Method, apparatus and computer program

Abstract

An apparatus 602 receives 6001 a request to determine a parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference (PR) signal, determines 6002 a list of supported bandwidths, selects a PR

Description

[0002] A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations and / or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and / or content data and so on. Non-limiting examples of services provided comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.

[0003] In a wireless communication system at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems comprise public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). Some wireless systems can be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

[0004] A user can access the communication system by means of an appropriate communication device or terminal. A communication device of a user may be referred to as user equipment (UE) or user device. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other users. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station of a cell, and transmit and / or receive communications on the carrier.

[0005] The communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and / or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radioaccess technology and so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). SUMMARY

[0006] According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a network node, the apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.

[0007] According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for an apparatus for a network node, the method comprising: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a 2 positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.

[0008] According to a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a network node, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising code that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to perform: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a network node, the apparatus comprising: receiving circuitry for receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal; determining circuitry for determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting circuitry for selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the 3 positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing circuitry for causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving circuitry for receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using circuitry for using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; and causing circuitry for causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.

[0010] The following applies for all of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0011] The at least one parameter may comprise at least one of: a positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved.

[0012] The at least one parameter may be selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal and timebased positioning measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal.

[0013] The request to determine at least one parameter may comprise a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.

[0014] The apparatus may further be caused to perform: receiving, from the access network node, the request to determine the positioning reference signal bandwidth; and retrieving, from the terminal, assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths.

[0015] The apparatus may further be caused to perform: receiving, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal; and determining the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.

[0016] The apparatus may be comprised in at least one of: a location management function, or an access network node.

[0017] The using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal may comprise: determining, for each positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said positioning reference communicated with the positioning reference unit.

[0018] The apparatus may be caused to perform: receiving, from the terminal and / or an access network node, a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter; determining a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit; and providing the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the access network node.

[0019] The measurement values may comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal and / or time-based positioning measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.

[0020] The determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit may comprise determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.

[0021] The positioning reference signal may comprise at least one of: an uplink sounding reference signal; and a downlink positioning reference signal.

[0022] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a user equipment, the apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the 5 positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0023] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a method for an apparatus for a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0024] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a user equipment, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising code that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to perform: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal; determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a 6 bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; and causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0025] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a user equipment, the apparatus comprising: receiving circuitry for receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal; determining circuitry for determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal; selecting circuitry for selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal; causing circuitry for causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths; receiving circuitry for receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths; using circuitry for using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; and causing circuitry for causing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0026] The following may apply to any (e.g., all) of the above mentioned fifth to eighth aspects.

[0027] The at least one parameter may comprise at least one of: a sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved.

[0028] The at least one parameter may be selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal and time-based positioning measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0029] The request to determine at least one parameter may comprise a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.

[0030] The apparatus may be caused to perform receiving, from the another user equipment, the request to determine the sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth; and retrieving, from the terminal, assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths.

[0031] The apparatus may be caused to perform: receiving, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal; and determining the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.

[0032] The using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal may comprise: determining, for each sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said sidelink positioning reference communicated with the positioning reference unit.

[0033] The apparatus may be caused to perform: receiving, from the terminal and / or an another user equipment, a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a sidelink positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter; determining a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit; and providing the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the another user equipment.

[0034] The measurement values may comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal and / or timebased positioning measurements performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0035] The determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit may comprise determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the sidelink positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.

[0036] According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the preceding aspects.

[0037] In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0038] Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

[0039] Figure 1 shows a representation of a network system according to some example embodiments;

[0040] Figure 2 shows a representation of a control apparatus according to some example embodiments;

[0041] Figure 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some example embodiments;

[0042] Figure 4 illustrates a schematic radio access network;

[0043] Figure 5 illustrates relationships between bandwidth and measured phase;

[0044] Figure 6 illustrates operations that may be performed by apparatus described herein; and

[0045] Figures 7 to 8 illustrate operations that may be performed by apparatus described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In general, the following relates to configuring at least one parameter of a signal to be used for determining a location of an apparatus (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS) and / or sounding reference signal (SRS) and / or sidelink signal to be transmitted by a terminal), wherein measurements performed on the signal being configured are used for determining a location of the terminal.

[0047] For clarity and brevity, the following will refer to examples in the context of sounding reference signals for use in determining a location of an apparatus. SRS are uplink signals transmitted from a terminal (e.g., a user equipment) to an access y network node (e.g., by a gNB). It is understood that the disclosure provided below in relation to SRS signals may analogously be performed for any type of positioning signal (e.g., signal used for determining the location of an apparatus), such as, for example, PRS, sidelink signals (when used for the same position-determination context, such as sidelink positioning reference signals) when those access network nodes are replaced by terminals, etc.

[0048] The following discloses mechanisms for exploiting properties of positioning reference units (PRUs) in order to select at least one transmission parameter to be used by a terminal when transmitting an SRS for position determination purposes. The at least one transmission parameter may comprise (for example), at least a bandwidth to be used for the SRS transmission, SRS transmission power, SRS comb sequence, SRS antenna port, SRS resource block allocations, and / or a minimum signal quality metric (e.g., signal-to-interference and noise ratio) to be fulfilled by the SRS transmission.

