Determining target relative clock offset for ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communication in which an initiator device (902) transmits a ranging initiation message and a ranging final message to a plurality of responder devices (906). The initiator device (902) determines a target relative clock offset between a target responder device in a first subset of the plurality of responder devices (906) and the initiator device (902) based on one or more reference responder devices in a second subset of the plurality of responder devices (906), the first subset of the plurality of responder devices (906) having successful receipt of the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices (906) having successful receipt of the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message. The initiator device (902) determines a time of flight based on the one or more time of flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

Description

Background Technology

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] All aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless technology.

[0003] 2. Related technical descriptions

[0004] Wireless communication systems have evolved through many generations, including first-generation analog radiotelephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital radiotelephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, wireless services with internet capabilities, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and Personal Communication Services (PCS) systems. Known examples of cellular systems include cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), as well as 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 others.

[0005] Furthermore, the fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transmission speeds, more connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on Positioning Reference Signals (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink Positioning Reference Signals (PRS)), and other technological enhancements compared to previous standards.

[0006] Furthermore, other wireless communication systems have been developed for communication with a shorter effective range than those described above (e.g., LTE, WiMax, or 5G). These other wireless communication systems for short-range communication can be based on radio access technologies (RATs), such as WiFi, LTE-D, and Bluetooth. ® Zigbee ® Z-Wave ® Examples include PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), and Ultra Wideband (UWB). In some aspects, these other wireless communication systems used for short range communication can be designed to provide data communication as well as positioning or ranging services. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The following is a simplified summary of the invention relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this summary should not be considered an exhaustive overview relating to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements relating to all conceived aspects or to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of this summary is to present, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects involving the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0008] In one aspect, a method of operating an initiating device includes: sending a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technology (RAT); sending a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; determining a target relative clock offset between a target responding device in the first subset of the plurality of responding devices and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determining the time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0009] In one aspect, a method of operating a processing device includes: obtaining a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responder device within a first subset of a plurality of responder devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responder device; obtaining a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responder device and by the initiating device; determining a target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responder devices within the second subset of the plurality of responder devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responder device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responder device, the third reception time, and one of the first reception time or the second reception time.

[0010] In one aspect, an initiating device 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 being individually or in combination configured to: transmit a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on a first radio access technique (RAT); transmit a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on the first RAT; determine a target relative clock offset between a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, the first subset of the plurality of responding devices having successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices having successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine the time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0011] In one aspect, a processing device 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 being individually or in combination configured to: obtain a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device in a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; and obtain a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device. The receiving time; determining the target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responder devices in a second subset of the plurality of responder devices, wherein a first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and a second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determining the flight time between the initiating device and the target responder device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responder device, the third receiving time, and one or both of the first receiving time and the second receiving time.

[0012] In one aspect, an initiating device includes: components for transmitting a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technology (RAT); components for transmitting a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; components for determining a target relative clock offset between the initiating device and a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and components for determining the time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0013] In one aspect, a processing apparatus includes: components for obtaining a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device within a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; components for obtaining a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device; components for determining a target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices within the second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and components for determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first reception time and the second reception time.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by an initiating device, cause the initiating device to: transmit a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technique (RAT); transmit a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; determine a target relative clock offset between the initiating device and a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine the time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0015] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to: obtain a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device within a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; obtain a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device; determine a target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices within the second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first and second reception times.

[0016] Based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and are provided for illustrative purposes only and not to limit the aspects.

[0018] Figure 1 Example applications of positioning processes based on short-range wireless communication systems according to various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2This is a diagram illustrating the frequency bands of various radio access technologies (RATs) according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3A Example architectures of wireless communication devices according to various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0021] Figure 3B Example architectures of processing devices according to various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0022] Figure 4A and Figure 4B This is a diagram illustrating example ranging operations according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating the two-way distance measurement (DS-TWR) process according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating a single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) process according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example ranging block structure according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating an example ranging round used to perform a positioning process according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0027] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating the message flow used to perform the positioning process according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0028] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for operating the initiator device according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0029] Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating the processing device according to various aspects of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0030] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and accompanying drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0031] The various aspects as a whole involve message transmission and reception scheduling for ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. Some aspects are more specifically involved in determining the target relative clock offset of a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability based on additional information from one or more reference responder devices with dual-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR) capability.

[0032] Specific 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, the initiating device or processing device can determine the target relative clock offset of a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability with improved accuracy. Therefore, measurements associated with a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability can still be used to determine the location of the initiating device with sufficient accuracy.

[0033] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0034] Those skilled in the art will understand that any of the various techniques and skills available can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description can be represented by voltage, current, 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.

[0035] Furthermore, many aspects are described according to a sequence of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be entirely embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, any corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0036] Figure 1An example application 100 of a positioning process based on a short-range wireless communication system according to various aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. For example... Figure 1 As shown, by way of a non-limiting example, vehicle 110 may include responder devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119 installed therein. Vehicle 110 may include a processing device 120 installed therein. In some aspects, processing device 120 may be communicatively coupled to responder devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119, and may be configured to control the operation of responder devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119. In some aspects, processing device 120 may be implemented as a computer on vehicle 110, different from responder devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119. In some aspects, processing device 120 may be incorporated into one of responder devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119. Furthermore, in this non-limiting example, user 130 may carry initiator device 132.

[0037] In some aspects, the initiating device 132 may be configured to communicate with the responding devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119 based on at least a first radio access technology (RAT) to perform a location process to determine the location of the initiating device 132 relative to the responding devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119. In some aspects, the processing device 120 may determine whether the location of the initiating device 132 is within the range 140 of the vehicle 110 to determine whether one or more functions of the vehicle 110 should be activated or deactivated (e.g., unlocking doors, starting the engine, starting the air conditioning, etc.). Additionally, the initiating device 132 may be configured to communicate with the responding devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119 for data communication based on a first RAT or a second RAT.

[0038] In some aspects, the first RAT may correspond to an ultra-wideband radio access technology (e.g., ultra-wideband (UWB)) based on a first channel bandwidth. In some aspects, the second RAT may correspond to a short-range radio access technology (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth) based on a second channel bandwidth. ® Or near field communication (NFC), the second channel bandwidth is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0039] In some respects, UWB devices can use pulse-based radio signaling (e.g., short-pulse UWB) instead of OFDM-based signaling (multi-band OFDM UWB). Short-pulse UWB signaling transmits each bit with varying pulse amplitude and / or pulse polarity using energy spread across the entire UWB channel bandwidth (e.g., 1.37 GHz, 4 GHz, etc.) without using an RF carrier, while MB-OFDM (multi-band OFDM) transmits each bit using a 4 MHz bandwidth channel.

[0040] Using short-pulse UWB signaling systems can offer several advantages over MB-OFDM-UWB signaling systems and other OFDM-based systems. For example, short-pulse UWB signaling systems can provide better fading characteristics than MB-OFDM-UWB signaling systems (e.g., Gaussian-modeled fading versus Rayleigh-modeled fading, and / or less than 1% of the channel experiencing fading of 2 dB or more). As another example, short-pulse UWB signaling systems can operate accurately with lower peak-to-average RF and / or longer battery life than MB-OFDM-UWB signaling systems using rake-free processing without employing FEC (forward error correction). Short-pulse UWB also does not use traditional modulation and demodulation techniques such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), but can use time-domain or space-time processing techniques. Short-pulse UWB can utilize various shapes (e.g., Gaussian pulses, single-cycle pulses, Hermite pulses, etc.), and the shape used can be selected based on its characteristics in the time and frequency domains, as well as other factors such as bandwidth utilization, interference mitigation, power spectral density, multipath fading and inter-symbol interference, design complexity, power consumption, range, and trade-offs for ultra-fast sampling. In some cases, short-pulse UWB can benefit from high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and high-speed digital-to-analog converters (DACs) to handle the very wide frequency bands used; however, other methods may exist to address the need for ultra-fast sampling, such as using time-hopping techniques, direct sequence decoding, etc.

[0041] Multiband OFDM UWB divides the spectrum into several frequency subbands and applies OFDM within each band; however, other OFDM systems typically operate within fixed frequency bands. The composite waveform created by combining multiple subbands produces the final waveform used for transmission in multiband OFDM UWB. Multiband OFDM UWB also differs from other OFDM systems by not using guard intervals, employing simpler modulation schemes (such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) or Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) with 64 or 256 Quadrature Modulation (QAM)), and utilizing a constant power level, while other OFDM systems rely on power control to cope with changing channel conditions.

[0042] In some aspects, such as Figure 1 As shown, other devices (e.g., cellular phone 152, computer 154, and / or base station 156) can communicate based on a RAT such as 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G, WiFi, etc. In some aspects, wireless communications performed by other devices 152, 154, and / or 156 may interfere with wireless communications based on the first RAT between initiating device 132 and responding devices 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119 (e.g., interference in...). Figure 1 It is depicted as arrow 160 in the middle.

