Long term evolution positioning protocol signalling configurations for supporting reference user equipment in providing positioning for target user equipment

Abstract

A long term evolution positioning protocol, LPP, signalling configuration for supporting one or more reference user equipments, UEs, in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs. A first seq

Description

BACKGROUND Field Certain examples of the present disclosure provide various techniques relating to long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) signalling configurations for supporting reference user equipments (UEs), for example signalling configurations in the LPP to support positioning or localization of one or more target UEs through the use of new radio (NR) sidelink (SL), for example within 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5th Generation (5G) NR and NR-based relay networks. Description of the Related Art Currently in 5G-Advanced mobile communication standards, the positioning support with the use of the NR SL is being studied. Positioning with the support of a relay or a reference UE in situations of in coverage, partial coverage and out of coverage are being investigated. In situations where a reference UE is connected to a network (in coverage or partial coverage), the signalling between the Location Management Function (LMF) in the network and the reference UE is of significance to orchestrate the NR SL based positioning. NR SL based positioning of one or more target UEs with the aid of one or more reference UEs is a significant part of the 3GPP 5G Release 18 NR-pos-enh2 study / work items. The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with respect to the present invention. SUMMARY It is an aim of certain examples of the present disclosure to address, solve and / or mitigate, at least partly, at least one of the problems and / or disadvantages associated with the related art, for example at least one of the problems and / or disadvantages described herein. It is an aim of certain examples of the present disclosure to provide at least one advantage over the related art, for example at least one of the advantages described herein. The present invention is defined in the independent claims. Advantageous features are defined in the dependent claims. Embodiments or examples disclosed in the description and / or figures falling outside the scope of the claims are to be understood as examples useful for understanding the present invention. Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Figure 1 illustrates one example of a LPP signalling configuration for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description of examples of the present disclosure, with reference to the accompanying drawings, is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the present invention, as defined by the claims. The description includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the examples described herein can be made. The following examples are applicable to, and use terminology associated with, 3GPP 5G. However, the skilled person will appreciate that the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to these examples or to 3GPP 5G, and may be applied in any suitable system or standard, for example one or more existing and / or future generation wireless communication systems or standards. The skilled person will appreciate that the techniques disclosed herein may be applied in any existing or future releases of 3GPP 5G NR or any other relevant standard. For example, the functionality of the various network entities and other features disclosed herein may be applied to corresponding or equivalent entities or features in other communication systems or standards. Corresponding or equivalent entities or features may be regarded as entities or features that perform the same or similar role, function, operation or purpose within the network. For example, the functionality of an IAB node in the examples below may be applied to any other suitable type of entity performing functions of a network node. The skilled person will appreciate that the present invention is not limited to the specific examples disclosed herein. For example: • The techniques disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP 5G. • One or more entities in the examples disclosed herein may be replaced with one or more alternative entities performing equivalent or corresponding functions, processes or operations. • One or more of the messages in the examples disclosed herein may be replaced with one or more alternative messages, signals or other type of information carriers that communicate equivalent or corresponding information. • One or more further elements, entities and / or messages may be added to the examples disclosed herein. • One or more non-essential elements, entities and / or messages may be omitted in certain examples. • The functions, processes or operations of a particular entity in one example may be divided between two or more separate entities in an alternative example. • The functions, processes or operations of two or more separate entities in one example may be performed by a single entity in an alternative example. • Information carried by a particular message in one example may be carried by two or more separate messages in an alternative example. • Information carried by two or more separate messages in one example may be carried by a single message in an alternative example. • The order in which operations are performed may be modified, if possible, in alternative examples. • The transmission of information between network entities is not limited to the specific form, type and / or order of messages described in relation to the examples disclosed herein. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided in a communications network, a LPP signalling configuration for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs, comprising: a first sequence of one or more messages between a LMF in the network and a plurality of UEs to establish one or more reference UEs; a second sequence of one or more messages between the LMF and the one or more reference UEs to request position information for the one or more target UEs, to provide positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs for use in SL based positioning of the one or more of target UEs and to indicate if the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more target UEs, and a third sequence of one or more messages between the LMF and the one or more reference UEs to report position information for at least some of the one or more target UEs from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF. The first sequence of one or more messages may comprise: a message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a reference UE; a message from the LMF to one or more UEs which have indicated reference UE capability to request the one or more UEs to act as one or more reference UEs, and a message from the one or more UEs to accept the request to establish the one or more reference UEs or to reject the request. In dynamic network environments, the message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a reference UE may be sent just prior to a message from the LMF requesting positioning information. In controlled network environments, such as industry Internet of things (HoT), the