[0049] In general, a PRU may be considered to comprise an apparatus having a known location. The PRU may comprise a terminal in accordance with the terminal of Figure 3. The PRU may comprise a controller of an access network node, such as discussed in relation to Figure 2. PRUs were introduced into 3GPP in Release 17. The PRU may be requested to provide its own known location coordinate information to a location management function (LMF) on request from the LMF. When the antenna orientation information of the PRU is known by the PRU, the antenna orientation information may also be provided to the LMF on request from the LMF.

[0050] As will be discussed in more detail below, one of the issues related to transmitting uplink SRS relates to how to configure parameters of the SRS in an efficient way. The parameters may comprise SRS configuration parameters, such as at least one of an SRS bandwidth, a power used for transmitting the SRS (which may affect a measurable signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) of that signal), SRS comb sequence, SRS antenna port, or SRS resource block allocations.

[0051] For example, the following illustrates that different positioning-based measurements (e.g., time-based and phase-based measurements) have different dependencies on bandwidth size. Stated differently, it may be useful to have a large bandwidth for performing some types of positioning-based measurements, and it may also be useful to have a small bandwidth for performing other types of positioningbased measurements. This means that some parameters, such as the bandwidth used io for transmitting an SRS, may be determined as a trade-off between the differing requirements in order that both of these measurements can be performed efficiently.

[0052] In light of this, when looking to configure an SRS configuration for a terminal whose location is to be found, an LMF may identify at least one PRU that has similar characteristics to the terminal whose location is to be determined. The similarity may be characterised in relation to the capability of the terminal (e.g., the terminal’s hardware) and / or in relation to the physical location of the PRU from transmission reception points (TRPs) configured to receive (and perform measurements on) SRS transmissions. The similarity in terminal capability may be determined by, for example finding those terminal and PRUs that are categorised into the same or similar class categories, as described further below.

[0053] The identified PRU is then provided with a range of SRS parameters that are associated with a plurality of different SRS configurations for transmitting SRS in accordance with the plurality of different SRS configurations. Measurements performed on SRS transmitted in accordance with the plurality of different SRS configurations may be used to determine a range of position estimates for the PRU, each position estimate corresponding to a different transmitted SRS. The actual location of the PRU may be compared to the range of position estimates in order to identify the SRS configuration that provides the smallest error in position estimation. Stated differently, an SRS configuration may be identified that provides the greatest confidence in a determined location of a PRU. The identified SRS configuration may be used for configuring SRS parameters at a terminal for use in transmitting SRS from the terminal. A location of the terminal may be determined based on the SRS transmissions made in accordance with the configured SRS parameters, and positioning measurements performed thereon. For example, the apparatus receiving the SRS transmissions from such a configured SRS terminal may perform time-based positioning measurements (such as time distance of arrival-based measurements) and carrier phase-based positioning measurements. The results of the performed measurements may be used to determine a location of the configured SRS terminal. The determined location may subsequently be used to, for example, determine handover decisions, determine resource allocation to the configured SRS terminal, determine service provision to the configured SRS terminal, and / or be provided to another apparatus (such as the configured SRS terminal) for use by the another apparatus.

[0054] In the following certain embodiments are explained with reference to mobile communication devices capable of communication via a wireless cellular system and mobile communication systems serving such mobile communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

[0055] Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G system (5GS). The 5GS may be comprised by a terminal or user equipment (UE), a 5G radio access network (5GRAN) or next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), a 5G core network (5GC), one or more application function (AF) and one or more data networks (ON)

[0056] The 5G-RAN may comprise one or more gNodeB (GNB) or one or more gNodeB (GNB) distributed unit functions connected to one or more gNodeB (GNB) centralized unit functions.

[0057] The 5GC may comprise the following entities: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF); Network Exposure Function; Network Repository Function (NRF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Unified Data Management (UDM); Application Function (AF); Authentication Server Function (AUSF); an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); and Session Management Function (SMF). Figure 1 also shows the various interfaces (N1, N2 etc.) that may be implemented between the various elements of the system.

[0058] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a control apparatus 200 for controlling a function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC as illustrated on Figure 1. The control apparatus may comprise at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least on read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and an input / output interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215. The software code 215 may for example allow to perform one or more steps to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control apparatus 200 may be interconnected with another control apparatus 200 controlling another function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC. In some embodiments, each function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC comprises a control apparatus 200. In alternative embodiments, two or more functions of the 5GRAN or the 5GC may share a control apparatus.

[0059] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a terminal 300, such as the terminal illustrated on Figure 1. The terminal 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples comprise a user equipment, a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a 'smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of things (loT) type communication device or any combinations of these or the like. The terminal 300 may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications. The communications may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, data, machine data and so on.

[0060] The terminal 300 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 307 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 3 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver apparatus 306 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

[0061] The terminal 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301, at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the RAM 302b and the ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308. The software code 308 may for example allow to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 308 may be stored in the ROM 302a.

[0062] The processor, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and / or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 304. The device may optionally have a user interface such as key pad 305, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of the device.