[0043] In some respects, a RAT based on 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G, and / or WiFi can allocate available radio frequency (RF) resources to a narrower RF band. In some respects, data transmitted using a RAT based on 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G, and / or WiFi can be modulated into an RF signal using an RF sine wave as a carrier at a specified frequency for each band. In some respects, a receiver using a RAT based on 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G, and / or WiFi can differentiate the signal (intended for use with the receiver) from noise (including background noise and other signals not intended for use with the receiver) in the frequency domain based on a filter having a center frequency matched to the carrier frequency.

[0044] In contrast, UWB (e.g., short-pulse UWB) uses pulses with short durations and low energy levels in the time domain to enable short-range, high-bandwidth communication across a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditionally been used for non-cooperative radar imaging and has recently been applied to sensor data collection, precise localization, and tracking applications. In some respects, data transmitted using UWB can be based on varying pulse amplitude and / or pulse polarity without the use of an RF carrier. In other respects, receivers using UWB can distinguish signal from noise in the time domain based on synchronization and / or pulse templates used for UWB communication.

[0045] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the frequency bands of various RATs according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 2 In the center, the frequency is represented horizontally, increasing from left to right. For example... Figure 2As shown, 2G, 3G, and / or 4G can use at least various frequency bands 210, including, for example, bands 212 and 214, where the center frequency ranges from approximately 400 MHz to 3.1 GHz. In some aspects, 5G can use at least various frequency bands 220, including, for example, bands 222, 224, 226, and 228, where the center frequency ranges from approximately 3.2 GHz to 5.0 GHz and 6 GHz to 10 GHz. In some aspects, WiFi based on the IEEE 802.11b / g specification can have a channel 220 with a center frequency range from approximately 2.4 MHz to 2.5 MHz. In some aspects, WiFi based on the IEEE 802.11a / n specification can have a channel 240 with a center frequency range from approximately 5 GHz to 6 GHz. In some aspects, Figure 2 The frequency bands and channels illustrated are merely non-limiting examples depicted in a simplified manner.

[0046] like Figure 2 As shown, in some aspects, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized UWB applications within a frequency range of at least 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channel 261 (e.g., designated channel #0 in some UWB specifications) with a center frequency of approximately 500 MHz (e.g., 499.2 MHz) and a bandwidth of approximately 500 MHz (e.g., 499.2 MHz). In some aspects, channel 261 is also referred to as being in the sub-1 GHz band.

[0047] In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channels 262, 264, and 266 (e.g., designated as channels #1, #2, and #3, respectively, in some UWB specifications) with center frequencies of approximately 3.5 GHz (e.g., 3.4944 GHz), 4.0 GHz (e.g., 3.9936 GHz), and 4.5 GHz (e.g., 4.4928 GHz) and bandwidth of approximately 500 MHz (e.g., 499.2 MHz). In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channel 268 (e.g., designated as channel #4 in some UWB specifications) with a center frequency of approximately 4.0 GHz (e.g., 3.9936 GHz) and bandwidth of approximately 1300 MHz (e.g., 1331.2 MHz). In some aspects, channels 262, 264, 266, and 268 are also referred to as being in the low-frequency band.

[0048] In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channels 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277 and 278 (e.g., identified as channels #5, #6, #8, #9, #10, #12, #13 and #14 respectively) with center frequencies of approximately 6.5 GHz (e.g., 6.4869 GHz), 7.0 GHz (e.g., 6.9888 GHz), 7.5 GHz (e.g., 7.4880 GHz), 8.0 GHz (e.g., 7.9872 GHz), 8.5 GHz (e.g., 8.4864 GHz), 9.0 GHz (e.g., 9.9856 GHz), 9.5 GHz (e.g., 9.4848 GHz) and 10.0 GHz (e.g., 9.9840 GHz) and bandwidth of approximately 500 MHz (e.g., 499.2 MHz). In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channel 282 (e.g., designated channel #7 in some UWB specifications) with a center frequency of approximately 6.5 GHz (e.g., 6.4869 GHz) and a bandwidth of approximately 1100 MHz (e.g., 1081.6 MHz). In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channel 284 (e.g., designated channel #11 in some UWB specifications) with a center frequency of approximately 8.0 GHz (e.g., 7.9872 GHz) and a bandwidth of approximately 1300 MHz (e.g., 1331.2 MHz). In some aspects, UWB can be configured to use channel 286 (e.g., designated channel #15 in some UWB specifications) with a center frequency of approximately 9.5 GHz (e.g., 9.4848 GHz) and a bandwidth of approximately 1300 MHz (e.g., 1354.97 MHz). In some respects, channels 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 282, 284 and 286 are also referred to as being in the high-frequency band.

[0049] like Figure 2 As shown, any RAT that is not UWB can have a channel bandwidth of one-third or less of that of UWB. Furthermore, because UWB is configured to use channels that overlap with the channels of various non-UWB RATs, UWB-based transmissions may be subject to interference caused by non-UWB RATs.

[0050] Figure 3A Example architectures of wireless communication devices 300 according to various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated. Figure 3A An example is shown that can be incorporated into a wireless communication device 300 (which can correspond to...) Figure 1 The initiating or responding device exemplified herein, and / or if the processing device is included in one of the responding devices, then corresponding to Figure 1Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the processing device. Furthermore, Figure 3B Example architectures of a processing device 360 ​​according to various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated. In some aspects, if the processing device is coupled to a responder device but arranged outside the responder device, the processing device 360 ​​may correspond to... Figure 1 The processing equipment in the middle.

[0051] It should be understood that Figure 3A and Figure 3B The various components depicted can be implemented in different specific ways in different types of devices (e.g., in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in system-on-a-chip (SoCs), 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. Furthermore, a given device may contain 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.

[0052] like Figure 3A As shown, the wireless communication device 300 includes, in at least some cases, one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310, which provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). One or more WWAN transceivers 310 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 to communicate with other network nodes (such as other wireless communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE), access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB)) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) through a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., certain time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The one or more WWAN transceivers 310 may be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals 318 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a designated RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the one or more WWAN transceivers 310 include one or more transmitters 314 for transmitting and encoding signals 318, and one or more receivers 312 for receiving and decoding signals 318.

[0053] The wireless communication device 300 also includes one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320. The one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and provide access via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE-D, Bluetooth) through a wireless communication medium of interest. ® ZIGBEE ® Z-WAVE ® The short-range wireless transceiver 320 includes components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, and components for suppressing transmission) that communicate with other network nodes (such as other wireless communication devices, access points, base stations, etc.) using technologies like PC5, DSRC, WAVE, NFC, and UWB. One or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 can be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 include one or more transmitters 324 for transmitting and encoding signals 328, and one or more receivers 322 for receiving and decoding signals 328. As a specific example, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, etc. ® Transceiver, Zigbee ® and / or Z-WAVE ® Transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0054] In at least some cases, the wireless communication device 300 also includes a satellite signal interface 330, which includes one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334. The one or more satellite signal receivers 332 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and may provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338. Where one or more satellite signal receivers 332 include a satellite positioning system receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signal 338 may be a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signal, a Galileo signal, a BeiDou signal, a NAVIC Regional Navigation Satellite System, a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where one or more satellite signal receivers 332 include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signal 338 may be a communication signal originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control data and / or user data). The one or more satellite signal receivers 332 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the satellite positioning / communication signal 338. One or more satellite signal receivers 332 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases, use measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to perform calculations to determine the location of the wireless communication device 300.

[0055] An optional satellite signal transmitter 334 (if present) may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and may provide components for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338. If one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 include an NTN transmitter, the satellite positioning / communication signal 338 may be a communication signal originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control data and / or user data). One or more satellite signal transmitters 334 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting the satellite positioning / communication signal 338. One or more satellite signal transmitters 334 may request information and operation from other systems as appropriate.

[0056] like Figure 3B As shown, the processing device 360 ​​may include one or more network transceivers 390 that provide components for communicating with responder devices coupled thereto (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, etc.).

[0057] transceiver (e.g., Figure 3A and Figure 3BAny transceiver in the transceiver(s) can be configured to communicate via a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322). In some embodiments, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., transmitter and receiver circuitry implemented in a single device), in some embodiments it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other embodiments it may be implemented in a different manner. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such as an antenna array, which allows a corresponding device (e.g., wireless communication device 300) to perform transmit “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such as an antenna array, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., wireless communication device 300) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, transmitter and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326), such that the corresponding device may perform only reception or only transmission at a given time, rather than both reception and transmission at the same time. Wireless transceivers (e.g., one or more WWAN transceivers 310, or one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320) may also include network eavesdropping modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0058] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320) and wired transceivers can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Therefore, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will typically involve signaling transmission via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., wireless communication device 300) and a base station will typically involve signaling transmission via a wireless transceiver.