message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a reference UE may be sent earlier, e.g. sometime earlier, than a message from the LMF requesting positioning information. The second sequence of one or more messages may comprise: a message from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs to request position information for the one or more target UEs; a message from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs to provide the positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs, and a message from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to indicate that the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more of target UEs. The one or more target UEs may be one or more of {1, ... n} target UEs. The assistance information may comprise common SL positioning configurations for target UEs. In in-coverage scenarios, the message from the LMF providing the positioning assistance information may be sent to the one or more reference UEs through a Uu interface. The message from the LMF providing the positioning assistance information may also be broadcast to the one or more reference UEs. The one or more reference UEs may use the positioning assistance information to conduct SL based discovery for the one or more target UEs and indicate that they can provide position information for at least some of the one or more target UEs. The third sequence of one or more messages may comprise a message from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to report the position information for at least some of the one or more target UEs comprising any of location related measurements for the at least some of the one or more target UEs, actual location estimates from the at least some of the one or more target UEs. The message from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to report the position information may comprise concatenation to include a slot for the or each target UE. The one or more reference UEs may carry out SL based positioning to obtain the location related measurements for the at least some of the one or more target UEs and the actual location estimates from the at least some of the one or more target UEs. The LPP signalling configuration may support multiple reference UEs in providing positioning for one target UE, comprising a message from the LMF to the multiple reference UEs to indicate to the reference UEs that multiple reference UEs are in operation and to indicate a quality of service (QoS) class having latency requirements for providing positioning for the one target UE. The LPP signalling configuration may become part of the LPP. The LPP signalling configuration may become a newly-developed side link positioning protocol (SL-PP). According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided in a communications network, a LPP signalling method comprising using the LPP signalling configuration of the first aspect of the disclosure for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided in a communications network, a LPP signalling apparatus which performs the LPP signalling configuration method of the second aspect of the disclosure for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs. Referring to Figure 1, an example of a LPP signalling configuration for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs is shown. The LPP signalling configuration may be split into several sequence of messages between the LMF and reference UEs. A first sequence of messages, messages (i), (ii) and (iii) in Figure 1, establish one or more reference UEs. Message (i) is sent from the LMF to a plurality of UEs to check the capability of the UEs to act as reference UEs. A message is sent from the plurality of UEs to the LMF to indicate if they have reference UE capability. Message (ii) is sent from the LMF to UEs which have indicated reference UE capability to request the UEs to act as reference UEs. Message (iii) is sent from the reference UEs to the LMF to either accept the request, and establish the reference UEs, or to reject the request. If the request is rejected, this procedure will be terminated by switching to step (viii). In dynamic network environments, message (ii) from the LMF to the plurality of UEs is sent just prior to a message from the LMF requesting positioning information. In controlled network environments, such as industry loT, message (ii) from the LMF to the plurality of UEs can be sent sometime earlier than a message from the LMF requesting positioning information. A second sequence of messages, messages (iv), (v) and (vi) in Figure 1, request position information for the one or more target UEs, provide positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs for use in SL based positioning of the one or more of target UEs and indicate if the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more target UEs. Message (iv) from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs requests position information for one or more of {1, ... n} target UEs. Message (v) from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs provides the positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs. In this embodiment, the assistance information comprises common SL positioning configurations for the one or more of {1, ... n} target UEs. In in-coverage scenarios, the message from the LMF providing the positioning assistance information is sent to the one or more reference UEs through a Uu interface. The message from the LMF providing the positioning assistance information can also be broadcast to the one or more reference UEs, for example using SIBx. This reduces signalling overhead. The one or more reference UEs use the positioning assistance information to conduct SL based discovery for the one or more of {1, ... n} target UEs. Due to various reasons, for example, target UE(s) refusing to be localized through a reference UE, poor SL channel quality, etc., the reference UEs will be able to provide position information for only a subset, comprising one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs, of the one or more of {1, ... n} target UEs. The reference UEs accept the LMF request to locate one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs. Message (vi) is sent from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to indicate that the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs. The subset {1, ... m} of target UEs can be smaller than {1, ... n} target UEs, as some of the target UEs may not have a good enough SL (signal quality wise) or some target UEs may refuse to provide position information through the designated reference UEs. In the special case of n=0, the one or more reference UEs will indicate this to the LMF and will move on to step (viii) to terminate the procedure. A third sequence of messages, messages (vii) and (viii) in Figure 1, reports position information for the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs and terminates the procedure. The one or more reference UEs will first of all carry out the SL based positioning to obtain the position information for the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs. The position information comprises either location related measurements for the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs or actual location estimates from the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs. For the latter, the