID measurement initiation procedure 1100 by transmitting an E-CID measurement initiation request message. If the NG-RAN node 1120 is able to initiate the requested E-CID measurement, it replies with an E-CID measurement initiation response message that includes the requested information (to the extent known / available).

[0186] The purpose of the E-CID measurement reporting procedure 1150 is to enable the NG-RAN node 1120 to provide the E-CID measurements for the UE to the LMF 270. Figure 11 As shown, the NG-RAN node 1120 initiates the E-CID measurement reporting procedure 1150 by transmitting an E-CID measurement report message. The E-CID measurement report message contains the E-CID measurement results according to the measurement configuration in the corresponding E-CID measurement initiation request message.

[0187] When measurement results other than "Cell ID" are requested, the "Measurement Result" information element (IE) is included in the "E-CID Measurement Result" IE of the E-CID Measurement Report message. If available, the NG-RAN node 1120 includes an "NG-RAN Access Point Position" IE or a "Geographic Coordinates" IE, which is the estimated serving antenna location configured in the "E-CID Measurement Result" IE, within the E-CID Measurement Report message. Upon receiving this "NG-RAN Access Point Position" IE, the LMF 270 can use this value as the geolocation of the NG-RAN access point. If available, the NG-RAN node 1120 includes a "Cell Part ID" IE in the E-CID Measurement Report message. Upon receiving this "Cell Part ID" IE, the LMF 270 can use this value as the cell part for measurement.

[0188] The "Cell Part ID" field indicates the cell part in which the UE is located. The present disclosure proposes to extend the E-CID measurement report to include different cell part IDs associated with the coverage area of ​​a repeater or TRP. That is, a cell part ID may be provided for each repeater associated with the reporting base station (e.g., Figure 10 The repeater 1020 in the example of adds / includes an additional cell part ID.

[0189] Figure 12An example method 1200 of communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the method 1200 may be performed by a location server (eg, LMF 270).

[0190] At 1210, the location server sends a PRS configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node to the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent toward a repeater associated with the network node. In an aspect, operation 1210 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0191] At 1220, the location server receives a measurement report from at least one UE, the measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a measurement report of a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both. In an aspect, operation 1220 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0192] Figure 13 Illustrated is an example communication method 1300 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1300 may be performed by a location server (eg, LMF 270).

[0193] At 1310, the location server sends a first message to the first network node configuring a first donor of a forwarder. In an aspect, operation 1310 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0194] At 1320, the location server sends, to the first network node, a first PRS configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the repeater. In an aspect, operation 1320 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0195] Figure 14An example method 1400 of communication according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the method 1400 may be performed by a network node (eg, a base station, a TRP, a cell, a CU, a DU, etc.).

[0196] At 1410, the network node configures a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) to transmit an uplink reference signal at a plurality of time instances. In an aspect, operation 1410 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0197] At 1420, the network node configures a repeater associated with the network node (e.g., repeater 1020) with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least a plurality of time instances. In one aspect, operation 1420 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0198] At 1430, the network node attempts to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of an uplink reference signal that correspond to a set of on-times for the repeater. In an aspect, operation 1430 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0199] At 1440, the network node attempts to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off times for the repeater. In an aspect, operation 1440 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0200] At 1450, the network node sends an indication to a location server (e.g., LMF 270) of whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances were obtained, measurements of the second subset of instances were obtained, or both. In an aspect, operation 1450 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0201] Figure 15 An example method 1500 of communication according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the method 1500 may be performed by a network node (eg, a base station, a TRP, a cell, a CU, a DU, etc.).

[0202] At 1510, the network node configures a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) to measure a downlink reference signal at a plurality of time instances. In an aspect, operation 1510 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0203] At 1520, the network node configures a repeater associated with the network node (e.g., repeater 1020) with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least a plurality of time instances. In one aspect, operation 1520 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0204] At 1530, the network node receives one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports including measurements of a first subset of instances of a plurality of instances of a downlink reference signal corresponding to a set of on-times for the transponder, measurements of a second subset of instances of a plurality of instances of a downlink reference signal corresponding to a set of off-times for the transponder, or both. In an aspect, operation 1530 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0205] At 1540, the network node sends an indication to a location server (e.g., LMF 270) of whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether measurements of the first subset of instances were obtained, measurements of the second subset of instances were obtained, or both. In an aspect, operation 1540 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0206] As should be appreciated, a technical advantage of methods 1200 to 1500 is improved ambiguity resolution in the context of repeater-based positioning, and thereby more accurately and reliably estimating the position of the UE.

