Impulse Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) with Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP)

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communications are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) transmits a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message includes one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node, and performs at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more aiding parameters that configure the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims priority to Greek Patent Application No. 20210100084, entitled "IMPULSE RADIO ULTRA WIDEBAND (IR-UWB) USING LONG-TERM EVOLUTION (LTE(R)) POSITIONING PROTOCOL (LPP)," filed on February 8, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. [Background technology]

[0003]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004]

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), calls for higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard by the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to a few dozen workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Thus, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] The following provides a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview related to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to define the scope related to a particular aspect. Thus, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting, in a simplified form, some concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0006]

[0006] A method of wireless communications performed by a user equipment (UE) includes transmitting a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) capabilities message to a network entity, the LPP capabilities message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node, receiving an LPP assistance data message from the network entity, the LPP assistance data message including one or more assistance parameters configuring the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure, and performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters.

[0007]

[0007] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: send a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity via the at least one transceiver; receive an LPP assistance data message from the network entity via the at least one transceiver, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with the at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; and perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more assistance parameters that configure the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0008]

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for sending a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, means for receiving an LPP assistance data message from the network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node, and means for performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more assistance parameters that configure the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0009]

[0009] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: send a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; and perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more aiding parameters that configure the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0010]

[0010] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention.

[0011]

[0011] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided merely to illustrate the aspects, not to limit the aspects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0014] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4]

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) reference source for positioning. [Diagram 5]

[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates an example LPP call flow between a UE and a location server for performing a positioning operation. [Figure 6]

[0017] 1 is a graph showing allowable ultra-wideband (UWB) effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) emission levels for various frequency bandwidths. [Figure 7]

[0018] Graph showing a typical Impulse Radio UWB (IR-UWB) pulse. [Figure 8]

[0019] 8A and 8B are two graphs showing the power spectral density (PSD) over frequency for a series of higher order derivatives of a Gaussian pulse as described with reference to FIG. 7; [Figure 9]

[0020] 1 is a diagram of an exemplary symbol used in an IR-UWB system. [Figure 10]

[0021] 1 is a diagram of an example physical layer frame used in an IR-UWB system. [Figure 11]

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA) method. [Figure 12]

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary Symmetric Double-Sided TW-TOA (SDS-TW-TOA) ranging procedure. [Figure 13]

[0024] 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in which a base station is in communication with a UE. [Figure 14]

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates two overlap scenarios for LTE and / or New Radio (NR) carrier frequencies and IR-UWB carrier frequencies. [Figure 15]

[0026] 1 is a diagram of an example positioning reference signal (PRS) and IR-UWB configuration for performing two-step positioning, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013]

[0028] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0014]

[0029] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0015]

[0030] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0016]

[0031] Furthermore, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Furthermore, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0017]

[0032] The terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" as used herein are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via the RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks, such as the Internet, and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0018]

[0033] Depending on the network in which it is deployed, a base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with the UE and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term Traffic Channel (TCH) as used herein may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0019]

[0034] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, if the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. If the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in cases where the base station employs beamforming). If the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, and therefore, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0020]

[0035] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0021]

[0036] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0022]

[0037] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0023]

[0038] The base stations 102 collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as through an application server (not shown), through another network, such as through a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below). For signaling purposes, communication between the UE 104 and the location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown by direct connection 128), with intervening nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagrams for clarity.

[0024]

[0039] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0025]

[0040] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. Additionally, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably, since a TRP is generally a physical transmission point of a cell. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within any portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0026]

[0041] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0027]

[0042] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions (also referred to as reverse link) from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) transmissions (also referred to as forward link) from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0028]

[0043] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0029]

[0044] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0030]

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) and / or near-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also referred to as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Moreover, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Thus, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0031]

[0046] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). In transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0032]

[0047] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocated (QCL) relationships. In particular, a QCL relationship of a given type means that some parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam may be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial receive parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0033]

[0048] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0034]

[0049] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters for the second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0035]

[0050] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0036]

[0051] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers, although portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes arises with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is distinct from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the "millimeter wave" band.

[0037]

[0052] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified these mid-band frequency bands of operation as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit the characteristics of FR1 and / or the characteristics of FR2, thus effectively extending the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0038]

[0053] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0039]

[0054] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell" and the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., nothing UE-specific may be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or a SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0040]

[0055] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0041]

[0056] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via an mmW communications link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0042]

[0057] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communications. A sidelink-enabled UE (SL-UE) may communicate with the base station 102 over the communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). The SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over the wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-enabled UEs). The wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the groups of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such groups may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications occur between SL-UEs without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0043]

[0058] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communications medium of interest that may be shared with other vehicular and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communications resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for some communications systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi®." Exemplary systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so forth.

[0044]

[0059] It should be noted that while FIG. 1 shows only two of the UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182) as SL-UEs, any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Additionally, while only UE 182 has been described as capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. If SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0045]

[0060] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system generally includes a system of transmitters arranged to enable a receiver (e.g., the UE 104) to determine the location of the receiver on or above the Earth based at least in part on a positioning signal (e.g., signal 124) received from a transmitter (e.g., the SV 112). Such a transmitter generally transmits a signal marked with a repetitive pseudorandom noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although generally located in the SV 112, the transmitter may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, a base station 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 to derive geolocation information from the SVs 112.

[0046]

[0061] In a satellite positioning system, the use of the signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, a satellite positioning system, as used herein, may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0047]

[0062] In one aspect, the SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also called a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In this way, the UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from the SV 112 instead of or in addition to communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0048]

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0049]

[0064] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be considered functionally as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, a ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both an ng-eNB 224 and a gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0050]

[0065] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE(s) 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UEs 204 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network or, alternatively, may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0051]

[0066] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a Session Management Function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and a Security Anchor Function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification.In addition, AMF264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0052]

[0067] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "termination markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages on the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as the SLP 272.