[0063] Determining a iocation of an apparatus (e.g., a UE and / or a mobile access network node) is important for several different reasons. For example, the location of a UE may affect the services available to a UE, what physical resources (e.g., time and / or frequency resources) are available to the UE for communicating via a network access node (such as a gNB), handover decisions, etc.

[0064] 3GPP has introduced a plurality of different types of measurements that can be performed for determining a location of an apparatus. One of these measurement types comprises time-based positioning measurements (such as, for example, time distance of arrival-based techniques). Another of these measurement types comprises carrier phase measurements.

[0065] For example, 3GPP Release 18 introduced carrier phase positioning (CPP). CPP relies on at least one apparatus measuring the carrier phase of a downlink positioning signal (e.g. a positioning reference signal (PRS)), and / or an uplink positioning signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)), signal. The measured carrier phase is then provided to a function (e.g., the LMF), which can use the measured carrier phase to calculate a location of an apparatus involved in the transmission and / or reception of the positioning signal.

[0066] In general, a carrier phase measurement of a signal transmitted between a transmitter and a receiver may be considered to represent a measure of the range between the transmitter and the receiver that is expressed in units of cycles of the carrier frequency of the transmitted signal.

[0067] To assist with the provision of carrier phase measurements, the LMF may provide the access network node with a configuration that defines how positioning signals are to be transmitted and / or received. Example information that may be provided from the LMF to an access network node for this purpose is provided in the Table below: Information Number Of Transmissions / duration for which the UL-SRS is requested Bandwidth Resource type (periodic, semi-persistent, aperiodic) Number of requested SRS resource sets and SRS resources per set Pathloss reference: - Physical layer cell identity (PCI), Synchronization signal block (SSB) Index - downlink-positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) identifier (ID), DL-PRS Resource Set ID, DL-PRS Resource ID Spatial relation info -PCI, SSB Index - DL-PRS ID, DL-PRS Resource Set ID, DL-PRS Resource ID - non-zero power channel state indicator (CSI)-reference signal (RS) Resource ID - SRS Resource ID - Positioning SRS Resource ID Periodicity of the SRS for each SRS resource set SSB Information Carrier frequency of SRS transmission bandwidth

[0068] This information may be provided to the access network node (e.g., a serving gNB) using a new radio positioning protocol a (NRPPa) message. The access network node may use this information when configuring resources for the UE for performing uplink SRS transmissions.

[0069] One of the parameters indicated in the above table relates to the bandwidth of an uplink SRS. The selection of bandwidth for the sounding reference signal effects the accuracy of a location estimation of a UE’s location.

[0070] In more detail, in current 3GPP specifications, a gNB is simply requested by an LMF to return an uplink bandwidth that is based on the UE capability of the UE that will be transmitting an SRS uplink and resource availability at the gNB. This allocation may be performed without considering current communication channel conditions.

[0071] Thus, the gNB could determine a smaller SRS bandwidth than is optimal, which simply may not be enough to parse the current channel profile. This can result in a larger positioning measurement error than when a correct bandwidth is used.

[0072] Alternatively, when the gNB determines a larger SRS bandwidth than is actually optimal, this may result in wasteful resource allocation. This may be especially disadvantageous for low power UEs (e.g., Reduced capability (RedCap) apparatuses (introduced in Release 15 NR), and / or Low-Power High-Accuracy Positioning (LPHAP) apparatuses). This is because when multiple SRS transmissions are to be made from each UE for selection of appropriate bandwidth for carrier phase measurements, these multiple transmissions will significantly waste the limited power resources of the UE.

[0073] Furthermore, it is noted that where different types of measurements are performed on the same uplink SRS transmissions, the SRS bandwidth selected may impact the accuracy of these measurements in different ways. The following illustrates how time and phase measurements can be affected by the configured UL-SRS sounding bandwidth in completely different ways.

[0074] Considering both time and phase-based positioning measurements is important as carrier phase positioning measurements in 5G NR can provide a more accurate location for a terminal using a two-stage measurement approach.

[0075] For example, in the first stage (e.g., stage-1), an approximate location is obtained for the location of the terminal used a time-based positioning measurement (e.g., Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) and / or time of flight (ToF)) based techniques. Subsequently, after resolving the unknown integer ambiguity (e.g., by resolving the number of cycles in the carrier phase measurement) using the approximate location, in the second stage (stage-2), the approximate location is refined using carrier phase positioning measurements. Such a two stage process may be performed to achieve a high accuracy for a UE position.

[0076] Figure 4 illustrates the general concept of carrier phase positioning, and further comprises a PRU 404.

[0077] Figure 4 illustrates a location management function 401 comprised in a 5G core that is arranged to received carrier phase measurements via a serving access network node 402 and via a second access network node 403. The carrier phase lb measurements received via the second access network node are provided to the second access network node from a PRU 404 (e.g., a terminal). The carrier phase measurements are for determining the location of a target UE 405. The target UE is illustrated as being within radio range of signals from the serving access network node 402, the second access network node 403, and a third access network node 406.

[0078] For example, consider the example of UE 405 that receives respective positioning reference signals (PRSs) from at least two different access network nodes. The UE can perform respective phase measurements on the resources used for transmitting the PRSs, and calculates a phase difference therebetween. This phase difference may be provided to a location management function.