[0207] In the detailed description above, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This disclosure should not be interpreted as an intention that the example clauses have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, the various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all the features of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, with each clause itself serving as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to specific combinations. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or combinations of any features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations unless it is expressly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0208] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0209] Clause 1. A method of communication performed by a location server, the method comprising: sending, to a network node, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receiving, from at least one user equipment (UE), a measurement report comprising measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0210] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first set of time resources and the second set of time resources are consecutive time resources or overlapping time resources.

[0211] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising determining whether the at least one UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report.

[0212] Clause 4. A method according to clause 3, wherein: determining that the at least one UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report including measurements of the second set of PRS resources, or determining that the at least one UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report not including measurements of the second set of PRS resources.

[0213] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the network node is configured to beam scan at least the first set of PRS resources.

[0214] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising receiving an indication from the network node that the forwarder is associated with the network node, a coverage area of ​​the forwarder, a forwarder associated with the UE, and a coverage area associated with the UE.

[0215] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the indication is received in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0216] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the indication is received in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0217] Clause 9. A method as described in any of clauses 6 to 8, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0218] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radiopositioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0219] Clause 11. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 10, the method further comprising: sending positioning assistance data for the multiple PRS resources to the UE, wherein the positioning assistance data indicates the first set of PRS resources to be sent on the first set of time domain resources and the second set of PRS resources to be sent on the second set of time domain resources.

[0220] Clause 12. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0221] Clause 13. A method of communication performed by a location server, the method comprising: sending a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a repeater; and sending to the first network node a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the repeater.

[0222] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, further comprising: sending a second message to the first network node configuring a second donor of the forwarder; and sending a second PRS configuration to the first network node for one or more second PRS resource sets to be sent by the second donor toward the forwarder.

[0223] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the first set of PRS resources and the second set of PRS resources do not overlap in time, frequency, or both.

[0224] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 13 to 15, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radiopositioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0225] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 13 to 16, wherein the first network node is: a base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0226] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 13 to 17, wherein the first donor is: a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the first network node, or a cell supported by the first network node.

[0227] Clause 19. A method of communication performed by a network node, the method comprising: configuring a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at multiple time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least the multiple time instances; attempting to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on times for the repeater; attempting to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off times for the repeater; and sending an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

[0228] Clause 20. A method according to clause 19, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0229] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 19 to 20, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0230] Clause 22. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 21, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0231] Clause 23. A method as set forth in any one of clauses 19 to 22, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0232] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0233] Clause 25. The method of any of clauses 19 to 24, wherein the uplink reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0234] Clause 26. A method as set forth in any one of clauses 19 to 25, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0235] Clause 27. A method according to any of clauses 19 to 26, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0236] Clause 28. A method of communication performed by a network node, the method comprising: configuring a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at multiple time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least the multiple time instances; receiving one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports comprising measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off times of the repeater, or both; and sending an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances, the measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0237] Clause 29. A method according to clause 28, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength of the measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength of the measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0238] Clause 30. The method of any of clauses 28 to 29, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0239] Clause 31. A method according to any of clauses 28 to 30, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0240] Clause 32. A method as set forth in any one of clauses 28 to 31, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0241] Clause 33. The method of clause 32, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0242] Clause 34. A method as described in any of clauses 28 to 33, wherein the downlink reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0243] Clause 35. A method as described in any of clauses 28 to 34, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0244] Clause 36. A method according to any of clauses 28 to 35, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0245] Clause 37. A location server, the location server comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: send, to a network node via the one or more transceivers, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources in the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receive, from at least one user equipment (UE) via the one or more transceivers, a measurement report comprising measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0246] Clause 38. The location server of clause 37, wherein the first set of time resources and the second set of time resources are contiguous time resources or overlapping time resources.

[0247] Clause 39. The location server of any of clauses 37 to 38, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether the at least one UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report.

[0248] Clause 40. A location server according to clause 39, wherein: the at least one UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report including measurements of the second set of PRS resources, or the at least one UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report not including measurements of the second set of PRS resources.

[0249] Clause 41. The location server of any of clauses 37 to 40, wherein the network node is configured to beam scan at least the first set of PRS resources.