[0053]

[0068] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0054]

[0069] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may be connected to the LMF 270 via a core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, except that the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0055]

[0070] Yet another optional aspect may include a third party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third party servers 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0056]

[0071] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, in particular the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0057]

[0072] The functions of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for functions exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU(s). More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as an "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functions of the gNB 222 are generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as an "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0058]

[0073] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively may be unrelated to the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may contain multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0059]

[0074] The UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0060]

[0075] The UE 302 and base station 304 also each, in at least some cases, include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communications (NFC), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a specified RAT. In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, Zigbee and / or Z-Wave transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0061]

[0076] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also, at least in some cases, include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Navigation Satellite System of India (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control data and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communications signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and action from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0062]

[0077] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links or to communicate with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0063]

[0078] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired or wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitter 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362). The transmitter may be an integrated device in some implementations (e.g., implemented as a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit in a single device), may comprise a separate transmitter circuit and a separate receiver circuit in some implementations, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter and receiver circuits of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listen modules (NLMs) and the like for performing various measurements.

[0064]

[0079] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being implemented. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally involves signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involves signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0065]

[0080] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functionality related to wireless communications and to provide other processing functions. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may thus provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0066]

[0081] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.) cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform functions described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of a positioning component 398, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0067]

[0082] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0068]

[0083] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or a means for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0069]

[0084] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of higher layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0070]

[0085] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0071]

[0086] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0072]

[0087] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0073]

[0088] Similar to the functions described with respect to downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0074]

[0089] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0075]

[0090] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0076]

[0091] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to a core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0077]

[0092] For convenience, the UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the illustrated components may have different functions in different designs. In particular, the various components in FIGS. 3A-3C are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, device use, or other considerations. For example, in the case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, etc. 3B, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For brevity, a description of various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0078]

[0093] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB functionality and location server functionality integrated in the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0079]

[0094] The components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in a variety of ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0080]

[0095] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 through the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0081]

[0096] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from a pair of base stations, called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives an identifier (ID) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (eg, the UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the location of the UE.

[0082]

[0097] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0083]

[0098] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. In particular, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (called relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and that of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.

[0084]

[0099] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0085]

[0100] The downlink and uplink based positioning methods include Extended Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also called "Multi-Cell RTT" and "Multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or an SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or a PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is called the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be made or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurements to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined from the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). In the case of multi-RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or a base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity (e.g., using multilateration). The RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0086]

[0101] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identities, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base station(s).

[0087]

[0102] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots containing the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive slots containing the PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcasted overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes on its own without using the assistance data.

[0088]

[0103] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 32 μs when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1. In other cases, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 8 μs when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2.

[0089]

[0104] A location estimate may be called by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to cover with some specified or default confidence level).

[0090]

[0105] In LTE and, at least in some cases, NR, positioning measurements are reported through higher layer signaling, in particular the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) and / or RRC. LPP is defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 37.355, which is publicly available and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. LPP is used point-to-point between a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) to position the UE using location-related measurements obtained from one or more reference sources.

[0091]

[0106] FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an example LPP reference source for positioning. In the example of FIG. 4, a target device, specifically a UE 404 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) is engaged in an LPP session with a location server 430 (labeled as “E-SMLC / SLP” in the particular example of FIG. 4). The UE 404 is also receiving / measuring wireless positioning signals from a first reference source, specifically one or more base stations 402 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein and are labeled as “eNodeB” in the particular example of FIG. 4), and a second reference source, specifically one or more SPS satellites 420 (which may correspond to SV112 in FIG. 1).

[0092]

[0107] An LPP session is used between the location server 430 and the UE 404 to obtain location-related measurements or location estimates or to transfer assistance data. A single LPP session is used to support a single location request (e.g., for a single Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR), Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR), or Network Induced Location Request (NI-LR)). Multiple LPP sessions may be used between the same endpoints to support multiple different location requests. Each LPP session comprises one or more LPP transactions, each performing a single operation (e.g., capability exchange, assistance data transfer, location information transfer). An LPP transaction is called an LPP procedure. The initiator of an LPP session initiates the first LPP transaction, but subsequent transactions may be initiated by either endpoint. LPP transactions within a session may be performed serially or in parallel. LPP transactions are indicated at the LPP protocol level with a transaction identifier to associate messages (e.g., requests and responses) with each other. Messages within a transaction are linked by a common transaction identifier.

[0093]

[0108] LPP positioning methods and associated signaling content are defined in the 3GPP LPP standard (3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.355, which is published and incorporated by reference in its entirety). LPP signaling can be used to request and report measurements related to the following positioning methods: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Aided Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), LTE Enhanced Cell Identity (E-CID), NR E-CID, Sensors, Terrestrial Beacon System (TBS), WLAN, Bluetooth, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD), Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA), and Multiple Round Trip Time (RTT). Currently, an LPP measurement report may include the following measurements: (1) one or more Time of Arrival (ToA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), or Receive-Transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements; (2) one or more AoA and / or AoD measurements (currently only for base stations to report UL-AoA and DL-AoD to location server 430); (3) one or more multipath measurements (ToA, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), AoA / AoD per path); (4) one or more motion states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectory (currently only for UE 404); and (5) one or more reporting quality indications. In this disclosure, positioning measurements such as the example measurements just listed, regardless of positioning technology, may be collectively referred to as Positioning State Information (PSI).

[0094]

[0109] The UE 404 and / or location server 430 may derive location information from one or more reference sources, shown in the example of FIG. 4 as SPS satellite(s) 420 and base station(s) 402. Each reference source may be used to calculate an independent estimate of the location of the UE 404 using an associated positioning technique. In the example of FIG. 4, the UE 404 is measuring characteristics (e.g., ToA, RSRP, RSTD, etc.) of positioning signals received from base station(s) 402 to calculate, or assist the location server 430 in calculating, an estimate of the location of the UE 404 using one or more cellular network-based positioning methods (e.g., multi-RTT, OTDOA, DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, E-CID, etc.). Similarly, the UE 404 is measuring characteristics (e.g., ToA) of GNSS signals received from SPS satellites 420 to triangulate its location in two or three dimensions depending on the number of SPS satellites 420 measured. In some cases, the UE 404 or location server 430 may combine location solutions derived from each of the different positioning techniques to improve the accuracy of the final location estimate.