[0079] When the UE location estimation from timing based techniques alone (e.g., TDOA) is smaller than virtual wavelength Ap then an integer ambiguity in the carrier phase measurements can easily be resolved. This can be done, for example, by using an approximate UE position estimate obtained using the timing measurements (e.g., TDOA) first to then know the integer ambiguity then use the carrier phase estimation procedure to find the UE location with even higher accuracy.

[0080] To this end, there can be conflicting parameters, e.g., the bandwidth of the UL positioning reference signal, for the given UE capability, which may have contradictory requirements for time and phase measurements in the different phases.

[0081] The achievable accuracy of the time-based positioning measurements (e.g., time of arrival) can be established via the standard deviation which is proportional to the inverse of the bandwidth, BWb of carrier frequency of the signal that is used for the positioning measurements.

[0082] Conversely, the achievable accuracy of the carrier phase-based positioning measurements can be established via the standard deviation ofpp, which is directly proportional to the root of BW. of carrier frequency fj of the signal.

[0083] Stated differently, the noise variance of time-based positioning measurements is inversely proportional to the bandwidth of a sounding reference signal and so scales up with decreasing bandwidth of the sounding reference signal, while the noise variance of carrier phase based positioning measurement scales up with the increasing bandwidth of the sounding reference signal.

[0084] Figure 5 illustrates that the achievable accuracy of the time and phase measurements behave contradictorily for the configured bandwidth of the sounding reference signal. It is worth highlighting that the sounding bandwidth is not a foe but a friend, since the network node can efficiently resolve the multi-path components and obtain precise time-based positioning measurements (e.g., Time of Flight (ToF) and / or Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) measurements) due to higher temporal resolutions in stage-1, which mainly inherits from the large bandwidth configurations. However, the phase-based measurement errors due to the thermal noise is also directly proportional to the sounding bandwidth, and thus significantly impacts the accuracy of carrier phase measurements in stage 2. Moreover, higher bandwidth may also introduce hardware related non-linear impairments.

[0085] It would therefore be useful to quantify the underlying trade-offs in terms of sounding reference signal bandwidth (see Figure 5), and achievable time and phase measurement accuracy. It is understood that the benefit provided by the presently described techniques may vary based on the specific implementation (e.g., apparatus configuration, network configuration, and / or current network condition) when the presently described techniques are applied.

[0086] As discussed above, in Rei 18, for carrier phase positioning, there is an agreement that gNB reports both uplink Reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement together with a gNB receive-transmission time difference (e.g., time of arrival, TOA) measurement. This is performed despite there being a dependency on the measurement accuracy of a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement on the accuracy of TOA measurement, up to certain extent, which is proportional to the bandwidth of the transmitted positioning reference signal. Further increasing the bandwidth of the reference signal may not be beneficial, and it may even reduce the positioning accuracy (which uses both delay and carrier phase measurements) at the expense of larger transmit reference signal bandwidth and transmit power.

[0087] To address at least one of the above-mentioned issues, the following discloses employing a proactive selection of the positioning measurement parameters, e.g., minimum required bandwidth of uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., uplink SRS), considering the characteristics and advantages of the PRU and UE capabilities and introduced new signaling and required implementation steps at network nodes, PRU and UE.

[0088] Herein, it is assumed that the PRU measurements can be compared by a location server with the measurements expected at the known PRU location to determine correction terms for other nearby target devices, a network function (e.g., IB LMF) determine the appropriate configuration for the CPP measurements (e.g., minimum required bandwidth) for uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS).

[0089] Stated differently, a PRU at a known location can perform positioning measurements (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, UE receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) Time Difference measurements, etc.) and report these measurements to a location server (e.g., an LMF). In addition, the PRU can transmit SRSs to enable TRPs (such as, for example, other PRUs and / or access network nodes) to measure and report uplink positioning measurements (e.g., reference signal time of arrival (RTOA), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), gNB Rx-Tx Time Difference, etc.) from PRU at a known location. The PRU measurements can be compared by a location server with the measurements expected at the known PRU location to determine correction terms for other nearby target devices. The downlink and / or uplink location measurements for other target devices can then be corrected based on the previously determined correction terms.

[0090] In the presently disclosed example, a network function (such as an LMF) identifies a range of different bandwidths that may be used by a UE for uplink SRS transmissions and / or a range of different transmit powers that may be used by a UE for uplink SRS transmissions. These identified range(s) are then configured at a PRU that is determined to be closest in both location and / or capability to a UE whose location is to be determined.

[0091] The PRU subsequently transmits uplink sounding reference signals using the identified range(s). Measurements are performed on the transmitted uplink sounding reference signals of the PRU for determining a location of the PRU. The determined location is then compared with the actual location of the PRU to identify which uplink SRS configuration provides the most accurate location estimate. The identified uplink SRS configuration may be subsequently used to configure an uplink SRS configuration of the UE for determining the location of the UE.

[0092] The network function may determine a plurality of UE-specific bandwidth(s) and corresponding selection metric(s) for use in selecting that bandwidth.

[0093] The network node configures and requests the neighboring gNB(s) and PRU(s) to assist in determining the confidence interval related to, e.g., measurement and integer ambiguity in CP, for a plurality of sounding BW(s) configurations

[0094] The network node determines the reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) and ToA measurement parameters for use by the UE in making uplink transmissions) (e.g., minimum bandwidth of uplink positioning reference signals).