target UEs may use a non-3GPP positioning method and provide the location estimation to the reference UEs. Message (vii) is sent from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to report the position information for the one or more of {1, ... m} target UEs. The message may comprise concatenation to include slots for each target UE. Message (viii) is sent from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs to terminate the signalling procedure. The LPP signalling configuration can be adapted for supporting multiple reference UEs in providing positioning for one target UE. This can be useful in Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) scenarios, where over-provisioning of resources can be useful to gain required reliability and low latency in positioning (or in end-to end localization results). A message is sent from the LMF to the multiple reference UEs to indicate to the reference UEs that multiple reference UEs are in operation and to indicate a quality of service (QoS) class as a Multiple QoS class. With each reference UE knowing the multiple other reference UEs are also in operation, they can opt to provide the target UE position information quickly -even at the minimum QoS level of the Multiple QoS class. This will help achieve low-latency requirements, at the cost of over-provisioning resources. The modifications needed to the signalling configuration shown in Figure 1 to support the multiple reference UEs and single target UE scenario are as follows. The LMF sends messages (i) and (ii) to multiple UEs, aiming at localization of a single target UE. When a set of k UEs are established as reference UEs, the LMF sends a new message (iva) to the k reference UEs to indicate that multiple reference UEs are in operation. This message can be useful to incentivize the multiple reference UEs to provide the position information for the target UE as quickly as possible. Currently in the standardized QoS classes, there is no provision to indicate the latency requirements for a position request. If a Multiple QoS class is used, for example, this indication in the proposed message (iva) could prompt the reference UEs to provide position information for the target UE at a minimum accuracy level, if this can be achieved quickly. To satisfy extremely high data rate requirements, the 3GPP 5G NR standard utilises communication frequencies in a relatively high range, from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, corresponding to wavelengths in the millimetre (mm) range (mmWave communication). Such mmWave communication provides a large available bandwidth and high transmission speeds. However, problems with mmWave communication include severe signal path loss and low penetration, resulting in a relatively short transmission range. This in turn requires a greater density of base stations deployment. Certain examples of the present disclosure provide a network or wireless communication system comprising a first network entity and a second network entity according to any example, embodiment, aspect and / or claim disclosed herein. Certain examples of the present disclosure provide a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer or processor, cause the computer or processor to carry out a method according to any example, embodiment, aspect and / or claim disclosed herein. Certain examples of the present disclosure provide a computer or processor-readable data carrier having stored thereon a computer program according to the preceding examples. Certain examples of the present disclosure may be provided in the form of an apparatus / device / network entity configured to perform one or more defined network functions and / or a method therefor. Such an apparatus / device / network entity may comprise one or more elements, for example one or more of receivers, transmitters, transceivers, processors, controllers, modules, units, and the like, each element configured to perform one or more corresponding processes, operations and / or method steps for implementing the techniques described herein. For example, an operation / function of X may be performed by a module configured to perform X (or an X-module). Certain examples of the present disclosure may be provided in the form of a system (e.g. a network) comprising one or more such apparatuses / devices / network entities, and / or a method therefor. For example, in the following examples, a network may include one or more IAB nodes. It will be appreciated that examples of the present disclosure may be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. Certain examples of the present disclosure may provide a computer program comprising instructions or code which, when executed, implement a method, system and / or apparatus in accordance with any aspect, claim, example and / or embodiment disclosed herein. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure provide a machine-readable storage storing such a program. The same or similar components may be designated by the same or similar reference numerals, although they may be illustrated in different drawings. Detailed descriptions of techniques, structures, constructions, functions or processes known in the art may be omitted for clarity and conciseness, and to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present disclosure. The terms and words used herein are not limited to the bibliographical or standard meanings, but, are merely used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the examples disclosed herein. Throughout the description and claims, the words “comprise”, “contain” and “include”, and variations thereof, for example “comprising”, “containing” and “including”, means “including but not limited to”, and is not intended to (and does not) exclude other features, elements, components, integers, steps, processes, functions, characteristics, and the like. Throughout the description and claims, the singular form, for example “a”, “an” and “the”, encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise requires. For example, reference to “an object” includes reference to one or more of such objects. Throughout the description and claims, language in the general form of “X for Y” (where Y is some action, process, function, activity or step and X is some means for carrying out that action, process, function, activity or step) encompasses means X adapted, configured or arranged specifically, but not necessarily exclusively, to do Y. Features, elements, components, integers, steps, processes, functions, characteristics, and the like, described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment, example or claim are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment, example or claim disclosed herein unless incompatible therewith. While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims. Abbreviations / Definitions n the present disclosure, the following abbreviations and definitions may be used. 3GPP 5G 5 LMF LPP LTE NR QoS 10 SL SL-PP UE URLLC Uu 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5th Generation Location Management Function Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol Long Term Evolution New Radio Quality of Service Side Link Side link positioning protocol User Equipment Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications Air interface between terminal and base station / access point 15