[0095]

[0110] As mentioned above, the UE 404 uses LPP to report location related measurements obtained from different reference sources (e.g., base stations 402, Bluetooth beacons, SPS satellites 420, WLAN access points, motion sensors, etc.). As an example, in the case of GNSS-based positioning, the UE 404 uses the LPP information element (IE) "A-GNSS-ProvideLocationInformation" to provide location measurements (e.g., pseudorange, location estimate, velocity, etc.) along with time information to the location server 430. It may also be used to provide GNSS positioning specific error reasons. The "A-GNSS-ProvideLocationInformation" IE includes IEs such as "GNSS-SignalMeasurementInformation", "GNSS-LocationInformation", "GNSS-MeasurementList", and "GNSS-Error". The UE 404 includes the "GNSS-LocationInformation" IE when it provides location and optionally velocity information derived using GNSS or hybrid GNSS and other measurements to the location server 430. The UE 404 uses the "GNSS-SignalMeasurementInformation" IE to provide GNSS signal measurement information to the location server 430 and to provide GNSS network time association if requested by the location server 430. This information includes measurements of code phase, Doppler, C / No and optionally accumulated carrier phase, also called accumulated delta range (ADR), which enables UE-assisted GNSS methods where location is calculated in the location server 430. The UE 404 uses the "GNSS-MeasurementList" IE to provide measurements of code phase, Doppler, C / No and optionally accumulated carrier phase (or ADR).

[0096]

[0111] As another example, for motion sensor-based positioning, currently supported positioning methods use air pressure sensors and motion sensors, as described in 3GPP TS36.305 (published and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The UE 404 uses the LPP IE "Sensor-ProvideLocationInformation" to provide location information for sensor-based methods to the location server 430. It may also be used to provide sensor-specific error reasons. The UE 404 uses the "Sensor-MeasurementInformation" IE to provide sensor measurements (e.g., air pressure readings) to the location server 430. The UE 404 uses "Sensor-MotionInformation" to provide motion information to the location server 430. The motion information may comprise an ordered series of points. This information may be obtained by the UE 404 using one or more motion sensors (e.g., accelerometer, barometer, magnetometer, etc.).

[0097]

[0112] As yet another example, in the case of Bluetooth-based positioning, the UE 404 uses the "BT-ProvideLocationInformation" IE to provide measurements of one or more Bluetooth beacons to the location server 430. This IE may also be used to provide Bluetooth positioning specific error reasons.

[0098]

[0113] 5 illustrates an example LPP procedure 500 between a UE 504 and a location server (depicted as LMF 570) for performing a positioning operation. As illustrated in FIG. 5, positioning of the UE 504 is supported via an exchange of LPP messages between the UE 504 and the LMF 570. The LPP messages may be exchanged between the UE 504 and the LMF 570 via a serving base station (depicted as a serving gNB 502) of the UE 505 and a core network (not shown). The LPP procedure 500 may be used to position the UE 504 to support various location-related services, such as navigation for the UE 504 (or for a user of the UE 504), for routing, or to provide an accurate location to a public safety answering point (PSAP) in connection with an emergency call from the UE 504 to the PSAP, or for some other reason. The LPP procedure 500 may also be referred to as a positioning session, and there may be multiple positioning sessions for different types of positioning methods (eg, DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.).

[0099]

[0114] Initially, the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities (e.g., an LPP Capability Request message) from the LMF 570 at stage 510. At stage 520, the UE 504 provides the LMF 570 with its positioning capabilities for the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Capability Provision message to the LMF 570 indicating the positioning methods and characteristics of these positioning methods supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Capability Provision message may, in some aspects, indicate the types of positioning that the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the capabilities of the UE 504 to support those types of positioning.

[0100]

[0115] Upon receiving the LPP capability provision message, in stage 520, the LMF 570 determines to use a particular type of positioning method (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, sensor, TBS, WLAN, Bluetooth, etc.) based on the indicated types of positioning that the UE 504 supports, and determines, for example, a set of one or more transmit reception points (TRPs) to which the UE 504 should measure downlink positioning reference signals or to which the UE 504 should transmit uplink positioning reference signals. In stage 530, the LMF 570 sends an LPP assistance data provision message to the UE 504 identifying the set of TRPs.

[0116] In some implementations, the Provide LPP Assistance Data message in stage 530 may be sent by the LMF 570 to the UE 504 in response to an LPP Request Assistance Data message (not shown in FIG. 5) sent by the UE 504 to the LMF 570. The Request LPP Assistance Data message may include an identifier of the serving TRP of the UE 504 and a request for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration of neighboring TRPs.

[0101]

[0117] At stage 540, the LMF 570 sends a request for location information to the UE 504. The request may be an LPP Location Information Request message. This message typically includes information elements that define the location information type, the desired accuracy of the location estimate, and the response time (i.e., the desired latency). Note that a low latency requirement allows for a longer response time, while a high latency requirement requires a shorter response time. However, a long response time is referred to as a high latency, and a short response time is referred to as a low latency.

[0102]

[0118] It should be noted that in some implementations, for example, if the UE 504 sends a request for assistance data to the LMF 570 (e.g., in an LPP Request Assistance Data message not shown in FIG. 5) after receiving a request for location information in stage 540, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message sent in stage 530 may be sent after the LPP Request Location Information message in 540.

[0103]

[0119] In stage 550, the UE 504 utilizes the assistance information received in stage 530 and any additional data received in stage 540 (e.g., desired location accuracy or maximum response time) to perform positioning operations (e.g., measuring DL-PRS, transmitting UL-PRS, etc.) for the selected positioning method.

[0104]

[0120] In stage 560, the UE 504 may send an LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 570 conveying the results of any measurements obtained in stage 550 (e.g., Time of Arrival (ToA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Receive-Transmit (RxTx), etc.) before or upon expiration of any maximum response time (e.g., the maximum response time provided by the LMF 570 in stage 540). The LPP Provide Location Information message in stage 560 may also include the time (or times) at which the positioning measurements were obtained and the identity of the TRP from which the positioning measurements were obtained. Note that the time between the request for location information in 540 and the response in 560 is the "response time" and indicates the latency of the positioning session.

[0105]

[0121] At stage 560, the LMF 570 calculates an estimated location of the UE 504 using an appropriate positioning technique (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, sensor, WLAN, Bluetooth, etc.) based at least in part on the measurements received in the LPP location information provision message.

[0106]

[0122] Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) is being explored as another means to provide positioning services. UWB is currently used for radar sensing and is defined in, among other standards, the IEEE 802.15.4a / 4z standard (published and incorporated by reference in its entirety). IR-UWB radar recognizes events by emitting an extremely narrow pulse-shaped reference signal and analyzing the reflection from a target object or human body. IR-UWB radar is not affected by lighting conditions and has an extremely low emitted power, so there are no adverse effects on the human body.