[0095] The LMF may subsequently use the reported information to resolve the multipath components and intrinsic integer ambiguity in time and phase measurements, respectively.

[0096] Figure 6 illustrates example signalling that may be performed by apparatus described herein.

[0097] Figure 6 illustrates signalling that may be performed between a UE 601, an LMF 602, a gNB 603, and a positioning reference unit (PRU) 604. It is understood that although the LMF 602 is depicted separately to the gNB 603 in Figure 6 that the functionality of the LMF may reside in the gNB 603. It is therefore understood that, in Figure 6 and in any other described example described herein, the operations of the LMF may be considered to be performed by at least one of a core network function (e.g., a network function residing in a core network) and / or a radio access network entity (such as a gNB).

[0098] The procedure of 6002 may be triggered by the signalling of at least one of 6001 a or 6001b.

[0099] During 6001a, the UE 601 signals the LMF 602. This signalling may comprise a request for a minimum sounding bandwidth for CPP purposes based on the uplink SRS to be transmitted.

[0100] The signalling of 6001a may comprise capability information to be used by the LMF for determining positioning measurement parameters (e.g., minimum required bandwidth of sounding reference signals) to be configured at the UE 601, such that the UE and / or the LMF can efficiently resolve multipath components and intrinsic integer ambiguity of CP measurements using a minimum bandwidth.

[0101] The capability information may relate to a hardware capability of the UE 601. For example, some UE categories were introduced for representing communication abilities of a UE based on the UE’s hardware capabilities in Release 8 of 3GPP. These have been expanded under later releases to include definitions for over 30 different categories of UEs. The capability information may therefore identify the UE as belonging to a specific pre-defined category of UE out of a plurality of predefined categories of UE, each pre-defined category of UE being reflective based on the UE’s hardware capabilities. The pre-defined categories may each comprise values for a plurality of different communication limitations of a UE, such as, for example, a maximum number of layers for transmission multiplexing, a maximum number of bits per transmission time interval, etc.

[0102] During 6001b, the gNB 603 signals the LMF. This signalling may comprise a request for a minimum sounding bandwidth for CPP purposes based on the uplink SRS to be transmitted.

[0103] The signalling of 6001b may comprise a request for the LMF to to determine positioning measurement parameters (e.g., minimum required bandwidth of positioning reference signals) for use by the gNB and / or LMF when resolving multipath components and intrinsic integer ambiguity of CP measurements using a minimum bandwidth. The request may comprise a request for the LMF to retrieve the capability information of the UE referred to during 6001a. It is understood that the gNB 603 may alternatively signal the UE 601 a trigger that causes the UE 601 to perform the signalling of 6001 instead of directly signalling the LMF during 6001 b.

[0104] During 6002, the LMF determines a list of available bandwidths (e.g., supported bandwidths based on the capability of the UE. The available bandwidths determined may be bandwidths that the indicated hardware of the UE 601 is capable of sustaining.

[0105] The capability of the UE may have previously provided to the LMF. For example, the capability of the UE may be signalled during 6001a. When the operation of 6001b is performed, the capability of the UE may retrieved (e.g., either directly from the UE and / or from a repository function that stores UE capability information) either before or after the signalling of 6001 b.

[0106] During 6002, the LMF 602 selects the PRU 604. The selection of the PRU may be performed based on a combination of the hardware of the PRU 604 (e.g., whether the PRU belongs to the same (or similar) category as the UE 601) and the location of the PRU 604 (e.g., so that PRUs that are closer to the UE 601 are more likely to be selected than PRUs that are further away from the UE 601).

[0107] For example, the LMF may first determine which PRUs are located in the vicinity of the UE 601. This may be performed based on determining those PRUs that are being served by the same access network node (e.g., gNB) as the UE 601. As another example, the LMF may determine which PRUs are determined to be receiving PRS signals downlink from the serving gNB with similar reference signal received power metric values as those measured by the UE 601. Second, the LMF may obtain category information of the PRUs that are identified as being located in the vicinity of the UE 601. This may be performed by, for example, querying a repository function for this information (or some other registration database of PRUs), and / or by querying the PRU and / or gNB for this information. The LMF may compare the category information 21 of the PRUs to the category information of the UE to determine which PRUs located in the vicinity of the UE 601 comprise the most similar hardware to the UE 601. The IMF may select the PRU 604 based on a trade-off between which PRUs are most similar from a hardware perspective and which PRUs are located closest to the UE 601 to identify a PRU 604 that is considered to be as analogous to the UE 601 ’s current situation (e.g., combination of hardware capability and current radio network environment) as possible.

[0108] It is understood that although the following describes operations in relation to a single PRU, that the LMF may select a plurality of PRUs, perform the following operations, and make a determination of a selected uplink bandwidth for SRS based on measurement results based on the plurality of selected PRUs.

[0109] During 6003, the LMF signals the gNB 603. It is understood that although only a single gNB 603 is shown in Figure 6, that a plurality of gNB may be signalled in the same way as gNB 603, and may perform in the same way as gNB 603 in relation to 6005 onwards.