[0059] The wireless communication device 300 and the processing device 360 ​​also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operation disclosed herein. The wireless communication device 300 and the processing device 360 ​​may include one or more processors 342 and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wired or wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, the one or more processors 342 and 394 may provide components for processing, such as components for determining, components for calculating, components for receiving, components for transmitting, components for indicating, etc. In one aspect, the one or more processors 342 and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0060] Wireless communication device 300 and processing device 360 ​​may include memory circuitry implementing memories 340 and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Therefore, memories 340 and 396 may provide components for storage, retrieval, maintenance, etc. In some cases, wireless communication device 300 and processing device 360 ​​may include ultra-wideband component 348 or 398. Ultra-wideband component 348 or 398 may be hardware circuitry as part of or coupled to one or more processors 342 or 394, which, when executed, causes wireless communication device 300 or processing device 360 ​​to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, ultra-wideband component 348 may be external to processor 342 or 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the ultra-wideband component 348 or 398 may be a memory module stored in memory 340 or memory 396, which, when executed by one or more processors 342 or 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enables the wireless communication device 300 or processing device 360 ​​to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A and Figure 3B Possible locations of ultra-wideband components 348 or 398 are illustrated. The ultra-wideband component may be part of, for example, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more network transceivers 390, memory 340, memory 396, one or more processors 342, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0061] The wireless communication device 300 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 342 to provide components for sensing or detecting motion 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 interfaces 330. By way of example, the sensor 344 may include one or more accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate positioning in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems. It should be noted that at least accelerometers and gyroscopes may be referred to as “inertial” sensors.

[0062] Various components of the wireless communication device 300 can be communicatively coupled to each other via the data bus 308. In one aspect, the data bus 308 can form a communication interface for the wireless communication device 300 or be part of it. Furthermore, various components of the processing device 360 ​​can be communicatively coupled to each other via the data bus 392. In one aspect, the data bus 392 can form a communication interface for the processing device 360 ​​or be part of it.

[0063] In addition, the wireless communication device 300 includes a user interface 346 that provides components for providing instructions to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device (such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.)).

[0064] For convenience, the wireless communication device 300 and the processing device 360 ​​are... Figure 3A and Figure 3B The text is shown to include 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 functionalities in different designs. In particular, Figure 3A and Figure 3B Various components may be optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choices, cost, device usage, or other considerations. For example, a particular implementation of the wireless communication device 300 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth). ®(The satellite signal interface 330 can be omitted, or the sensor 344 can be omitted, etc.) For the sake of brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0065] Figure 3A and Figure 3B The components can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A and Figure 3B The components 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). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide that functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the wireless communication device 300 or the processing device 360 ​​(e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the wireless communication device," "by the initiating device," "by the responding device," and / or "by the processing device." However, as will be understood, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the wireless communication device 300 or the processing device 360, such as one or more processors 342, one or more transceivers 310 and 320, memory 340, ultra-wideband component 348, one or more processors 394, one or more transceivers 390, memory 396, ultra-wideband component 398, etc.

[0066] In some aspects, UWB uses Time-of-Flight (ToF) to determine the distance between two or more Enhanced Ranging Devices (ERDEVs). ToF is the propagation time of a radio frequency (RF) signal from a transmitter to a receiver. The distance between the transmitter and receiver can be calculated by multiplying the ToF by the speed of light. In cases where a target device performs a ranging process with multiple anchor devices (devices with known locations), the location of the target device can be determined based on the calculated distance between the target device and the anchor devices, as well as the known locations of the anchor devices. The location of the target device can be determined by a positioning entity, which can be the target device itself, one of the anchor devices, a processing device communicatively coupled to the target device and / or the anchor devices, or a location server.

[0067] Figure 4A and Figure 4BFigures 400A and 400B illustrate example ranging operations according to various aspects of this disclosure. The following terms are used for ERDEV: Controlling party: An ERDEV that controls ranging and defines ranging parameters by transmitting a Ranging Control Message (RCM). Controlled party: An ERDEV that utilizes the ranging parameters received from the controlling party in the RCM. Initiator (or initiating device): An ERDEV that initiates a ranging exchange by transmitting the first message of the exchange, namely a Ranging Initiation Message (RIM), after the RCM. Responder (or responding device): An ERDEV that responds to the Ranging Initiation Message received from the initiator using a Ranging Response Message (RRM).

[0068] In some respects, the controlling party can be configured as the initiator, and the controlled party can be configured as the responder, such as... Figure 4A As shown. In some aspects, the controlling party can be configured as the responder, and the controlled party can be configured as the initiator, such as... Figure 4B As shown. In some respects, Figure 4A and Figure 4B The initiator in the middle can correspond to Figure 1 The initiating device described in the text, and Figure 4A and Figure 4B The responder in the middle can correspond to Figure 1 The responder device described in the text.

[0069] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating a two-way ranging (DS-TWR) process 500 according to various aspects of this disclosure. The DS-TWR process 500 is performed between a first ERDEV (denoted as "ERDEV I") acting as the initiating device and a second ERDEV (denoted as "ERDEV R") acting as the responding device. In the DS-TWR process 500, multiple exchanges are performed between the two ERDEVs to mitigate the effects of clock skew.

[0070] In some respects, the first ERDEV can send a message (e.g., a ranging initiation message, or RIM) 510, which may include a ranging flag 512. The first ERDEV may timestamp the ranging flag 512 when it is sent. The second ERDEV can receive the message 510 and timestamp the ranging flag 512 when it is received. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) between the two ERDEVs (labeled "T_prop") can correspond to the time difference between the (sent) timestamp of the ranging flag 512 at the first ERDEV and the (received) timestamp of the ranging flag 512 at the second ERDEV.

[0071] In some aspects, the second ERDEV can send a message (e.g., a ranging response message, i.e., RRM) 520, which may include a ranging flag 522. The second ERDEV may timestamp the ranging flag 522 when it is sent. The first ERDEV can receive message 520 and timestamp the ranging flag 522 when it is received. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) between the two ERDEVs (denoted as "T_prop") may correspond to the time difference between the (sent) timestamp of the ranging flag 522 at the second ERDEV and the (received) timestamp of the ranging flag 522 at the first ERDEV. The first ERDEV may also obtain the round-trip time (denoted as "T_rnd_I") between the ranging flag 512 and the ranging flag 522 at the first ERDEV. In addition, message 520 may include information corresponding to the time between the ranging flag 512 and the ranging flag 522 at the second ERDEV (denoted as "T_rep_R").

[0072] In some aspects, the first ERDEV can also send a message (e.g., a ranging final message, i.e., RFM) 530, which may include a ranging flag 532. The first ERDEV may timestamp the ranging flag 532 when it is sent. The second ERDEV can receive message 530 and timestamp the ranging flag 532 when it is received. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) between the two ERDEVs (denoted as "T_prop") may correspond to the time difference between the (sent) timestamp of the ranging flag 532 at the first ERDEV and the (received) timestamp of the ranging flag 532 at the second ERDEV. The second ERDEV may also obtain the round-trip time (denoted as "T_rnd_R") between the ranging flag 522 and the ranging flag 532 at the second ERDEV. In addition, message 530 may include information (denoted as "T_rep_I") corresponding to the time between the ranging flag 522 and the ranging flag 532 at the first ERDEV.

[0073] In some respects, these three messages 510, 520, and 530 help correct for clock skew errors between the transmitter and receiver (because the ERDEV clocks may be out of sync). In some respects, the Time-of-Flight (ToF) (T_prop) between two ERDEVs can be calculated as T_prop = (T_rnd_I × T_rnd_R – T_rep_R × T_rep_I) / (T_rnd_I + T_rnd_R + T_rep_R + T_rep_I). It should be noted that any one or both of the illustrated ERDEVs can perform additional ranging procedures together with other ERDEVs.

[0074] In some respects, considering the clock drift of the ERDEV, the calculated ToF (T_prop) and the true ToF (T_prop') can be determined based on the expression T_prop = T_prop' + (e_I – e_R) × (T_rep_R – T_rep_I) / 4, where e_I represents the clock drift of the first ERDEV and e_R represents the clock drift of the second ERDEV. In some respects, when the DS-TWR process 500 is configured symmetrically, the term (T_rep_R – T_rep_I) can be considered zero, and T_prop' and T_prop can be considered the same.

[0075] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating a single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) process 600 according to various aspects of this disclosure. The SS-TWR process 600 is performed between a first ERDEV (labeled "ERDEV A") and a second ERDEV (labeled "ERDEV B").

[0076] In some respects, the first ERDEV can send message 610, which may include a ranging flag 612. The first ERDEV can timestamp the ranging flag 612 when it is sent. The second ERDEV can receive message 610 and timestamp the ranging flag 612 when it is received. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) between the two ERDEVs (denoted as "T_prop") can correspond to the time difference between the (sent) timestamp of the ranging flag 612 at the first ERDEV and the (received) timestamp of the ranging flag 612 at the second ERDEV.