[0107]

[0123] Due to its various advantages over existing context-aware sensors and smart computing capabilities, IR-UWB radar shows significant potential in a wide variety of practical applications, including safety and security, 2D / 3D positioning and tracking, health monitoring, elderly care, smart homes and buildings, smart / autonomous vehicles, gesture recognition, radar imaging, see-through walls, etc. Especially, as IoT is on the rise, the role of IR-UWB radar is becoming increasingly important.

[0108]

[0124] Below are some important features of UWB systems in general, including IR-UWB. The most important property of UWB is its large bandwidth compared to generalized narrowband systems. One consequence of UWB's large bandwidth is that the duration of UWB signals is extremely short due to the inverse relationship between time and frequency. Therefore, the time resolution of UWB signals is high, making UWB a good candidate for positioning. UWB systems are also suitable for high-speed communication due to their wide bandwidth. Another useful property of UWB is that it can occupy low carrier frequencies where signals can pass through obstacles more easily. UWB signals can also be transmitted in baseband, and therefore no intermediate frequency (IF) multipliers are required in the transceiver. This property can result in simpler and less costly hardware. The high time resolution and short wavelength of the UWB signal make it hardened against multipath interference and fading. In addition, the shape of the UWB signal is similar to noise, and therefore eavesdropping is less likely. Finally, UWB is wireless communication over an ultra-wide bandwidth with limited effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP).

[0109]

[0125] FIG. 6 shows a graph 600 illustrating the allowed UWB EIRP emission levels (in decibel milliwatts (dBm)) for various frequency bandwidths (in gigahertz (GHz)). EIRP limits are set by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC). There is one set of limits for indoor operation (shown by line 610) and another set of limits for outdoor operation (shown by line 620). As shown in FIG. 6, EIRP is limited to less than -40 dBm, and portions of the available bandwidth have even lower limits. For example, in the bandwidth from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz, the allowed EIRP is 41.3 dBm. In other regions (outside the United States), there are different regulations on UWB EIRP emission levels for different frequencies. However, in many regions, UWB emission levels above -40 dBm on any carrier frequency are not allowed.

[0110]

[0126] FIG. 7 shows a graph 700 illustrating a typical IR-UWB pulse. The graph 700 is normalized in the frequency domain, which means the amplitude of the pulse ranges from 0 to 1. An exemplary pulse bandwidth is 500 MHz. In the time domain, the pulse is approximately 2 nanoseconds (ns), or 10 -10 An exemplary UWB pulse, as shown in graph 700, is Gaussian, which has a width of

[0111]

number

[0112] and its nth derivative.

[0113]

[0127] 8 shows two graphs 810 and 850 illustrating the power spectral density (PSD) (signal energy transmitted over a finite time period and frequency spectrum) in decibels (dB) over frequency in megahertz (MHz) for a series of higher order derivatives of the Gaussian pulse described above with reference to FIG. 7. In particular, graphs 810 and 820 show IR-UWB Gaussian pulses for n=1 to n=15. Graphs 810 and 850 are normalized in the frequency domain. Thus, 0 dB corresponds to −40 dB on graph 600 of FIG. 6.

[0114]

[0128] Overlaid on graph 810 is line 820, which indicates the FCC limits for an indoor UWB system. Line 820 corresponds to line 610 in Figure 6. As shown in graph 810, the higher order derivatives of a Gaussian pulse at n=5 is the first pulse that meets the FCC indoor limits, as shown by line 820.

[0115]

[0129] Also overlaid on graph 850 is line 860, which indicates the FCC limits for an outdoor UWB system. Line 860 corresponds to line 620 in Figure 6. As shown in graph 850, the higher order derivatives of a Gaussian pulse at n=7 is the first pulse that meets the FCC outdoor limits, as shown by line 860.

[0116]

[0130] In IR-UWB systems, data is transmitted by low-duty UWB signals, and the information of the symbols is carried by the position and / or polarity of the signal. Each symbol corresponds to one or more signals. To modulate the symbols, a combination of burst position modulation (BPM) and binary phase shift keying (BPSK) may be used, with each symbol consisting of an active burst of UWB pulses.

[0117]

[0131] FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example symbol 900 used in an IR-UWB system. The symbol 900 may be composed of various time and / or frequency resources. dsym The total length of the symbol 900 in the time domain (labeled as BPM In a BPM-BPSK modulation scheme, each symbol 900 may be capable of carrying two bits of information, one bit representing the (N hop ) and an additional bit can be used to modulate the phase (polarity) of this same burst. The guard interval is included to limit the amount of inter-symbol interference caused by multipath. In the example of FIG. 9, there are eight possible burst positions (N hop Each burst has a time of T burst A burst has a length, or burst interval, of T c N cpb It consists of chirps.

[0118]

[0132] 10 is a diagram of an example physical layer frame 1000 used in an IR-UWB system. The physical layer frame 1000, sometimes referred to as a physical protocol data unit (PPDU), is composed of three parts: a synchronization header (SHR) preamble, which is made up of a preamble field 1010 and a start of frame delimiter (SFD) field 1020; a physical layer header (PHR) field 1030; and a physical layer service data unit (PDSU) 1040.

[0119]

[0133] The preamble field 1010 is used to announce the arrival of a packet and synchronize entities. The length of the preamble field 1010 can be one of 16, 64, 1024, or 4096 symbols. The preamble field 1010 can carry one of eight possible symbol sequences. The symbol sequences have an important property called perfect periodic auto-correlation, which reduces ranging errors caused by multipath propagation.

[0120]

[0134] The SFD field 1020 is a short sequence of 8 or 64 symbols that signals the end of the preamble and the start of the PHR field 1030. In the ranging protocol (described below), the arrival time of the signal and the processing time between the arrival and return of the acknowledgment must be measured accurately. The SDF field 1020 is short in order to trigger the start and stop times required for accurate timing.

[0121]

[0135] The PHR field 1030 is a physical layer header and contains information about the data to be received, including the length of the data and the data rate used to transmit the data. The PHR field 1030 has a length of 19 bits, including 6 single error correction double error detection (SECDED) bits, and can be transmitted at data rates of 110 or 850 kilobits per second (kbs).

[0122]

[0136] The PDSU 1040 is the actual payload of encoded user data. It can be transmitted at data rates from 110 kbs to 27.24 Megabits per second (Mbs).