[0110] The signalling of 6003 may comprise the determined list of supported bandwidths of 6002. The signalling of 6003 may comprise a configuration that causes the gNB 603 to be configured to perform measurement on uplink sounding reference signals using the bandwidths on the determined list of supported bandwidths of 6002.

[0111] Stated differently, the LMF 602 configures one or more gNB(s) for uplink reception on a plurality of sounding bandwidths (e.g., the bandwidths on the determined list of supported bandwidths of 6002) from given PRU(s) (e.g., the PRU(s) selected during 6002, including at least PRU 604).

[0112] During 6004, the LMF 602 signals the PRU 604. The signalling of 6004 may comprise the determined list of supported bandwidths of 6002. The signalling of 6004 may comprise a configuration that causes the UE 604 to be configured to transmit uplink sounding reference signals using the bandwidths on the determined list of supported bandwidths of 6002.

[0113] The signalling of 6004 may configure (and request) the PRU 604 to assist the LMF in determining confidence intervals related to, for example, carrier phase measurements ambiguity for the plurality of sounding bandwidths.

[0114] During 6005, the LMF 602 signals the gNB 603. This signalling may comprise a request for the gNB to perform carrier phase measurements on the uplink sounding reference signals transmitted on the bandwidths configured during 6003. These carrier phase measurements may be as described above.

[0115] During 6006, the PRU 604 transmits sounding reference signals on the configured uplink bandwidths that are received by the gNB 603, which performs measurements on those received signals.

[0116] During 6007, the gNB 603 performs measurements of associated positioning parameters for the received sounding reference signals. Stated differently, the gNB 604 obtains the positioning measurement parameters with the PRU on the configured list of sounding bandwidths.

[0117] During 6008, the gNB 603 signals the LMF 602. This signalling may comprise values for the measurements performed during 6007. This measurement information may comprise carrier phase measurements on the requested list.

[0118] During 6009, the LMF 602 computes a position of the PRU 604 using the reported measurements of 6009. The LMF may compare the computed position to the known position of the PRU 604 to obtain confidence errors in respect of each bandwidth for which the carrier phase measurements were provided during 6008.

[0119] During 6010, the LMF 602 determines a minimum bandwidth to be using by the UE 601 for sounding reference signals to be transmitted by the UE 601 based on the confidence errors determined during 6009. For example, the LMF 602 determines a minimum bandwidth to be used that corresponds to the bandwidth used by the PRU 604 to obtain the closest location estimate to the actual location of the PRU.

[0120] Stated differently, the LMF utilizes acquired measurements to estimate the position of PRU with respect to the list of sounding bandwidths, and computes the related confidence interval with respect to PRU’s true position. Furthermore, for the list of configured sounding bandwidths, determines the confidence on minimum required bandwidth (with the additional uncertainty / confidence levels 8), for the possible resolution of the multipath components and integer ambiguity in time and phase measurements for carrier phase positioning, respectively.

[0121] As one possible non-limiting example case, to characterize the underlying timephase measurement trade-offs, the network node may define a (multi-objective) utility optimization problem with the associated constraints, e.g., utilizing the prior available / acquired information such that it efficiently resolves multipath components, and also leads to better phase and delay estimations, as min Wj 1 er : S.t >........... ■ i where a is the constant term, 801 is the standard deviation of firth path delay estimate, t12 is the difference between the first and second paths delay. The term t12 is included in the above optimization problem to allow for the configured (minimum) bandwidth to be at least enough to resolve the first path from the next, (along with the additional uncertainty levels 80]).

[0122] Subsequently, the LMF determines the one or more “best” bandwidths from the list of UE supported / preferred band(s) for the subsequent transmission of a sounding reference signal by the UE 601.

[0123] During 6011, the LMF 603 configures the UE with parameters for transmitting a sounding reference signal for carrier phase-based position determination (including the determined bandwidth of 6010), and activates the determined bandwidth and performs carrier phase measurements.

[0124] Although not shown, it is understood that the time-based measurements performed prior to 6003 may be used to further refine a carrier phase configuration of the UE (e.g., to further select the bandwidth to be used for carrier phase-based measurements). Stated differently, based on the temporal UE's CP measurements, within a given region of interest, the LMF may further optimize the subset list of supported bandwidths before requesting the PRU(s).

[0125] Although the above examples refer to a gNB that receives sounding reference signals from a PRU, it is understood that the same principles may be applied when the gNB is replace by another UE (e.g., such that positioning information is measured during device-to-device and / or sidelink signalling).

[0126] For example, the sidelink target- / transmitting- UE (T-UE) provides the information on a plurality of UE-specific sounding BW(s) to sidelink anchor-Zsupporting -UE (S-UE) (or directly from a network entity), from which S-UE performs above procedure of the gNB 603 and the LMF 602 and chooses the minimum sounding bandwidth for sidelink and / or device-to-device carrier phase measurements.

[0127] Figures 7 and 8 illustrate aspects of the above examples. It is therefore understood that features described in the following may find functional correspondence with features mentioned above. It is further understood that the features described in the following may, especially where the same terminology is used, be further understood with reference to the above examples.

[0128] Figure 7 illustrates operations that may be performed by an apparatus for a network node. The network node may comprise a location management function. The location management function may be comprised in an access network node (such as, for example, a gNB). The network node may comprise an access network node (such as, for example, a gNB). The network node may comprise a virtualized function whose functionality is executed by at least one processor executing code. The functionality of the apparatus may be as described above in relation to the apparatus of Figure 2.