[0250] Clause 42. A location server according to any one of clauses 37 to 41, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive from the network node via the one or more transceivers an indication that the forwarder is associated with the network node, the coverage area of ​​the forwarder, the forwarder associated with the UE, and the coverage area associated with the UE.

[0251] Clause 43. The location server of clause 42, wherein the indication is received in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0252] Clause 44. The location server of clause 43, wherein the indication is received in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0253] Clause 45. The location server of any of clauses 42 to 44, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0254] Clause 46. The location server of any of clauses 37 to 45, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0255] Clause 47. A location server according to any one of clauses 37 to 46, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: send positioning assistance data for the multiple PRS resources to the UE via the one or more transceivers, wherein the positioning assistance data indicates the first set of PRS resources to be sent on the first set of time domain resources and the second set of PRS resources to be sent on the second set of time domain resources.

[0256] Clause 48. A location server according to any of clauses 37 to 47, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0257] Clause 49. A location server, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured to: send a first message configuring a first donor of a forwarder to a first network node via the one or more transceivers; and send a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the forwarder to the first network node via the one or more transceivers.

[0258] Clause 50. A location server according to clause 49, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: send a second message to the first network node via the one or more transceivers to configure a second donor of the forwarder; and send a second PRS configuration for one or more second PRS resource sets to be sent by the second donor toward the forwarder to the first network node via the one or more transceivers.

[0259] Clause 51. The location server of clause 50, wherein the first set of PRS resources and the second set of PRS resources do not overlap in time, frequency, or both.

[0260] Clause 52. The location server of any of clauses 49 to 51, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0261] Clause 53. The location server of any of clauses 49 to 52, wherein the first network node is: a base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0262] Clause 54. The location server of any of clauses 49 to 53, wherein the first donor is: a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) supported by the first network node, or a cell supported by the first network node.

[0263] Clause 55. A network node comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; attempt to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on-times of the repeater; attempt to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off-times of the repeater; and send an indication to a location server via the one or more transceivers as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

[0264] Clause 56. A network node according to clause 55, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0265] Clause 57. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 55 to 56, wherein the UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0266] Clause 58. A network node according to any of clauses 55 to 57, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0267] Clause 59. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 55 to 58, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0268] Clause 60. The network node of clause 59, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0269] Clause 61. The network node of any of clauses 55 to 60, wherein the uplink reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0270] Clause 62. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 55 to 61, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0271] Clause 63. A network node as described in any of clauses 55 to 62, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0272] Clause 64. A network node, the network node comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; receive one or more measurement reports from the UE via the one or more transceivers, the one or more measurement reports comprising measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and send an indication to a location server via the one or more transceivers of whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances, the measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0273] Clause 65. A network node according to clause 64, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength of the measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength of the measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0274] Clause 66. The network node of any of clauses 64 to 65, wherein the UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0275] Clause 67. A network node according to any of clauses 64 to 66, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0276] Clause 68. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 64 to 67, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0277] Clause 69. The network node of clause 68, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0278] Clause 70. A network node as set forth in any one of clauses 64 to 69, wherein the downlink reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0279] Clause 71. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 64 to 70, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0280] Clause 72. A network node as described in any of clauses 64 to 71, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0281] Clause 73. A location server comprising: means for sending, to a network node, a PRS configuration for a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and means for receiving, from at least one user equipment (UE), a measurement report comprising measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0282] Clause 74. The location server of clause 73, wherein the first set of time resources and the second set of time resources are contiguous time resources or overlapping time resources.

[0283] Clause 75. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 74, further comprising means for determining, based on the measurement report, whether the at least one UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater.

[0284] Clause 76. A location server according to clause 75, wherein: the at least one UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report including measurements of the second set of PRS resources, or the at least one UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report not including measurements of the second set of PRS resources.

[0285] Clause 77. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 76, wherein the network node is configured to beam scan at least the first set of PRS resources.

[0286] Clause 78. A location server according to any of clauses 73 to 77, the location server further comprising: a component for receiving an indication from the network node that the forwarder is associated with the network node, the coverage area of ​​the forwarder, the forwarder associated with the UE, and the coverage area associated with the UE.