[0077] In some aspects, the second ERDEV can send message 620, which may include ranging flag 622. The second ERDEV may timestamp ranging flag 622 when it is sent. The first ERDEV can receive message 620 and timestamp ranging flag 622 when it is received. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) between the two ERDEVs (denoted as "T_prop") may correspond to the time difference between the (sent) timestamp of ranging flag 622 at the second ERDEV and the (received) timestamp of ranging flag 622 at the first ERDEV. The first ERDEV may also obtain the round-trip time (denoted as "T_rnd") between ranging flag 612 and ranging flag 622 at the first ERDEV. In addition, message 620 may include information (denoted as "T_rep") corresponding to the time between ranging flag 612 and ranging flag 622 at the second ERDEV.

[0078] In some respects, the Time-of-Flight (ToF) between two ERDEVs can be calculated as T_prop = 1 / 2(T_rnd - T_rep). It should be noted that any one or both of the illustrated ERDEVs can perform additional ranging procedures together with other ERDEVs.

[0079] In some aspects, SS-TWR process 600 can be configured as part of DS-TWR process 500 or as a backup thereof. In some aspects, when the first ERDEV is configured as the initiating device and the second ERDEV is configured as the responding device, message 610 can be RIM, and message 620 can be RRM. In some aspects, when the first ERDEV is configured as the responding device and the second ERDEV is configured as the initiating device, message 610 can be RRM, and message 620 can be RFM.

[0080] In some respects, taking into account the clock drift of the ERDEV, the calculated ToF (T_prop) and the true ToF (T_prop') can be determined based on the expression T_prop = T_prop' + (e_A – e_B) × T_rep / 2, where e_A represents the clock drift of the first ERDEV and e_B represents the clock drift of the second ERDEV.

[0081] In some respects, for time-scheduled ranging or contention-free ranging in UWB, continuous ranging blocks can be used to perform the UWB-based positioning process. Figure 7 This is a diagram 700 illustrating an example ranging block structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. In some aspects, each block may have a duration of 200 ms. Figure 7 As shown, each ranging block consists of ranging rounds, and these ranging rounds have several ranging time slots. In some respects, the number of rounds within a block and / or the number of time slots within a round can be configured by the UWB controller.

[0082] In some aspects, a single ranging round can be selected for the positioning process within the ranging block. In some aspects, the selected round index can be statically configured by the controller or selected based on the hopping pattern. In some aspects, the time slot duration can range from 1 ms to 2.66 ms. In some aspects, the actual ranging message can occupy only a portion of the time slot (e.g., a packet of approximately 150 μs), and the remaining portion of the time slot can be reserved for handling latency.

[0083] In some aspects, each round consists of a single time slot for the control phase, followed by one or more time slots for the ranging phase, and one or more time slots for the measurement reporting phase. In some aspects, during the first time slot 712 of a selected round (e.g., round #1), the controller may base its actions on an ultra-wideband RAT (e.g., UWB) and / or a non-ultra-wideband RAT (e.g., WiFi or Bluetooth). ® The controller sends an RCM to the initiating device and one or more responding devices for the location process. In some aspects, the controller may be the initiating device or one of the one or more responding devices, and the controller may not need to send an RCM to itself.

[0084] In some aspects, during the ranging phase (e.g., during the first time slot 714 of the ranging phase), the initiating device may send a RIM to the one or more responding devices. Subsequently, the one or more responding devices may send a corresponding one or more RRMs in a time slot scheduled based on the RCM (e.g., time slot 715). Then, the initiating device may send an RFM to the one or more responding devices in a time slot scheduled based on the RCM (e.g., time slot 716) after the time slot used for the RRM. Finally, in some aspects, the initiating device and the one or more responding devices may use a time slot scheduled based on the RCM (e.g., time slot 718) during the measurement reporting phase to send and / or receive one or more measurement report messages (MRMs).

[0085] In some aspects, frames used for communication based on non-ultra-wideband RAT may have a duration comparable to the duration of a ranging round (e.g., 10 ms). In some aspects, subframes used for communication based on non-ultra-wideband RAT may have a duration comparable to the duration of a ranging time slot (e.g., 1 ms). In some aspects, conflicts between signals from a non-ultra-wideband RAT-based communication system and messages in a ranging time slot of an ultra-wideband RAT-based system may recur in subsequent ranging rounds or blocks.

[0086] Figure 8 Figure 800 illustrates an example ranging round for performing a positioning process (e.g., a DS-TWR process) according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 8In the diagram, time is represented horizontally. The boxes marked "Tx" indicate that a message can be sent, and the boxes marked "Rx" indicate that a message sent within the same time slot can be received. As shown in Figure 800, a ranging phase may include a control phase 810, a ranging phase 820, and a measurement reporting phase 840. In this non-limiting example, the control phase 810 may include time slot 812; the ranging phase 820 may include time slots 822, 831, 833, 835, 837, 839, and 824; and the measurement reporting phase 840 may include time slot 842.

[0087] In this example, a location process can be performed to determine the location of the initiating device relative to five (5) responding devices. For illustrative purposes, the initiating device is configured as the controller of the location process, and the responding devices are configured as the controlled parties of the location process. In some aspects, this configuration may correspond to a user equipment (e.g., a UE) configured as the initiating device and five responding devices mounted on a vehicle for determining whether the user equipment is adjacent to the vehicle.

[0088] In this example, the initiating device (as the controller) may send an RCM to the responding device in time slot 812. In some aspects, the RCM may include the scheduling of time slots for the round, including at least how the time slots for the ranging phase 820 and the measurement reporting phase 840 are arranged. The initiating device may send an RIM to the responding device in time slot 822, as scheduled based on the RCM. In some aspects, each responding device may be assigned to send an RRM during the corresponding time slot. Thus, the responding devices may send corresponding RRMs in time slots 831, 833, 835, 837, and 839, and the initiating device may receive corresponding RRMs in these time slots. Afterward, the initiating device may send an RFM in time slot 824. At the end of the ranging round, the initiating device may send its measurement results to the responding device in time slot 842. In some aspects, the responding devices may send their measurement results to the initiating device in time slot 842 or one or more other time slots in the measurement reporting phase 840.

[0089] In some respects, due to interference from other communication systems, one or more of the messages (e.g., RIM, RRM, and / or RFM) may not be successfully received by the receiving entity (or are referred to as the message being “discarded”). In some respects, for a given responder device, if any of the RIM, RRM, or RFM used in the DS-TWR process is discarded, the affected responder may not have sufficient information to participate in the DS-TWR positioning process.

[0090] In some aspects, considering the presence of interference, the responder devices used in the DS-TWR process may include a subset of responder devices affected by interference (e.g., at least one of RIM, RRM, and / or RFM required for the DS-TWR process associated with a discarded responder device) and another subset of responder devices corresponding to the remaining responder devices unaffected by interference. In some aspects, if a responder device does not receive RIM or RFM, the Time of Flight (ToF) between the initiating device and such a responder device may not be estimated based on the DS-TWR process, but may still be estimated based on the SS-TWR process, albeit with reduced accuracy. In some aspects, if the initiating device does not receive RRM from a responder device, the ToF between the initiating device and such a responder device may be based at most on a one-way ranging process, which is less accurate than a two-way ranging process.

[0091] In some aspects, during operation, the initiating device may send a RIM to multiple responding devices based on a first RAT (e.g., in time slot 822) according to a first message transmission schedule for the current ranging round. The initiating device may receive one or more RRMs from a subset of responding devices based on the first RAT according to the first message transmission schedule, wherein the one or more RRMs confirm receipt of the RIM. The one or more RRMs may be received during the corresponding time slots (e.g., time slots 831, 833, 835, 837, and 839) assigned to the respective responding devices according to the first message transmission schedule. In some aspects, failure to receive an RRM may be caused by interference (i.e., the RRM is discarded). In some aspects, the initiating device may receive an RRM indicating that the corresponding responding device failed to receive the RIM (i.e., the RIM was discarded).

[0092] In some aspects, the initiating device may send an RFM to the plurality of responding devices based on a first message sending and receiving schedule and a first RAT (e.g., in time slot 824). In some aspects, the initiating device may also send a first measurement report message to the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT based on a first message sending and receiving schedule (e.g., in time slot 842). In some aspects, the initiating device may receive a second measurement report message from the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT based on a first message sending and receiving schedule (e.g., in time slot 842). In some aspects, the first RAT may correspond to an ultra-wideband RAT based on a first channel bandwidth (e.g., UWB), and the second RAT may correspond to a short-range RAT based on a second channel bandwidth (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth). ® (or NFC), the second channel bandwidth is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0093] In some respects, during the ranging phase of the ranging round (e.g., Figure 8Following message exchange within the ranging phase 820 (as depicted), the plurality of responders participating in the ranging phase can be classified into at least a first subset R1 and a second subset R2 of the responder devices. The first subset is unavailable for the DS-TWR process due to interference but still usable for the SS-TWR process (e.g., assuming the RRM is successfully received by the initiating device and one of the RIM or RFM associated with the corresponding responder device is discarded). The second subset is usable for the DS-TWR process (e.g., all RIMs, RRMs, and RFMs required for the DS-TWR process associated with the corresponding responder device are successfully received). In some aspects, utilizing additional information obtained based on the second subset R2 of the responder devices, the first subset R1 of the responder devices can still participate in the SS-TWR process with improved accuracy.