[0123]

[0137] There are two different ranging protocols. The basic protocol is two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA). The second protocol, which is more accurate, is symmetric double-sided (SDS) TW-TOA.

[0124]

[0138] 11 illustrates an exemplary TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100. The TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100 is performed between a target node 1102 (e.g., a UE, a base station, an AP, etc.) being positioned and a source node 1104 (e.g., another UE, a base station, an AP, etc.). The target node 1102 includes an RDEV A PHY entity 1102A and an RDEV A MAC entity 1102B. Similarly, the source node 1104 includes an RDEV B PHY entity 1104A and an RDEV B MAC entity 1104B. The term "RDEV" simply refers to a device capable of performing the TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100.

[0125]

[0139] At 1110, the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B of the target node 1102 sends a data request to the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A to send a ranging request to the source node 1104. At 1112, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A sends a data request to the source node 1104 to send a ranging request to the source node 1104. req ” and records the departure time of the ranging request, labeled “T1.” At 1114, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A sends an acknowledgement to the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B indicating that the ranging request was sent.

[0126]

[0140] At 1116, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A of the source node 1104 receives the ranging request and sends a data indication to the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B to indicate that the ranging request was received. At 1118, the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B sends a data request to the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A to send a ranging response to the target node 1102. At 1120, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A sends a "Range Response" to the target node 1102. rep At 1122, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A sends an acknowledgement to the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B indicating that the ranging response was sent.

[0127]

[0141] At 1124, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A receives the ranging response and sends a data indication to the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B to indicate that the ranging response was received. The target node 1102 records the arrival time of the ranging response, labeled "T2". The target node 1102 then records the arrival time of the ranging response, labeled "T2". r The round trip time, labeled T r = T2 - T1. The target node 1102 can then calculate TWThe time of flight (TOF) between the target node 1102 (called “target node”) and the source node 1104 can be calculated, which is T TW =T r / 2. The distance between two nodes is given by d=c*T TW where c is the speed of light. Using the three distances from the three source nodes 1104, the target node 1102 can determine its location based on the known locations of the source nodes 1104.

[0128]

[0142] In practice, as shown in FIG. 11, there is a time, called a turnaround time, T ta (or for source node 1104

[0129]

number

[0130] ) delay. Due to the high speed of light,

[0131]

number

[0132] A nanosecond can cause a ranging error of tens of centimeters. Therefore,

[0133]

number

[0134] It is important to have an accurate estimate of

[0135]

[0143] To address this issue,

[0136]

number

[0137] The estimate of can be provided to the target node 1102 for more accurate ranging. In particular, a counter (or timer) in the source node 1104 is started when the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A detects the first symbol of the SFD of the ranging request and stops when the first symbol of the SFD of the ranging response is sent. Then, after sending the ranging response at 1118-1122, the source node 1104 resets the start and stop values ​​of the counter, or

[0138]

number

[0139] In particular, at 1126, the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B sends a data request to the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A to send a timestamp report to the target node 1102. At 1128, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A sends a timestamp report to the target node 1102. The timestamp report includes the start and stop times of the counter, or

[0140]

number

[0141] At 1130, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A sends an acknowledgement to the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B indicating that the timestamp report was sent.

[0142]

[0144] In 1132, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A receives the timestamp report and sends a data indication to the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B to indicate that the timestamp report was received. The data indication may include a counter start time and a stop time, or

[0143]

number

[0144] Contains the value of

[0145]

number

[0146] Using the estimated value of, TOF is,

[0147]

number

[0148] As explained above, the distance between the target node 1102 and the source node 1104 can be calculated as d=c*T TW where c is the speed of light. Using the three distances to the three source nodes 1104, the target node 1102 (or other positioning entity) can determine its location based on the known locations of the source nodes 1104.

[0149]

[0145] At 1134, the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B sends a data request to the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A to send an acknowledgment (ACK) to the source node 1104. At 1136, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A sends an acknowledgment to the source node 1104. At 1138, the RDEV A PHY entity 1102A sends a confirmation to the RDEV A MAC entity 1102B indicating that the acknowledgment has been sent. At 1140, the RDEV B PHY entity 1104A receives the acknowledgment and sends a data indication to the RDEV B MAC entity 1104B to indicate that the acknowledgment has been received.

[0150] One of the error sources in the TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100 is the clock offset. The crystal oscillator used in the sensor device (source or target node) may not operate exactly at the nominal frequency, and therefore there is a small positive or negative offset in the time measurement. The speed of light is high, and this small offset can cause significant errors in the ranging. The SDS protocol is designed to mitigate the clock offset error. In the SDS-TW-TOA method, after the target node receives the ranging response, it sends a second ranging request to the source node. Thus, each of the nodes determines the round trip time T r and turnaround time T ta Finally, the source node has an estimate of the measured T r and

[0151]

number

[0152] A timestamp containing the

[0153]

[0147] Figure 12 illustrates an example SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200. The SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200 is performed between a target node 1202 (e.g., a UE, a base station, an AP, etc.) being positioned and a source node 1204 (e.g., another UE, a base station, an AP, etc.). The target node 1202 includes an RDEV A PHY entity 1202A and an RDEV A MAC entity 1202B. Similarly, the source node 1204 includes an RDEV B PHY entity 1204A and an RDEV B MAC entity 1204B. The term "RDEV" refers to a device capable of performing the SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200.

[0154]

[0148] In 1210, the R-DEV A MAC entity 1202B of the target node 1202 sends a data request to the R-DEV A PHY entity 1202A to send a ranging request to the source node 1204. In 1212, the R-DEV A PHY entity 1202A sends a data request to the source node 1204 to send a ranging request to the source node 1204. req ” and records the departure time of the ranging request, labeled “T1.” At 1214, the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A sends an acknowledgement to the RDEV A MAC entity 1202B indicating that the ranging request was sent.

[0155]

[0149] At 1216, the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A of the source node 1204 receives the ranging request and sends a data indication to the RDEV B MAC entity 1204B to indicate that the ranging request has been received. At 1218, the RDEV B MAC entity 1204B sends a data request to the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A to send a ranging response to the target node 1202. At 1220, the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends a "Range Response" to the target node 1202. rep RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends a ranging response labeled "T1" and records the departure time of the ranging response labeled "T2". The ranging response also includes an acknowledgment of the ranging request. At 1222, RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends an acknowledgment to RDEV B MAC entity 1204B indicating that the ranging response was sent.