[0287] Clause 79. The location server of clause 78, wherein the indication is received in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0288] Clause 80. The location server of clause 79, wherein the indication is received in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0289] Clause 81. The location server of any of clauses 78 to 80, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0290] Clause 82. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 81, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0291] Clause 83. A location server according to any one of clauses 73 to 82, the location server further comprising: a component for sending positioning assistance data for the multiple PRS resources to the UE, wherein the positioning assistance data indicates the first set of PRS resources to be sent on the first set of time domain resources and the second set of PRS resources to be sent on the second set of time domain resources.

[0292] Clause 84. A location server according to any of clauses 73 to 83, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0293] Clause 85. A location server comprising: means for sending a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a forwarder; and means for sending to the first network node a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the forwarder.

[0294] Clause 86. A location server according to clause 85, the location server further comprising: a component for sending a second message to the first network node configuring a second donor of the forwarder; and a component for sending a second PRS configuration to the first network node for one or more second PRS resource sets to be sent by the second donor toward the forwarder.

[0295] Clause 87. The location server of clause 86, wherein the first set of PRS resources and the second set of PRS resources do not overlap in time, frequency, or both.

[0296] Clause 88. The location server of any of clauses 85 to 87, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0297] Clause 89. The location server of any of clauses 85 to 88, wherein the first network node is: a base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0298] Clause 90. The location server of any of clauses 85 to 89, wherein the first donor is: a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) supported by the first network node, or a cell supported by the first network node.

[0299] Clause 91. A network node comprising: means for configuring a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at multiple time instances; means for configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least the multiple time instances; means for attempting to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on times for the repeater; means for attempting to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the multiple instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off times for the repeater; and means for sending an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

[0300] Clause 92. A network node according to clause 91, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0301] Clause 93. The network node of any of clauses 91 to 92, wherein the UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0302] Clause 94. A network node according to any of clauses 91 to 93, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0303] Clause 95. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 91 to 94, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0304] Clause 98. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 91 to 97, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0305] Clause 99. A network node as described in any of clauses 91 to 98, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0306] Clause 100. A network node comprising: means for configuring a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; means for configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; means for receiving one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports comprising measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and means for sending an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

[0307] Clause 101. A network node according to clause 100, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength of the measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength of the measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0308] Clause 102. The network node of any of clauses 100 to 101, wherein the UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0309] Clause 103. A network node according to any of clauses 100 to 102, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0310] Clause 104. A network node as set forth in any of clauses 100 to 103, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0311] Clause 105. The network node of clause 104, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0312] Clause 106. The network node of any of clauses 100 to 105, wherein the downlink reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0313] Clause 107. The network node of any of clauses 100 to 106, wherein the network node is a serving network node for the UE.

[0314] Clause 108. A network node as described in any of clauses 100 to 107, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0315] Clause 109. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: send to a network node a PRS configuration for a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources to be sent by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be sent on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be sent towards a repeater associated with the network node; and receive from at least one user equipment (UE) a measurement report comprising measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate of the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both.

[0316] Clause 110. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 109, wherein the first set of time resources and the second set of time resources are contiguous time resources or overlapping time resources.

[0317] Clause 111. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 110, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: determine whether the at least one UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report.

[0318] Clause 112. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 111, wherein: the at least one UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report including measurements of the second set of PRS resources, or the at least one UE is determined to be outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report not including measurements of the second set of PRS resources.

[0319] Clause 113. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 109 to 112, wherein the network node is configured to beam scan at least the first set of PRS resources.

[0320] Clause 114. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 113, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: receive from the network node an indication that the forwarder is associated with the network node, the coverage area of ​​the forwarder, the forwarder associated with the UE, and the coverage area associated with the UE.

[0321] Clause 115. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 114, wherein the indication is received in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0322] Clause 116. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 115, wherein the indication is received in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0323] Clause 117. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 114 to 116, wherein the network node is a serving network node of the UE.

[0324] Clause 118. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 109 to 117, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0325] Clause 119. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 118, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: send positioning assistance data for the multiple PRS resources to the UE, wherein the positioning assistance data indicates the first set of PRS resources to be sent on the first set of time domain resources and the second set of PRS resources to be sent on the second set of time domain resources.

[0326] Clause 120. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 109 to 119, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0327] Clause 121. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: send a first message to a first network node configuring a first donor of a forwarder; and send to the first network node a first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first PRS resource sets to be sent by the first donor toward the forwarder.