[0094] In some aspects, the initiating device may determine the target relative clock offset between the initiating device and the target responding device in the first subset R1 of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in the second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the initiating device may determine the Time of Flight (ToF) between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset.

[0095] For example, such as Figure 6 As illustrated, the true Time of Flight (T_prop') between the initiating device and the target responding device can be determined based on the equation T_prop = T_prop' + (e_I – e_Ra) × T_rep / 2, which is the measured Time of Flight (T_prop). Here, e_I represents the clock drift of the initiating device (e.g., the initiating clock offset), and e_Ra represents the clock drift of the target responding device (e.g., the clock offset associated with the target responding device). In some respects, the clock drift of the initiating device (e_I, the initiating clock offset) may be known to the initiating device, but the clock drift of the target responding device (e_Ra, the clock offset associated with the target responding device) determined based on the SS-TWR process may be less accurate than the clock drift determined based on the DS-TWR process. In some aspects, assuming the clock drift of the reference responder device in the second subset R2 (e_Rb, the reference clock offset associated with the reference responder device) can be determined, the estimated clock offset associated with the target responder device (e.g., denoted as e_Ra') can be used instead of the target responder device's clock drift (e_Ra). In some aspects, (e_I – e_Ra') can be used instead of (e_I – e_Ra) as the target relative clock offset. In some aspects, such as reference Figure 6As illustrated, the measured ToF (T_prop) can be determined based on: (i) the first reception time of the RIM received by the target responder device, or the second reception time of the RFM received by the target responder device, and (ii) the third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiator device from the target responder device.

[0096] In some aspects, the initiating device may obtain an estimated clock offset (e_Ra') based on a measurement report message received from one of the one or more reference responder devices based on a second RAT. In some aspects, the measurement report message may indicate an inter-responder clock offset (e.g., denoted as e_ab) between the target responder device and that one of the one or more reference responder devices. The initiating device may determine a reference clock offset (e.g., denoted as e_Rb) associated with that one of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the initiating device may determine the estimated clock offset (e_Ra') based on the inter-responder clock offset (e_ab) and the reference clock offset (e_Rb). In some aspects, the estimated clock offset (e_Ra') may be determined based on the equation e_Ra' = e_ab – e_Rb.

[0097] In some aspects, the inter-responder clock skew (e_ab) can be determined based on the RRM from the target responder device to the initiating device, but is also heard by the reference responder device among the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the inter-responder clock skew (e_ab) can be determined by the reference responder device among the one or more reference responder devices or by a processing device coupled to the reference responder device among the one or more reference responder devices.

[0098] In some aspects, each of the plurality of responder devices and / or processing devices can periodically or on demand determine the inter-responder clock offsets between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on the RRMs from the plurality of responder devices. In some aspects, the inter-responder clock offsets can be determined during a calibration phase for calibrating timing and synchronization between the plurality of responder devices, during which responder devices can be scheduled to wake up to listen for RRMs from other responder devices. In some aspects, since the distance between the responder devices can be known to the responder devices and / or processing devices based on the design locations used to arrange the responder devices, the inter-responder clock offsets between the responder devices can be determined based on listening to the RRMs from the responder devices.

[0099] In some aspects, the initiating device can determine the set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices capable of performing the DS-TWR process. In some aspects, since the responding devices (including the first subset R1 and the second subset R2) may have the same brand, model, and similar factory batch in some applications, the statistical results of the relative clock offsets of the second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices can still provide a good estimate of the first subset R1 of the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the initiating device can determine the estimated set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and the first subset R1 of the plurality of responding devices based on the set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and the second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices.

[0100] For example, such as Figure 5 As illustrated, the Time-of-Flight (ToF) (T_prop) between the initiating device and the reference responding device in the second subset R2 can be calculated based on the DS-TWR process as T_prop = (T_rnd_I × T_rnd_R – T_rep_R × T_rep_I) / (T_rnd_I + T_rnd_R + T_rep_R + T_rep_I). Based on the calculated T_prop associated with the reference responding device, the relative clock offset (e_I – e_R) between the reference responding device and the initiating device can be determined. Having determined all the relative clock offsets among the second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices, the initiating device can determine the average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets (of the second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices). In some aspects, the initiating device can determine a target relative clock offset (e.g., (e_I – e_Ra')) based on the average clock offset. In some aspects, the average clock offset can be used as the target relative clock offset for any responding device in the first subset R1 of the plurality of responding devices.

[0101] In some aspects, the initiating device may receive an indicator from the plurality of responding devices indicating whether the responding devices are capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset. According to some aspects of the first scenario, the initiating device may receive an indication from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on a second RAT before sending the RIM, and this indication may indicate that the one of the one or more reference responding devices is capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset. According to the first scenario, the initiating device may obtain an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the one of the one or more reference responding devices, and then determine the target relative clock offset accordingly. According to some aspects of the second scenario, the initiating device may receive multiple indications from the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT before sending the ranging initiation message, and these multiple indications may indicate that none of the plurality of responding devices are capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any one of the one or more reference responding devices. According to the second scenario, the initiating device can determine the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset of the second subset R2 of the multiple responding devices.

[0102] In some aspects, the first RAT may correspond to an ultra-wideband radio access technology (e.g., UWB) based on a first channel bandwidth. In some aspects, the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology (e.g., WiFi or Bluetooth) based on a second channel bandwidth. ® The bandwidth of the second channel is one-third or less of the bandwidth of the first channel.

[0103] In some aspects, the processing device coupled to the responder device can be configured to determine the Time of Flight (ToF) between the initiating device and the target responder device. In some aspects, the processing device coupled to the responder device can be external to the responder device or embedded in one of the responder devices.

[0104] In some aspects, the processing device can obtain a first reception time of the RIM received by the target responder device from the initiating device and within a first subset R1 of a plurality of responder devices, or a second reception time of the RFM received by the target responder device from the initiating device. The processing device can obtain an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder device based on one or more reference responder devices in the second subset R2 of the plurality of responder devices, and then determine the target relative clock offset accordingly. The processing device can determine the Time of Flight (ToF) between the initiating device and the target responder device based on the target relative clock offset, a third reception time, and either the first or second reception time.

[0105] In some aspects, the processing device may receive a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, wherein the measurement report message may indicate an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and that one of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the processing device may receive a second measurement report message from the initiating device, wherein the second measurement report may indicate a reference clock offset associated with that one of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the processing device may determine the estimated clock offset based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset in a manner similar to how the initiating device can determine the estimated clock offset as illustrated above.

[0106] In some aspects, the inter-responder clock offset can be determined based on the RRM from the target responder device, and can also be determined by one of the one or more reference responder devices or by the processing device. In some aspects, the processing device can periodically or on demand determine the inter-responder clock offset between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0107] In some aspects, the processing device may receive a third measurement report message from the initiating device, wherein the third measurement report may indicate a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the processing device may determine an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets, and may determine a target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset in a manner similar to how the initiating device may determine a target relative clock offset as illustrated above.

[0108] In some aspects, the processing device may receive an indicator from the plurality of responding devices indicating whether the responding devices are capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset. According to some aspects of the first scenario, the processing device may receive an indication from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on a second RAT before sending the RIM, and this indication may indicate that the one of the one or more reference responding devices is capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset. According to the first scenario, the processing device may obtain an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the one of the one or more reference responding devices. According to some aspects of the second scenario, the processing device may receive multiple indications from the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT before sending the ranging initiation message, and these multiple indications may indicate that none of the plurality of responding devices are capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any one of the one or more reference responding devices. According to the second scenario, the processing device may determine a target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the average clock offset of a second subset R2 of the plurality of responding devices.

[0109] In some aspects, the first RAT may correspond to an ultra-wideband radio access technology (e.g., UWB) based on a first channel bandwidth. In some aspects, the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology (e.g., WiFi or Bluetooth) based on a second channel bandwidth. ® The bandwidth of the second channel is one-third or less of the bandwidth of the first channel.

[0110] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating the message flow for performing the positioning process 900 according to various aspects of this disclosure. For example... Figure 9 As shown, the initiating device 902 can be configured as the controlling party, and the responding device 906 can be configured as the controlled party. In some aspects, the operations depicted as being performed by the responding device 906 can actually correspond to operations performed by the responding device, by a processing device embedded in one of the responding devices, and / or by a processing device coupled to the responding device but external to the responding device.

[0111] In this process 900, prior to the current ranging round, the initiating device 902 (as the controller) and the responding device 906 (as the controlled) may exchange capability information during the session configuration phase 910. This capability information indicates whether each of the responding devices 906 is able to indicate one or more inter-responder clock offsets between the corresponding responding device and one or more other responding devices.