[0129] During 701, the apparatus receives a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal. The positioning reference signal may comprise an uplink sounding reference signal. The positioning reference signal may comprise a downlink positioning reference signal. The terminal may be as described in relation to the apparatus of Figure 3.

[0130] It is understood that when the request is for signalling an uplink SRS, that the following references to positioning reference signals refer to uplink SRSs (e.g., to positioning reference signals that are transmitted from the below mentioned positioning reference unit, and that are received by an access network node). Similarly, it is understood that when the request is for signalling a downlink PRS, that the following references to positioning reference signals refer to downlink PRSs (e.g., to positioning reference signals that are transmitted from an access network node, and that are received by the below mentioned positioning reference unit).

[0131] During 702, the apparatus determines a list of bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal. Stated differently, the apparatus determines a list of supported bandwidths (e.g., a list of bandwidths supported by the terminal).

[0132] During 703, the apparatus selects a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal. The functionality of the positioning reference unit may performed by the apparatus described in any of Figures 2 or 3.

[0133] During 704, the apparatus causes the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported 25 bandwidths. The functionality of the access network node may be performed as described above in relation to Figure 2.

[0134] During 705, the apparatus receives, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated (e.g., transmitted or received, depending on whether the determined bandwidths are for uplink or downlink) with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths.

[0135] During 706, the apparatus uses the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal.

[0136] During 707, the apparatus causes the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.

[0137] The terminal may perform at least one positioning measurement on a positioning reference signal transmitted and / or received in accordance with the configured at least one parameter. The performed at least one positioning measurement may be subsequently be provided to the apparatus, which uses the performed at least one positioning measurement to determine a location of the terminal (e.g., using carrier phase positioning and / or time-based positioning). The determined location of the terminal may be provided to the terminal and / or to an access network node for at least one of: configuring a service provision at the terminal and / or configuring communication resources for communicating between the access network node and the terminal.

[0138] The at least one parameter may comprise at least one of: a positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved (e.g., a transmission power of the positioning reference signal and / or a signal to interference and noise ratio to be achieved).

[0139] The at least one parameter may be selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal and timebased positioning measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal (e.g., a time of arrival and / or a time difference of arrival).

[0140] The request to determine at least one parameter may comprise a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.

[0141] The apparatus may receive, from the access network node, the request to determine the positioning reference signal bandwidth, and retrieve, from the terminal, 26 assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths. It is understood that the request to determine the positioning reference signal bandwidth may alternatively be received from the terminal.

[0142] The apparatus may receive, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal, and determine the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal. In this case, the list of supported bandwidths may relate to the uplink SRS.

[0143] The using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal may comprise: determining, for each positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said positioning reference communicated with the positioning reference unit.

[0144] The apparatus may receive from the terminal and / or an access network node (such as the access network node mentioned above in relation to 704), a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter. The apparatus may determine a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit, and provide the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the access network node.

[0145] The measurement values may comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal and / or time-based positioning measurements performed on the positioning reference signal (e.g., TDOA and / or time of arrival).

[0146] The determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit may comprise determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.

[0147] The example of Figure 7 illustrates operations that may be performed when both an access network node and PRUs are used for assisting in determining a configuration for use in performing positioning operations with respect to a terminal. In contrast, the following considers operations that may be performed when the access network node is replace by another terminal. It is therefore understood that the comments made above in relation to Figure 7 also apply in respect of the operation of Figure 8 (except for access network nodes and network nodes being replace by user equipment).

[0148] Figure 8 illustrates operations that may be performed by an apparatus for a user equipment. It is understood that the following references to sidelink may refer to any direct UE-to-UE communication. The functionality of the apparatus of Figure 8 may be performed using the apparatus of Figure 3.

[0149] During 801, the apparatus receives a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal. The signalling may be for sidelink positioning reference signals transmitted to the terminal or transmitted from the terminal.

[0150] During 802, the apparatus determines a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal.

[0151] The directionality of the sidelink positioning reference signals to be transmitted according to the request may affect the directionality of the signals of the later configured another terminal and / or PRU. For example, when the directionality of the requested sidelink PRS is to the terminal, the below mentioned determined bandwidths may be for transmitting signals to the PRU from the another terminal. In contrast, when the directionality of the requested sidelink PRS is from the terminal, the below mentioned determined bandwidths may be for transmitting signals from the PRU to the another terminal.

[0152] During 803, the apparatus selects a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal.

[0153] During 804, the apparatus causes the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths.

[0154] During 805, the apparatus receives, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal 28 communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths.

[0155] During 806, the apparatus uses the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0156] During 807, the apparatus causes the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0157] The terminal may perform at least one positioning measurement on a positioning reference signal transmitted and / or received in accordance with the configured at least one parameter. The performed at least one positioning measurement may be subsequently be provided to the apparatus, which uses the performed at least one positioning measurement to determine a location of the terminal (e.g., using carrier phase positioning and / or time-based positioning). The determined location of the terminal may be provided to the terminal and / or to another apparatus for at least one of: configuring a service provision at the terminal and / or configuring communication resources for communicating between the another apparatus and the terminal.