[0328] Clause 122. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 121, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to: send a second message to the first network node configuring a second donor of the forwarder; and send a second PRS configuration to the first network node for one or more second PRS resource sets to be sent by the second donor toward the forwarder.

[0329] Clause 123. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 122, wherein the first set of PRS resources and the second set of PRS resources do not overlap in time, frequency, or both.

[0330] Clause 124. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 121 to 123, wherein the PRS configuration is included in a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) PRS Configuration Request message.

[0331] Clause 125. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 121 to 124, wherein the first network node is: a base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0332] Clause 126. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 121 to 125, wherein the first donor is: a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the first network node, or a cell supported by the first network node.

[0333] Clause 127. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: configure a user equipment (UE) to send an uplink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; attempt to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of on-times of the repeater; attempt to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal that correspond to the set of off-times of the repeater; and send an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

[0334] Clause 128. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 127, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0335] Clause 129. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 127 to 128, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0336] Clause 130. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 127 to 129, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0337] Clause 131. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 127 to 130, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0338] Clause 132. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 131, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0339] Clause 133. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 127 to 132, wherein the uplink reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0340] Clause 134. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 127 to 133, wherein the network node is a serving network node of the UE.

[0341] Clause 135. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 127 to 134, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0342] Clause 136. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: configure a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configure a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on-times and a set of off-times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; receive one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports comprising measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater, measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater, or both; and send an indication to a location server as to whether the UE is within a coverage area of ​​the repeater, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances, the measurements of the second subset of instances, or both are obtained.

[0343] Clause 137. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 136, wherein: the measurement of the first subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances, the measurement of the second subset of instances includes a signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances, and the UE is determined to be within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength of the measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength of the measurement of the second subset of instances.

[0344] Clause 138. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 137, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0345] Clause 139. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 136 to 138, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining the measurements of the first subset of instances, and obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

[0346] Clause 140. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 139, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

[0347] Clause 141. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 140, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

[0348] Clause 142. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 136 to 141, wherein the downlink reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0349] Clause 143. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 142, wherein the network node is a serving network node of the UE.

[0350] Clause 144. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 136 to 143, wherein the network node is: a base station, a transmit reception point (TRP) supported by the base station, a cell supported by the base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

[0351] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0352] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed for the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0353] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0354] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative embodiment, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In an alternative embodiment, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as discrete components.

[0355] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. Disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0356] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, any component, function, action or instruction described or claimed herein should not be interpreted as critical or necessary unless explicitly described as such. In addition, as used herein, the terms "set", "group" and the like are intended to include one or more of the elements described. In addition, as used herein, the terms "have", "have", "include", "include" and the like do not exclude the presence of one or more additional elements (for example, an element "having" A may also have B). In addition, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on", unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, as used herein, the term "or" when used in a series is intended to be open-ended and can be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless otherwise expressly stated (e.g., if used in conjunction with "either" or "only one"), or these alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., "one or more" should not be interpreted as "one and more"). In addition, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is also contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Thus, as used herein, the articles "a," "an," "the," and "said" are intended to include one or more of the elements described. Additionally, as used herein, the terms "at least one" and "one or more" include "one" component, function, action, or instruction that performs or is capable of performing the functionality described or claimed, and also include "two or more" components, functions, actions, or instructions that perform or are capable of performing the functionality described or claimed in combination.

Claims

1. A location server, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: transmitting, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a plurality of PRS resources to be transmitted by the network node, wherein the PRS configuration indicates a first set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be transmitted on a first set of time domain resources and a second set of PRS resources of the plurality of PRS resources to be transmitted on a second set of time domain resources, and wherein the second set of PRS resources is configured to be transmitted towards a repeater associated with the network node; and Receiving, from at least one user equipment (UE) via the one or more transceivers, a measurement report including measurements of the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both, or a positioning estimate for the UE determined based on the first set of PRS resources, the second set of PRS resources, or both. 2 . The location server of claim 1 , wherein the first set of time resources and the second set of time resources are consecutive time resources or overlapping time resources.

3. The location server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: It is determined based on the measurement report whether the at least one UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater.

4. The location server according to claim 3, wherein: determining that the at least one UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the measurement report including a measurement of the second set of PRS resources, or Determining that the at least one UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on the measurement report not including measurement of the second set of PRS resources. 5 . The location server of claim 1 , wherein the network node is configured to beam scan at least the first set of PRS resources.