[0156]

[0150] To the target node 1202,

[0157]

number

[0158] To provide an estimate of the turnaround time at the source node 1204, labeled as , the source node 1204 starts (at 1212) a counter (or timer) when the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A receives the first symbol of the SFD of the ranging request and stops (at 1220) the counter (or timer) when the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends the first symbol of the SFD of the ranging response. The source node 1204 can store these values ​​for later transmission to the target node 1202 (e.g., at 1236).

[0159] At 1224, the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A receives the ranging response and sends a data indication to the RDEV A MAC entity 1202B to indicate that the ranging response was received. The target node 1202 records the arrival time of the ranging response, labeled "T2". The target node 1202 then:

[0160]

number

[0161] The round trip time is marked

[0162]

number

[0163] It can be calculated as:

[0164]

[0152] In 1226, the RDEV A MAC entity 1202B sends a data request to the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A to send a second ranging request to the source node 1204. In 1228, the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A sends the second ranging request to the source node 1204. In 1230, the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A sends a confirmation to the RDEV A MAC entity 1202B indicating that the second ranging request has been sent. In 1232, the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A receives the second ranging request, records the arrival time of the second ranging request labeled "T4", and sends a data indication to the RDEV B MAC entity 1204B to indicate that the second ranging request has been received. The source node 1204 then:

[0165]

number

[0166] Its own round trip time, labeled

[0167]

number

[0168] It can be calculated as:

[0169] At 1234, the RDEV B MAC entity 1204B sends a data request to the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A to send a timestamp report to the target node 1202. At 1228, the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends a timestamp report to the target node 1202. The timestamp report includes the start and stop times of the counter, or

[0170]

number

[0171] The timestamp report also includes the values ​​of T3 and T4 or

[0172]

number

[0173] The timestamp report may also include an acknowledgment of the second ranging request. At 1230, the RDEV B PHY entity 1204A sends an acknowledgment to the RDEV B MAC entity 1204B indicating that the timestamp report was sent.

[0174]

[0154] The target node 1202 is

[0175]

number

[0176] may calculate its own turnaround time, labeled as , as the difference between the arrival time of the ranging response at 1220 and the transmission time of the second ranging request at 1228. For example, the target node 1202 may start a counter (or timer) when the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A receives the first symbol of the SFD of the ranging response (at 1220) and stop the counter when the RDEV A PHY entity 1202A sends the first symbol of the SFD of the second ranging request (at 1228).

[0177]

[0155] The target node 1202 (or other positioning entity) calculates the TOF between the target node 1202 and the source node 1204.

[0178]

number

[0179] The distance between the target node 1202 and the source node 1204 can be estimated as d=c*T SDS where c is the speed of light. Using the three distances to the three source nodes 1204, the target node 1202 (or other positioning entity) can determine its location based on the known locations of the source nodes 1204.

[0180] As described above, a target node (e.g., target node 1102 / 1202) may calculate an estimate of its own location. Alternatively, the target node may report measurements of ranging signals exchanged with the source node to a positioning entity in one or more measurement reports. In an IR-UWB system, the target node transmits these measurement reports to the positioning entity as one or more IR-UWB PPDUs (e.g., physical layer frames 1000). The positioning entity may be a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272), a serving base station, another UE, a third-party application, etc.

[0181]

[0157] As can be seen from the above, TW-TOA is a simple solution for measuring time of arrival while eliminating device internal process time, while SDS-TW-TOA is a more advanced solution for mitigating errors from frequency offsets at both nodes.

[0182]

[0158] In indoor positioning systems, the distances to be measured are not much more than 30 meters, so T TW and T SDS Note that the maximum value of is on the order of 0.1 microseconds (μs). Another point is that T ta The problem is that T is not just the response time of the node, but also includes the duration of the packet, and is therefore on the order of milliseconds. TW and T SDS is Tta Much smaller than that.

[0183]

[0159] The present disclosure provides techniques for integrating IR-UWB-based ranging / positioning into LPP. In one aspect, capabilities and assistance data for IR-UWB configuration may be added to the current LPP signaling defined in 3GPP TS37.355. For added capabilities, the UE may report whether it supports IR-UWB-based ranging / positioning integrated with LPP in the LPP capability provision message (e.g., as in 520 of FIG. 5). For example, the UE may report what type of SHR preamble it supports (i.e., one or more of the eight types of preambles currently defined for the preamble field 1010), whether it supports TW-TOA and / or SDS-TW-TOA, etc.

[0184] Regarding additional assistance data, the UE may receive assistance data for IR-UWB configuration. For example, the assistance data may indicate which SHR preamble to use (such as the index of the sequence used for the preamble, the length of the sequence, the number of repetitions of the sequence), whether to use TW-TOA or SDS-TW-TOA, the carrier frequency of IR-UWB transmission, the transmission bandwidth of IR-UWB, etc. The assistance data may further include some additional configurations, such as how to activate / indicate IR-UWB ranging / positioning, whether and / or how to report the measurement results of IR-UWB ranging / positioning, and information enabling joint use of NR-based positioning techniques and IR-UWB ranging / positioning.

[0185]

[0161] This disclosure also defines corresponding UE behaviors for ranging / positioning measurements and related communications (e.g., timestamp reporting, measurement report, etc.). As a first option, both the positioning measurements and the communications related to those measurements are performed in the IR-UWB system. In this option, the PPDU format (e.g., physical layer frame 1000) of the IR-UWB system based on IEEE 802.15.4a / 4z is reused and contains all the required preambles and information regarding ranging / positioning results on IR-UWB. That is, for example, the PPDU is used for both ranging / positioning signals (e.g., ranging request and ranging response) and messaging parts (e.g., timestamp reporting in 1128 and 1236, any measurement report).

[0186]

[0162] As a second option, measurements for ranging / positioning are performed in the IR-UWB system, but communications related to ranging / positioning (e.g., timestamp reports, measurement results, etc.) are performed in the NR or LTE system. In this option, the SHR preamble (e.g., preamble field 1010 and SFD field 1020) of the IEEE 802.15.4a / 4z-based IR-UWB PPDU format (e.g., physical layer frame 1000) can be reused for ranging / positioning signals (e.g., ranging request and ranging response). However, the messaging part (e.g., timestamp reports in 1128 and 1236, any measurement report) can be carried by the LTE and / or NR data channels, as further described below.