[0158] The at least one parameter may comprise at least one of: a sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved (e.g., as described above).

[0159] The at least one parameter may be selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal and time-based positioning measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal (e.g., as described above).

[0160] The request to determine at least one parameter may comprise a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.

[0161] The apparatus may receive, from the another user equipment, the request to determine the sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth, and retrieve, from the terminal, assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths. It is understood that the request to determine the sidelink PRS bandwidth may instead be received from the terminal.

[0162] The apparatus may receive, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal, and determine the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning 29 reference signal, in this case, the list of supported bandwidths may relate to the uplink SRS.

[0163] The using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal comprises: determining, for each sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit.

[0164] The apparatus may receive, from the terminal and / or an another user equipment, a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a sidelink positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter, determine a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit, and provide the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the another user equipment.

[0165] The measurement values may comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal and / or timebased positioning measurements performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0166] The determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit may comprise determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the sidelink positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.

[0167] It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and / or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0168] It is noted that whilst some embodiments have been described in relation to 5G networks, similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and 30 communication systems. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

[0169] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0170] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of " and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0171] In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0172] As used in this application, the term “circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.”

[0173] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0174] The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and / or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computer-executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

[0175] Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

[0176] The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal ) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0177] The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data 32 processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0178] Embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0179] The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the disclosure is set out by the independent claims. The embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0180] The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1) An apparatus for a network node, the apparatus comprising means for performing:receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.2) An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of: a positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved.3) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the at least one parameter is selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal and time-based positioning measurements to be performed on the positioning reference signal.4) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the request to determine at least one parameter comprises a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.5) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means for performing:receiving, from the access network node, the request to determine the positioning reference signal bandwidth; andretrieving, from the terminal, assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths.6) An apparatus a claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means for performing:receiving, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal; anddetermining the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.7) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is comprised in at least one of: a location management function, or an access network node.8) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal comprises: determining, for each positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said positioning reference communicated with the positioning reference unit.9) An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising means for performing:receiving, from the terminal and / or an access network node, a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter;determining a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit; andproviding the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the access network node.10)An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the measurement values comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal and / or time-based positioning measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.11)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 9 to 10 when dependent on claim 8, wherein the determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit comprises determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.12)An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the positioning reference signal comprises at least one of: an uplink sounding reference signal; and a downlink positioning reference signal.13)An apparatus for a user equipment, the apparatus comprising means for performing:receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.14)An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of: a sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth or a minimum signal quality metric to be achieved.15)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 14, wherein the at least one parameter is selected based on reference signal carrier phase measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal and time-based positioning measurements to be performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal.16)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the request to determine at least one parameter comprises a request to determine at least one parameter for carrier phase positioning.17)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 16, further comprising means for performing:receiving, from the another user equipment, the request to determine the sidelink positioning reference signal bandwidth; andretrieving, from the terminal, assistance information for determining the list of supported bandwidths.18)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 17, further comprising means for performing:receiving, from the terminal, carrier phase measurements performed on a positioning reference signal; anddetermining the list of supported bandwidths based on the carrier phase measurements performed on the positioning reference signal.19)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 18, wherein the using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter for the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal comprises: determining, for each sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, a respective confidence interval that represents an accuracy of a position determined using said sidelink positioning reference communicated with the positioning reference unit.20)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 19, comprising means for performing:receiving, from the terminal and / or an another user equipment, a measurement report comprising measurement values obtained based on a sidelink positioning reference signal transmitted using the at least one parameter;determining a location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit; andproviding the determined location to at least one of the terminal or the another user equipment.21)An apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the measurement values comprise reference signal carrier phase measurements performed on the 38sidelink positioning reference signal and / or time-based positioning measurements performed on the sidelink positioning reference signal.22)An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 20 to 21 when dependent on claim 19, wherein the determining the location of the terminal based on the measurement values, the at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit, and the known position of the positioning reference unit comprises determining the location of the terminal based on the confidence interval associated with the sidelink positioning reference signal on which the measurement values are obtained.23)A method for an apparatus for a network node, the method comprising: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.24)A method for an apparatus for a user equipment, the method comprising:receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.25)A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer of a network node, cause the computer to carry out:receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or an access network node to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the access network node, at least one measurement result performed on a positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the positioning reference signal.26)A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer of a user equipment, cause the computer to carry out: receiving a request to determine at least one parameter for a terminal to use for signalling a sidelink positioning reference signal;determining a list of supported bandwidths that can be used for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal based on a capability of the terminal;selecting a positioning reference unit based on a proximity of the positioning reference unit to the terminal and / or a similarity of a capability of the positioning reference unit to the capability of the terminal;causing the positioning reference unit and / or another user equipment to be configured with the determined list of supported bandwidths;receiving, from the another user equipment, at least one measurement result performed on a sidelink positioning reference signal communicated with the positioning reference unit using a bandwidth of the determined list of supported bandwidths;using the at least one measurement result and a known position of the positioning reference unit to select at least one parameter to be applied by the terminal to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal; andcausing the terminal to be configured with the at least one parameter for signalling the sidelink positioning reference signal.42

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