[0112] During the current ranging round, the initiating device 902 can be in phase 920 (which may correspond to...) Figure 8 In time slot 812, the initiating device 902 sends an RCM to the responding device 906. In some aspects, the RCM can instruct message delivery scheduling, which indicates how time slots during the ranging phase are assigned to the initiating device 902 and the responding device 906. Next, the initiating device 902 can send a RIM, and the responding device 906 can send a corresponding RRM. Then, the initiating device 902 can send, during the ranging phase 820 of phase 930, as shown in the original text. Figure 8 The illustrated RFM. Afterwards, the initiating device 902 and the responding device 906 can exchange information such as... during the measurement reporting phase 840 of phase 940. Figure 8 The illustrated MRM.

[0113] In some aspects, at stage 950, the initiating device 902 can determine the target relative clock offset of the target responding device that is unable to perform the DS-TWR process. In some aspects, if the target responding device is able to transmit the inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the reference responding device as indicated in stage 910, the initiating device 902 can determine the estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the reference responding device and the reference clock offset associated with the reference responding device, and then accordingly determine the target relative clock offset, such as the reference clock offset. Figure 8 The discussion focuses on the following: In some aspects, if the target responder device is unable to transmit the inter-responder clock offset as indicated in stage 910, the initiating device 902 may determine the target relative clock offset associated with the target responder device based on the average relative clock offset of a subset of responder devices capable of performing the DS-TWR process, as referenced in [reference]. Figure 8 The subject of discussion.

[0114] In some aspects, in stage 960, which is an additional or alternative stage to stage 950, a processing device embedded in one of the responder devices 906 and / or a processing device coupled to but outside the responder device 906 can determine the target relative clock offset of the target responder device. In some aspects, the processing device can periodically or on demand determine the inter-responder clock offset between various pairs of responder devices 906 based on ranging response messages from the responder device 906, as referenced. Figure 8 The discussion focuses on the following aspects. In some areas, the processing device can determine the estimated clock offset of the target responder device based on the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the reference responder device, as well as the reference clock offset associated with the reference responder device, and then accordingly determine the target relative clock offset, such as the reference clock offset. Figure 8The discussion focuses on the following aspects. In some aspects, the processing device may obtain the required timestamp information from the initiating device 902 and / or the responding device 906 at stage 940. In some aspects, the processing device may determine the target relative clock offset of the target responding device based on the average relative clock offset of a subset of responding devices capable of performing the DS-TWR process, as referenced. Figure 8 The subject of discussion.

[0115] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 for operating an initiating device according to various aspects of this disclosure. In some aspects, the initiating device in method 1000 may correspond to... Figure 8 and Figure 9 The initiating device described herein. In some respects, the initiating device can be... Figure 3A The wireless communication device 300 described herein; and the method 1000 may be executed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing one or more of the following operations of the method 1000.

[0116] At operation 1010, the initiating device can send ranging initiation messages to multiple responding devices based on the first RAT (e.g., Figure 8 RIM and / or in time slot 822 Figure 9 (RIM at stage 930 in the middle). In some aspects, operation 1010 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1010.

[0117] At operation 1020, the initiating device can send a final ranging message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT (e.g., Figure 8 RFM and / or in time slot 824 Figure 9 In phase 930 of the RFM). In some aspects, the initiating device can receive multiple ranging response messages from the multiple responding devices based on the first RAT (e.g., Figure 8 The RRM subset and / or in time slots 831-839 Figure 9(The RRM subset successfully received by the initiating device during phase 930). In some aspects, operation 1020 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1020.

[0118] At operation 1030, the initiating device may determine the target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the first subset of the plurality of responding devices may have successfully received a ranging initiation message or a ranging termination message. In some aspects, the second subset of the plurality of responding devices may have successfully received both a ranging initiation message and a ranging termination message. In some aspects, operation 1030 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered components for performing operation 1030.

[0119] In some aspects, the initiating device may determine a target relative clock offset based on a measurement report message received from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on a second RAT, wherein the measurement report message may indicate an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and that one of the one or more reference responding devices. In some aspects, the initiating device may further determine the target relative clock offset based on: determining a reference clock offset associated with that one of the one or more reference responding devices; determining an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determining the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device. In some aspects, the target relative clock offset may be based on a reference... Figure 8 and Figure 9 The example shown is used to determine this.

[0120] In some aspects, the inter-responder clock offset can be determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device, and can be determined by the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the initiating device can determine the target relative clock offset based on an indication received from the one or more reference responder devices based on a second RAT before sending the ranging initiation message, and the indication can indicate that the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0121] In some aspects, the initiating device may determine the target relative clock offset based on determining a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, determining an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets, and determining a target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset. In some aspects, the initiating device may further determine the target relative clock offset based on receiving multiple indications from the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT before sending a ranging initiation message, wherein the multiple indications may indicate that none of the plurality of responding devices can provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any of the one or more reference responding devices.

[0122] In some respects, the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on a first channel bandwidth. In other respects, the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, which is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0123] At operation 1040, the initiating device may determine the time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset. In some aspects, the one or more time-of-flight measurements may include (i) a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received by the target responding device, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received by the target responding device; and (ii) a third reception time of a corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device. In some aspects, operation 1040 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered components for performing operation 1040.

[0124] In some aspects, operation 1030 may be performed in response to the presence of one or more responding devices that qualify as a first subset of the plurality of responding devices due to, for example, interference (e.g., successful reception of a ranging initiation message or a ranging final message). In some aspects, when operation 1030 is omitted due to the reception of a ranging initiation message and the ranging final message is unaffected by interference (i.e., a first subset of the plurality of responding devices does not exist), operation 1040 may be performed based on the one or more time-of-flight measurements without regard to the target relative clock offset.

[0125] As will be understood, the technical advantage of method 1000 is that it determines the target relative clock offset of a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability based on additional information from one or more reference responder devices that have DS-TWR capability, so as to allow the target responder device-based positioning process to still be performed with improved accuracy. Therefore, measurements associated with a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability can still be used to determine the location of the initiating device with sufficient accuracy.

[0126] Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating a method 1100 for operating a processing device according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some aspects, the processing device in method 1100 may correspond to a processing device embedded in a responder device or a processing device coupled to multiple responder devices, such as... Figure 8 and Figure 9 As described in [the document / reference], in some aspects, the processing device can be embedded in the responder device, which can be [the responder device / reference]. Figure 3A The wireless communication device 300 described herein; and method 1100 may be executed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing one or more of the following operations of method 1100. In some aspects, the processing device may be Figure 3B The processing device 360 ​​described herein; and the method 1100 may be executed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396 and / or ultra-wideband components 398, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing one or more of the following operations of the method 1100.

[0127] At operation 1110, the processing device can obtain a ranging initiation message (e.g., from the initiating device and received by the target responder device in a first subset of multiple responder devices) from the initiating device. Figure 8 RIM and / or in time slot 822 Figure 9The first reception time of the RIM at stage 930 in the middle, or the final ranging message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device (e.g., Figure 8 RFM and / or in time slot 824 Figure 9 The second reception time of the RFM (Rate-Mobile Function) at stage 930 in the middle. In some aspects, operation 1110 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1110. In some aspects, operation 1110 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396 and / or ultra-wideband components 398, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1110.

[0128] At operation 1120, the processing device can obtain the ranging response message from the target responder device and received by the initiating device (e.g., Figure 8 One of the RRMs and / or in time slots 831-839 Figure 9 The third reception time (a subset of the RRM at stage 930 in the middle). In some aspects, operation 1120 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340 and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1120. In some aspects, operation 1120 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396 and / or ultra-wideband components 398, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1120.

[0129] At operation 1130, the processing device may determine the target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responder devices in a second subset of the plurality of responder devices. In some aspects, the first subset of the plurality of responder devices may have successfully received a ranging initiation message or a ranging termination message. In some aspects, operation 1130 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any or all of which may be considered components for performing operation 1130. In some aspects, operation 1130 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or ultra-wideband components 398, any or all of which may be considered components for performing operation 1130.

[0130] In some aspects, the processing device may determine the target relative clock offset based on receiving a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, and receiving a second measurement report message from the initiating device or the one of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the first measurement report message may indicate an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the second measurement report message may indicate a reference clock offset associated with the one or more of the one or more reference responder devices. In some aspects, the processing device may further determine the target relative clock offset based on an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset, and may determine the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0131] In some aspects, the inter-responder clock offset can be determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device, and can be determined by the one or more reference responder devices or by a processing device. In some aspects, the processing device can receive an indication from the one or more reference responder devices that is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0132] In some respects, the processing device can periodically or on demand determine the inter-responder clock offset between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0133] In some aspects, the processing device may determine the target relative clock offset based on receiving a third measurement report message from the initiating device, wherein the third measurement report may indicate a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the processing device may further determine the target relative clock offset based on an average clock offset determined from the set of relative clock offsets and a target relative clock offset determined based on the average clock offset. In some aspects, the processing device may receive multiple indications from the plurality of responding devices. In some aspects, the multiple indications may indicate that none of the plurality of responding devices can provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any of the one or more reference responding devices.

[0134] At operation 1140, the initiating device may determine the flight time between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, a third reception time, and one of the first reception time or the second reception time. In some aspects, the flight time between the initiating device and the target responding device may be further determined based on: (i) the first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responding device, or the second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responding device; and (ii) the third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device.