[0187]

[0163] As a third option, measurements for ranging / positioning are performed jointly in the IR-UWB system and the LTE and / or NR system. In this option, the SHR preamble of the IEEE 802.15.4a / 4z-based IR-UWB PPDU format is reused for ranging / positioning on the IR-UWB, and one or more LTE and / or NR positioning procedures can be further utilized for further improvement (as described further below). The messaging part can be delivered by the PPDU of the IR-UWB system as in the first option, or by the LTE and / or NR data channel as in the second option.

[0188] FIG. 13 illustrates an example wireless communication system 1300 in which a base station 1304 (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) is communicating with a UE 1302 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). In the example of FIG. 13, both the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 are capable of communicating with each other via LTE and / or NR and IR-UWB. The base station 1304 provides LTE and / or NR services in an LTE and / or NR coverage area 1310 and provides IR-UWB services in an IR-UWB coverage area 1320. The UE 1302 is within both the LTE and / or NR coverage area 1310 and the IR-UWB coverage area 1320, and there are both an LTE and / or NR communication link 1312 and an IR-UWB communication link 1322 established between the base station 1304 and the UE 1302.

[0189] If the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 employ the second option described above, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may use the IR-UWB communication link 1322 for ranging / positioning messages (e.g., ranging requests and responses) and the LTE and / or NR communication link 1312 for data communications (e.g., timestamp reports, payload data that would otherwise be carried in the ranging request and / or response PDSU, etc.). Thus, with reference to FIG. 11, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may exchange ranging requests and ranging responses at 1112 and 1120, respectively, via the IR-UWB communication link 1322. However, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may exchange timestamp reports and acknowledgments at 1128 and 1136, respectively, via the LTE and / or NR communication link 1312.

[0190] 12, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may exchange ranging requests and ranging responses at 1212, 1220, and 1228 over the IR-UWB communication link 1322. In contrast, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may exchange timestamp reports and acknowledgments at 1220 and 1236 over the LTE and / or NR communication link 1312. In this scenario, the ranging requests and ranging responses (at 1112, 1120, 1212, 1220, 1228) may include only the SHR preamble (e.g., the preamble field 1010 and the SFD field 1020) rather than the entire PPDU (e.g., the entire physical layer frame 1000). Alternatively, the remainder of the respective PPDU may be null values. Any information carried in the PDSU of such a PPDU (e.g., an acknowledgment as in 1220) would instead be carried over the LTE and / or NR communication link 1312.

[0191] 13, if the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 employ the third option described above, the base station 1304 and the UE 1302 may use the IR-UWB communications link 1322 for ranging / positioning messages (e.g., ranging requests and responses) and the LTE and / or NR communications link 1312 for both positioning (e.g., PRS, SRS) and data communications (e.g., IR-UWB ranging / positioning timestamp reports, payload data that would otherwise be carried in the ranging request and / or response PDSUs, LTE and / or NR measurement reports, etc.). Thus, in addition to IR-UWB ranging / positioning related communications messages, the LTE and / or NR communications link 1312 would also be used for LTE and / or NR positioning techniques (e.g., RTT, OTDOA, DL-TDOA, E-CID, etc.).

[0192]

[0168] It should be noted that the LTE and / or NR communication link 1312 and the IR-UWB communication link 1322 may operate on separate or overlapping frequencies. Figure 14 shows two overlapping scenarios for the LTE and / or NR carrier frequency 1420 and the IR-UWB carrier frequency 1430. In the first scenario 1410, the LTE and / or NR carrier frequency 1420 and the IR-UWB carrier frequency 1430 do not overlap, while in the second scenario 1450, the LTE and / or NR carrier frequency 1420 and the IR-UWB carrier frequency 1430 overlap. As shown in Figure 14, the LTE and / or NR carrier frequency can have a narrower bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz or 100 MHz) than the IR-UWB carrier frequency. Furthermore, overlapping carriers in the frequency domain do not necessarily mean that the carriers overlap in the time domain (i.e., carry data at the same time).

[0193]

[0169] With further reference to the third option described herein, when there is tight synchronization and coordination between the LTE and / or NR transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 / 350) and the IR-UWB transceivers (e.g., short-range wireless transceivers 320 / 360) in both the base station (e.g., base station 1304) and the UE (e.g., UE 1302), two-step positioning is possible. In a first step, positioning information is obtained using an LTE or NR positioning procedure (e.g., RTT, OTDOA, DL-TDOA, E-CID, etc.). In a second step, positioning information is obtained and / or improved using an IR-UWB ranging / positioning procedure (e.g., TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100, SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200).

[0194] FIG. 15 is a diagram 1500 of an example PRS and IR-UWB configuration for performing two-step positioning according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 15, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the example of FIG. 15, a transmitter (e.g., UE 1302 or base station 1304) transmits an LTE / NR PRS 1510 periodically, with three repetitions shown in the figure. The repetitions can be, for example, repetitions of PRS resources within a PRS occasion or a repetition of a PRS occasion. When engaged in a positioning session, the transmitter can transmit an IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 (referred to as on-demand) associated with an LTE / NR PRS 1510 repetition. That is, the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 is mapped to one or more time / frequency resources associated with the (e.g., overlapping) LTE / NR PRS 1510. Note that while FIG. 15 illustrates the LTE / NR PRS 1510 and the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 as not overlapping in frequency, they may overlap as illustrated by scenario 1450 in FIG.

[0195]

[0171] If the target (e.g., UE 1302) is a receiver, the target may measure at least the first LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration to perform, or as part of, an LTE or NR positioning procedure. The target may also measure an IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 to perform, or as part of, an IR-UWB ranging / positioning procedure. Similarly, if the target is a transmitter, the target may transmit an LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration to perform, or as part of, an LTE or NR positioning procedure. The target may also transmit an IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 to perform, or as part of, an IR-UWB ranging / positioning procedure.

[0196]

[0172] Being tightly synchronized, the receiver (e.g., UE 1302, base station 1304) can use the timing of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 measured by the IR-UWB transceiver (e.g., short-range wireless transceiver 320) to improve the measurement of the LTE / NR PRS 1510 measured by the LTE and / or NR transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceiver 310). More specifically, the accuracy of the timing measurement (e.g., TOA) of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 is likely to be better than the accuracy of the timing measurement of the LTE / NR PRS 1510 due to the larger bandwidth of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520. If the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 is associated with an LTE / NR PRS 1510 repetition (e.g., overlaps with it in the time domain or has some known offset therewith), the receiver can adjust (improve) the measurement value of the LTE / NR PRS 1510 repetition to match or otherwise correspond to the measurement value of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520.