6. The location server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: An indication is received from the network node via the one or more transceivers that the repeater is associated with the network node, a coverage area of ​​the repeater, a repeater associated with the UE, and a coverage area associated with the UE.

7. The location server of claim 6, wherein the indication is received in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

8. The location server of claim 7, wherein the indication is received in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

9. The location server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: Sending positioning assistance data for the plurality of PRS resources to the UE via the one or more transceivers, wherein the positioning assistance data indicates the first set of PRS resources to be sent on the first set of time domain resources and the second set of PRS resources to be sent on the second set of time domain resources.

10. The location server according to claim 1, wherein the network node is: base stations, the transmit reception points (TRPs) supported by the base station, cells supported by the base station, the central unit (CU) of the base station, or The distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

11. A location server, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: sending, via the one or more transceivers to a first network node, a first message configuring a first donor of a forwarder; as well as A first positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for one or more first sets of PRS resources to be sent by the first donor toward the repeater is transmitted to the first network node via the one or more transceivers.

12. The location server of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: sending, via the one or more transceivers, to the first network node, a second message configuring a second donor of the forwarder; and A second PRS configuration for one or more second sets of PRS resources to be sent by the second donor towards the repeater is sent to the first network node via the one or more transceivers.

13. The location server of claim 12, wherein the first set of PRS resources and the second set of PRS resources do not overlap in time, frequency, or both.

14. The location server according to claim 11, wherein: The first network node is a base station, a central unit (CU) of the base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of the base station, and The first donor is a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) supported by the first network node or a cell supported by the first network node.

15. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: configuring a user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; attempting to obtain measurements of a first subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the repeater; attempting to obtain measurements of a second subset of instances of the plurality of instances of the uplink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the repeater; as well as An indication of whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater is sent to a location server via the one or more transceivers, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

16. The network node according to claim 15, wherein: The measurements of the first subset of instances include signal strength measurements of the first subset of instances, The measurements of the second subset of instances include signal strength measurements of the second subset of instances, and Determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater based on the signal strength measurement of the first subset of instances being greater than the signal strength measurement of the second subset of instances.

17. The network node of claim 15, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

18. The network node of claim 15, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining said measurements of said first subset of instances, and The measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained.

19. The network node of claim 15, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

20. The network node of claim 19, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

21. The network node of claim 15, wherein the uplink reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS).

22. The network node according to claim 15, wherein the network node is: base stations, the transmit reception points (TRPs) supported by the base station, cells supported by the base station, the central unit (CU) of the base station, or The distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

23. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: configuring a user equipment (UE) to measure a downlink reference signal at a plurality of time instances; configuring a repeater associated with the network node with a set of on times and a set of off times spanning at least the plurality of time instances; receiving, via the one or more transceivers, one or more measurement reports from the UE, the one or more measurement reports comprising measurements of a first subset of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of on-times of the transponder, measurements of a second subset of the plurality of instances of the downlink reference signal corresponding to the set of off-times of the transponder, or both; and An indication of whether the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater is sent to a location server via the one or more transceivers, wherein the indication is based on whether the measurements of the first subset of instances are obtained, the measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained, or both.

24. The network node according to claim 23, wherein: The measurements of the first subset of instances include signal strength measurements of the first subset of instances, The measurements of the second subset of instances include signal strength measurements of the second subset of instances, and Determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on the measured signal strength of the first subset of instances being greater than the measured signal strength of the second subset of instances.

25. The network node of claim 23, wherein determining that the UE is outside the coverage area of ​​the repeater is based on obtaining the measurements of the second subset of instances.

26. The network node of claim 23, wherein determining that the UE is within the coverage area of ​​the repeater and the coverage area of ​​the network node is based on: obtaining said measurements of said first subset of instances, and The measurements of the second subset of instances are obtained.

27. The network node of claim 23, wherein the indication is sent in an enhanced cell identifier (E-CID) measurement report message.

28. The network node of claim 27, wherein the indication is sent in a cell part identifier field of the E-CID measurement report message.

29. The network node of claim 23, wherein the downlink reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

30. The network node of claim 23, wherein the network node is: base stations, the transmit reception points (TRPs) supported by the base station, cells supported by the base station, the central unit (CU) of the base station, or The distributed unit (DU) of the base station.

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