[0135] In some aspects, operation 1140 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or ultra-wideband components 348, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1140. In some aspects, operation 1140 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or ultra-wideband components 398, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing operation 1140.

[0136] As will be understood, the technical advantage of method 1100 is that it determines the target relative clock offset of a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability based on additional information from one or more reference responder devices that have DS-TWR capability, so as to allow the target responder device-based positioning process to still be performed with improved accuracy. Therefore, measurements associated with a target responder device that does not have DS-TWR capability can still be used to determine the location of the initiating device with sufficient accuracy.

[0137] As can be seen in the detailed description above, different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of this disclosure may include fewer features than those in the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be regarded accordingly as incorporated into the description, where each clause may serve as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect of that dependent clause is not limited to that specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of a dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or combinations of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless explicitly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended for use (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause does not directly depend on the independent clause.

[0138] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1. A method of operating an initiating device, the method comprising: sending a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technology (RAT); sending a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; determining a target relative clock offset between a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0139] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, the method further comprising: receiving a plurality of ranging response messages from the plurality of responding party devices based on the first RAT.

[0140] Clause 3. The method according to Clause 2, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements include: a first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responder device, or a second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responder device; and a third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiator device from the target responder device.

[0141] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein determining the target relative clock offset comprises: receiving a measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices based on a second RAT, the measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; determining a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responder devices; determining an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder device based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determining the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiator clock offset associated with the initiator device.

[0142] Clause 5. The method according to Clause 4, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0143] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 4 to 5, the method further comprising: receiving an indication from one of the one or more reference responder devices based on the second RAT prior to sending the ranging initiation message, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0144] Clause 7. The method according to any one of Clauses 4 to 6, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0145] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein determining the target relative clock offset comprises: determining a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determining an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determining the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0146] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 8, the method further comprising: receiving, prior to sending the ranging initiation message, a plurality of indications from the plurality of responder devices based on a second RAT, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices is able to provide the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0147] Clause 10. The method according to Clause 9, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0148] Clause 11. A method of operating a processing device, the method comprising: obtaining a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device in a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; obtaining a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device; determining a target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in the second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first reception time and the second reception time.

[0149] Clause 12. The method according to Clause 11, wherein determining the target relative time offset comprises: receiving a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the first measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; receiving a second measurement report message from the initiating device or the one of the one or more reference responder devices, the second measurement report indicating a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responder devices; determining an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determining the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0150] Clause 13. The method according to Clause 12, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or the processing device.

[0151] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 12 to 13, the method further comprising: receiving an indication from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0152] Clause 15. The method according to any one of Clauses 11 to 14, the method further comprising: periodically or on demand determining inter-responder clock offsets between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0153] Clause 16. The method according to Clause 11, wherein determining the target relative clock offset comprises: receiving a third measurement report message from the initiating device, the third measurement report indicating a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determining an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determining the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0154] Clause 17. The method according to Clause 16, the method further comprising: receiving from the plurality of responder devices a plurality of indications, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices is able to provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0155] Clause 18. The method according to any one of Clauses 11 to 17, wherein: the processing device is one of the plurality of responder devices; or the processing device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of responder devices.

[0156] Clause 19. An initiating device 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 being individually or in combination configured to: transmit a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on a first radio access technique (RAT); transmit a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on the first RAT; determine a target relative clock offset between a target responding device and the initiating device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, the first subset of the plurality of responding devices having successful reception of the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices having successful reception of both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0157] Clause 20. The initiating device as described in Clause 19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to receive a plurality of ranging response messages from the plurality of responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on the first RAT.

[0158] Clause 21. The initiating device according to Clause 20, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements include: a first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responding device, or a second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responding device; and a third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device.

[0159] Clause 22. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 19 to 21, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: receive a measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on a second RAT, the measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the one of the one or more reference responding devices; determine a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responding devices; determine an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0160] Clause 23. The initiating device according to Clause 22, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0161] Clause 24. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 22 to 23, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: receive an indication from one of the one or more reference responding devices via the one or more transceivers based on the second RAT before transmitting the ranging initiation message, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responding devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0162] Clause 25. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 22 to 24, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0163] Clause 26. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 19 to 21, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: determine a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determine an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0164] Clause 27. The initiating device according to Clause 26, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to receive, prior to sending the ranging initiation message, a plurality of indications via the one or more transceivers based on a second RAT, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responding devices is able to provide the inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any of the one or more reference responding devices.

[0165] Clause 28. The initiating device as described in Clause 27, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0166] Clause 29. A processing apparatus 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 being individually or in combination configured to: obtain a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device in a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; and obtain a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device. The target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device is determined based on one or more reference responder devices in a second subset of the plurality of responder devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and the flight time between the initiating device and the target responder device is determined based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responder device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first reception time and the second reception time.

[0167] Clause 30. The processing apparatus according to Clause 29, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: receive a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the first measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; receive a second measurement report message via the one or more transceivers from the initiator device or the one of the one or more reference responder devices, the second measurement report indicating a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responder devices; determine an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiator clock offset associated with the initiator device.

[0168] Clause 31. The processing apparatus according to Clause 30, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or by the processing apparatus.

[0169] Clause 32. The processing apparatus according to any one of Clauses 30 to 31, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, an indication from the one of the one or more reference responder devices, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0170] Clause 33. The processing apparatus according to any one of Clauses 29 to 32, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: periodically or on demand determine inter-responder clock offsets between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0171] Clause 34. The processing apparatus according to Clause 29, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: receive a third measurement report message from the initiating device via the one or more transceivers, the third measurement report indicating a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determine an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0172] Clause 35. The processing apparatus according to Clause 34, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a plurality of indications from the plurality of responder devices, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices is able to provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0173] Clause 36. The processing device according to any one of Clauses 29 to 35, wherein: the processing device is one of the plurality of responder devices; or the processing device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of responder devices.

[0174] Clause 37. An initiating device comprising: means for transmitting a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technology (RAT); means for transmitting a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; means for determining a target relative clock offset between the initiating device and a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successful reception of the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successful reception of both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and means for determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0175] Clause 38. The initiating device according to Clause 37, the initiating device further comprising: a component for receiving a plurality of ranging response messages from the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT.

[0176] Clause 39. The initiating device as described in Clause 38, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements include: a first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responding device, or a second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responding device; and a third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device.

[0177] Clause 40. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 37 to 39, wherein the components for determining the target relative clock offset include: components for receiving a measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on a second RAT, the measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the one of the one or more reference responding devices; components for determining a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responding devices; components for determining an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and components for determining the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0178] Clause 41. The initiating device according to Clause 40, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0179] Clause 42. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 40 to 41, the initiating device further comprising: a component for receiving an indication from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on the second RAT prior to sending the ranging initiation message, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responding devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0180] Clause 43. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 40 to 42, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0181] Clause 44. The initiating device according to any one of Clauses 37 to 39, wherein the component for determining the target relative clock offset comprises: a component for determining a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; a component for determining an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and a component for determining the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0182] Clause 45. The initiating device according to Clause 44, the initiating device further comprising: a component for receiving, prior to sending the ranging initiation message, a plurality of indications from the plurality of responding devices based on a second RAT, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responding devices is able to provide an inter-responding clock offset between the target responding device and any one of the one or more reference responding devices.

[0183] Clause 46. The initiating device as described in Clause 45, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0184] Clause 47. A processing apparatus comprising: means for obtaining a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device in a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; means for obtaining a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device; means for determining a target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in the second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and means for determining a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first reception time and the second reception time.

[0185] Clause 48. The processing apparatus according to Clause 47, wherein the components for determining the target relative time offset include: components for receiving a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the first measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; components for receiving a second measurement report message from the initiating device or the one of the one or more reference responder devices, the second measurement report indicating a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responder devices; components for determining an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and components for determining the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0186] Clause 49. The processing apparatus according to Clause 48, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or the processing apparatus.

[0187] Clause 50. The processing apparatus according to any one of Clauses 48 to 49, the processing apparatus further comprising: a component for receiving an indication from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset.

[0188] Clause 51. The processing apparatus according to any one of Clauses 47 to 50, the processing apparatus further comprising: a component for periodically or on demand determining inter-responder clock offsets between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0189] Clause 52. The processing apparatus according to Clause 47, wherein the components for determining the target relative clock offset include: components for receiving a third measurement report message from the initiating device, the third measurement report indicating a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; components for determining an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and components for determining the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0190] Clause 53. The processing apparatus according to Clause 52, the processing apparatus further comprising: a component for receiving a plurality of indications from the plurality of responder devices, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices is able to provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0191] Clause 54. The processing device according to any one of Clauses 47 to 53, wherein: the processing device is one of the plurality of responder devices; or the processing device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of responder devices.