Claims

1. In a communications network, a long term evolution positioning protocol, LPP, signalling configuration for supporting one or more reference user equipments, UEs, in 5 providing positioning for one or more of target UEs, comprising:a first sequence of one or more messages between a location management function, LMF, in the network and a plurality of UEs to establish one or more reference UEs;a second sequence of one or more messages between the LMF and the one or more reference UEs to request position information for the one or more target UEs, to provide 10 positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs for use in sidelink, SL, based positioning of the one or more of target UEs and to indicate if the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more target UEs, anda third sequence of one or more messages between the LMF and the one or more reference UEs to report position information for at least some of the one or more target UEs 15 from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF,in which the first sequence of one or more messages comprises:a message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a CM reference UE;CM a message from the LMF to one or more UEs which have indicated reference UE'1“ 20 capability to request the one or more UEs to act as one or more reference UEs, anda message from the one or more UEs to accept the request to establish the one or more reference UEs or to reject the request.

2. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 1 in which, in dynamic network 25 environments, the message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a reference UE is sent before a message from the LMF requesting positioning information.

3. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 1 in which, in controlled network 30 environments, the message from the LMF to the plurality of UEs to check their capability to act as a reference UE is sent before a message from the LMF requesting positioning information.

4. A LPP signalling configuration according to any preceding claim in which the second 35 sequence of one or more messages comprises:a message from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs to request position information for the one or more target UEs;a message from the LMF to the one or more reference UEs to provide the positioning assistance information to the one or more reference UEs, anda message from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to indicate that the one or more reference UEs can provide position information for the one or more target UEs.

55. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 4 in which the assistance information comprises SL positioning configurations common for the target UEs.

6. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 4 or claim 5 in which, in in-coverage 10 scenarios, the message from the LMF providing the positioning assistance information is sent to the one or more reference UEs through a Uu interface.

7. A LPP signalling configuration according to any of claims 4 to 6 in which the messagefrom the LMF providing the positioning assistance information is broadcast to the one or more 15 reference UEs.

8. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 4 in which the one or more reference CM UEs use the positioning assistance information to conduct SL based discovery for the one orCM more target UEs and indicate that they can provide position information for at least some of20 the one or more target UEs.

9. A LPP signalling configuration according to any preceding claim in which the third sequence of one or more messages comprises:a message from the one or more reference UEs to the LMF to report the position25 information for at least some of the one or more target UEs comprising any of location related measurements for the at least some of the one or more target UEs, actual location estimates from the at least some of the one or more target UEs.

10. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 9 in which the message from the one 30 or more reference UEs to the LMF to report the position information comprises concatenationto include a slot for the or each target UE.

11. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 9 or claim 10 in which the one or more reference UEs carry out SL based positioning to obtain the location related 35 measurements for the at least some of the one or more target UEs and the actual location estimates from the at least some of the one or more target UEs.

12. A LPP signalling configuration according to claim 1 for supporting multiple reference UEs in providing positioning for one target UE, further comprising:a message from the LMF to the multiple reference UEs to indicate to the reference UEs that multiple reference UEs are in operation and to indicate a quality of service, QoS, 5 class having latency requirements for providing positioning for the one target UE.

13. In a communications network, a LPP signalling method comprising using the LPP signalling configuration of any of claims 1 to 12 for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs.1014. In a communications network, a LPP signalling apparatus which performs the LPP signalling configuration method of claim 13 for supporting one or more reference UEs in providing positioning for one or more of target UEs.19 1224

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