[0192] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by an initiating device, cause the initiating device to: transmit a ranging initiation message to a plurality of responding devices based on a first radio access technique (RAT); transmit a ranging final message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; determine a target relative clock offset between the initiating device and a target responding device in a first subset of the plurality of responding devices based on one or more reference responding devices in a second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

[0193] Clause 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 55 further includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to: receive a plurality of ranging response messages from the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT.

[0194] Clause 57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 56, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements include: a first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responder device, or a second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responder device; and a third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiator device from the target responder device.

[0195] Clause 58. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 55 to 57, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to determine the target relative clock offset, include computer-executable instructions, when executed by the initiating device, causing the initiating device to: receive a measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on a second RAT, the measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and the one of the one or more reference responding devices; determine a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responding devices; determine an estimated clock offset associated with the target responding device based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0196] Clause 59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 58, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0197] Clause 60. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 58 to 59, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to: receive an indication from one of the one or more reference responding devices based on the second RAT before sending the ranging initiation message, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responding devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

[0198] Clause 61. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 58 to 60, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0199] Clause 62. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 55 to 57, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to determine the target relative clock offset include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to: determine a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determine an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0200] Clause 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 62, further comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to: receive, prior to sending the ranging initiation message, a plurality of indications based on a second RAT from the plurality of responding devices, the plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responding devices is able to provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responding device and any one of the one or more reference responding devices.

[0201] Clause 64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 63, wherein: the first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on a first channel bandwidth, and the second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, the second channel bandwidth being one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

[0202] Clause 65. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to: obtain a first reception time of a ranging initiation message received from an initiating device and by a target responding device in a first subset of a plurality of responding devices, or a second reception time of a ranging final message received from the initiating device and by the target responding device; obtain a third reception time of a ranging response message received from the target responding device and by the initiating device; determine a target relative clock offset between the target responding device and the initiating device based on one or more reference responding devices in the second subset of the plurality of responding devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message; and determine a time of flight between the initiating device and the target responding device based on the target relative clock offset associated with the target responding device, the third reception time, and one or both of the first reception time and the second reception time.

[0203] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 65, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to determine the target relative clock offset, include computer-executable instructions, when executed by the initiating device, causing the initiating device to: receive a first measurement report message from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the first measurement report message indicating an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; receive a second measurement report message from the initiating device or the one of the one or more reference responder devices, the second measurement report indicating a reference clock offset associated with the one of the one or more reference responder devices; determine an estimated clock offset associated with the target responder based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the estimated clock offset and the initiating clock offset associated with the initiating device.

[0204] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 66, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or the processing device.

[0205] Clause 68. A nontransitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 66 to 67, the nontransitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to: receive an indication from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing an inter-responder clock offset.

[0206] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 65 to 68, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to: periodically or on demand determine inter-responder clock offsets between various pairs of the plurality of responder devices based on ranging response messages from the plurality of responder devices.

[0207] Clause 70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 65, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to determine the target relative clock offset include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the initiating device, cause the initiating device to: receive a third measurement report message from the initiating device, the third measurement report indicating a set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and a second subset of the plurality of responding devices; determine an average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; and determine the target relative clock offset based on the average clock offset.

[0208] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 70, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to: receive from the plurality of responder devices a plurality of indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices is able to provide an inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any one of the one or more reference responder devices.

[0209] Clause 72. A nontransitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 65 to 71, wherein: the processing device is one of the plurality of responding devices; or the processing device is communicatively coupled to the plurality of responding devices.

[0210] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and arts. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0211] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0212] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed 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 components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in alternative embodiments, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0213] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Example storage media are coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0214] In one or more examples, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, which includes any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, 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 is accessible to a computer. Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of a medium. As used herein, disks and optical discs include: compact optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0215] While the foregoing disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly stated otherwise. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” etc., are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “having,” “comprising,” “including,” etc., do not exclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., element “having” A may also have B). Furthermore, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “at least partially based on” unless otherwise explicitly stated. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be open-ended when used in a series and is interchangeable with “and / or” unless otherwise explicitly stated (e.g., if used in conjunction with “any” or “only one”), or these alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Additionally, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular. Therefore, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “described” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. 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 described or claimed functionality, and also include “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions that perform or are capable of performing the described or claimed functionality in combination.

Claims

1. A method for operating an initiating device, the method comprising: Ranging initiation messages are sent to multiple responder devices based on the first radio access technology (RAT); Based on the first RAT, the final ranging message is sent to the plurality of responding devices; The target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device is determined based on one or more reference responder devices in the second subset of the plurality of responder devices, the first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message. as well as The flight time between the initiating device and the target responding device is determined based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the first RAT, multiple ranging response messages are received from the multiple responder devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements comprise: The first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responder device, or the second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responder device; as well as The third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the target relative clock offset comprises: Based on the second RAT, a measurement report message is received from one of the one or more reference responder devices, the measurement report message indicating the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; Determine the reference clock offset associated with one of the one or more reference responder devices; The estimated clock offset associated with the target responder device is determined based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; as well as The target relative clock offset is determined based on the estimated clock offset and the initiator clock offset associated with the initiator device.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: Prior to sending the ranging initiation message, an indication is received from one of the one or more reference responder devices based on the second RAT, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on the first channel bandwidth, and The second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, which is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the target relative clock offset comprises: Determine the set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices; Determine the average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; as well as The target relative clock offset is determined based on the average clock offset.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: Prior to sending the ranging initiation message, multiple indications are received from the plurality of responder devices based on a second RAT, the multiple indications indicating that none of the plurality of responder devices can provide the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any of the one or more reference responder devices.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on the first channel bandwidth, and The second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, which is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

10. An initiator device, the initiator device comprising: One or more memory units; One or more transceivers; and One or more processors, communicatively coupled to one or more memories and one or more transceivers, wherein the one or more processors are configured individually or in combination to: Ranging initiation messages are sent to multiple responder devices via the one or more transceivers based on a first radio access technology (RAT); The ranging final message is sent to the plurality of responding party devices via the one or more transceivers based on the first RAT; The target relative clock offset between the target responder device and the initiating device is determined based on one or more reference responder devices in the second subset of the plurality of responder devices, the first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message. as well as The flight time between the initiating device and the target responding device is determined based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

11. The initiator device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: Multiple ranging response messages are received from the multiple responder devices via the one or more transceivers based on the first RAT.

12. The initiator device of claim 11, wherein the one or more time-of-flight measurements comprise: The first reception time of the ranging initiation message received by the target responder device, or the second reception time of the ranging final message received by the target responder device; as well as The third reception time of the corresponding ranging response message received by the initiating device from the target responding device.

13. The initiating device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: A measurement report message is received from one of the one or more reference responder devices via the one or more transceivers based on a second RAT, the measurement report message indicating the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and the one of the one or more reference responder devices; Determine the reference clock offset associated with one of the one or more reference responder devices; The estimated clock offset associated with the target responder device is determined based on the inter-responder clock offset and the reference clock offset; as well as The target relative clock offset is determined based on the estimated clock offset and the initiator clock offset associated with the initiator device.

14. The initiating device of claim 13, wherein the inter-responder clock offset is determined based on a ranging response message from the target responder device and is determined by the one of the one or more reference responder devices or a processing device coupled to the one of the one or more reference responder devices.

15. The initiator device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: Before sending the ranging initiation message, an indication is received from one of the one or more reference responder devices via the one or more transceivers based on the second RAT, the indication indicating that the one of the one or more reference responder devices is capable of providing the inter-responder clock offset.

16. The initiator device according to claim 13, wherein: The first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband radio access technology based on the first channel bandwidth, and The second RAT corresponds to a short-range radio access technology based on a second channel bandwidth, which is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

17. The initiating device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors configured individually or in combination to determine the target relative clock offset are further configured to: Determine the set of relative clock offsets between the initiating device and the second subset of the plurality of responding devices; Determine the average clock offset of the set of relative clock offsets; as well as The target relative clock offset is determined based on the average clock offset.

18. The initiator device of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured individually or in combination to: Prior to sending the ranging initiation message, multiple indications are received from the plurality of responder devices via the one or more transceivers based on a second RAT. These multiple indications indicate that none of the plurality of responder devices can provide the inter-responder clock offset between the target responder device and any of the one or more reference responder devices.

19. The initiator device according to claim 18, wherein: The first RAT corresponds to an ultra-wideband communication standard based on the first channel bandwidth, and The second RAT corresponds to a short-range communication standard based on a second channel bandwidth, which is one-third or less of the first channel bandwidth.

20. An initiator device, the initiator device comprising: A component for sending ranging initiation messages to multiple responder devices based on the first radio access technology (RAT); A component for sending the final ranging message to the plurality of responding devices based on the first RAT; A component for determining a target relative clock offset between a target responder device and an initiating device in a first subset of the plurality of responder devices based on one or more reference responder devices in a second subset of the plurality of responder devices, wherein the first subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received the ranging initiation message or the ranging final message, and the second subset of the plurality of responder devices has successfully received both the ranging initiation message and the ranging final message. as well as A component for determining the flight time between the initiating device and the target responding device based on one or more time-of-flight measurements and the target relative clock offset.

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