[0197] For example, the start of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 may be 2 ms after the start of the associated LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration. The receiver's LTE / NR transceiver may measure the LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration at time "T" and the receiver's IR-UWB transceiver may measure the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 at time "T+2.2" ms. The receiver may then adjust time T by 0.2 ms under the assumption that the measurement of the IR-UWB ranging signal 1520 is more accurate, and thus the measurement of the LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration is off by 0.2 ms.

[0198] The configurations that the network provides to the UE to perform the first, second, and third options may include IR-UWB parameters, and for the second and third options, NR and / or LTE parameters. The IR-UWB parameters may include a preamble format, a TOA method (e.g., TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100 or SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200), information about network nodes (e.g., base stations, positioning beacons, APs, other UEs, etc.) that can / will participate in the TOA method with the UE, etc. The NR and / or LTE parameters may include / identify which frequency band, cell, and / or component carrier is associated with the IR-UWB ranging / positioning signal (e.g., the second LTE / NR PRS 1510 iteration of FIG. 15), PRS related parameters, information regarding resource association between the LTE and / or NR frequency band, cell, and / or component carrier and the IR-UWB ranging signal (e.g., the offset between the start of the identified PRS resource and the start of the IR-UWB ranging signal), etc.

[0199] In one aspect, the preamble (or PPDU format) for the IR-UWB ranging procedure may be activated (or triggered) via LTE or NR signaling. For example, the network (e.g., a serving base station) may use the MAC control element (MAC-CE) of the LTE or NR physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or the downlink control information (DCI) of the LTE or NR physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to enable (or trigger) the use of the IR-UWB preamble for the ranging procedure.

[0200] In one aspect, a new NR band may be defined for UWB communications in the UWB spectrum. For example, the EIRP limit of such a band may be limited to, for example, 41.3 dBm / MHz, and the channel bandwidth may be, for example, 500 MHz, as per current regulatory requirements. The waveform may be OFDM-based (for NR) or IR-based (for IR-UWB).

[0201] In one aspect, an NR frequency band in the UWB spectrum may be aggregated with another NR band in the licensed or shared spectrum using a carrier aggregation (CA) or dual connectivity (DC) framework. For example, referring to FIG. 14, an LTE and / or NR carrier frequency 1420 and an IR-UWB carrier frequency 1430 may be aggregated with each other at the receiver using CA or DC. Carrier aggregation is a technique that increases the data rate per UE, whereby multiple component carriers are assigned to the same UE. Thus, one component carrier may be an LTE and / or NR carrier frequency 1420, and another component carrier may be an IR-UWB carrier frequency 1430. With dual connectivity, the UE receives LTE / NR and UWB signals separately (on each transceiver) and then aggregates the streams.

[0202] 16 illustrates an example method 1600 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1600 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0203] At 1610, the UE sends an LPP capability message (e.g., as in 520 of FIG. 5) to a network entity (e.g., location server, serving base station), the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating an ability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node (e.g., base station, AP, other UE, etc.), the positioning session comprising an IR-UWB ranging procedure (e.g., TW-TOA ranging procedure 1100, SDS-TW-TOA ranging procedure 1200) between the UE and the at least one network node. In one aspect, operation 1610 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory component 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0204] At 1620, the UE receives an LPP Assistance Data message from a network entity (e.g., as at 530 of FIG. 5), the LPP Assistance Data message including one or more assistance parameters that configure the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure. In one aspect, operation 1620 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0205] At 1630, the UE performs at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters. In an aspect, operation 1630 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0206]

[0182] As can be appreciated, technical advantages of the method 1600 include the addition of another type of positioning procedure to the LPP and improved positioning accuracy by using an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0207]

[0183] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than those explicitly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Thus, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated herein, and each clause can exist as a separate example by itself. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspect(s) of the dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the dependent clause aspect(s) with any other dependent clause or independent clause subject matter, or combinations of any features with other dependent and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is expressly expressed or can be easily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., inconsistent aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Moreover, it is also contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on that independent clause.

[0208]

[0184] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0209]

[0185] Clause 1. A method of wireless communications performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; receiving an LPP Assistance Data message from the network entity, the LPP Assistance Data message including one or more assistance parameters configuring the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure, the method comprising: performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters.

[0210]

[0186] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more capability parameters include identification of one or more synchronization header (SHR) preambles supported by the UE, whether the UE supports a two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, whether the UE supports a symmetric double-sided two-way time of arrival (SDS-TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, or any combination thereof.

[0211]

[0187] Clause 3. Any of the methods of clauses 1-2, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of an IR-UWB SHR preamble to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether the IR-UWB ranging procedure is a TW-TOA IR-UWB ranging procedure or an SDS-TW-TOW IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of a carrier frequency to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an identifier of at least one network node, or any combination thereof.

[0212]

[0188] Clause 4. Any of the methods of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of how an IR-UWB ranging procedure is activated by a network entity, an indication of whether the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of how the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether joint positioning is enabled using LTE or New Radio (NR) positioning procedures and the IR-UWB ranging procedure, or any combination thereof.

[0213]

[0189] Clause 5. Any of the methods of clauses 1 to 4, wherein performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure comprises sending at least one IR-UWB ranging request signal to at least one network node via an IR-UWB communications link between the UE and the at least one network node, measuring at least one IR-UWB ranging response signal from the at least one network node via the IR-UWB communications link, and receiving a timestamp report from the at least one network node.

[0214]

[0190] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the time stamp report comprises an IR-UWB time stamp report, and the IR-UWB time stamp report is received over an IR-UWB communications link.

[0215]

[0191] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, further comprising transmitting the measurement report to the positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0216]

[0192] Clause 8. Any of the methods of clauses 5 to 7, wherein the timestamp report comprises an LTE or NR timestamp report, and the LTE or NR timestamp report is received via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and at least one network node.

[0217]

[0193] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0218]

[0194] Clause 10. The method of clause 8, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0219]

[0195] Clause 11. Any of the methods of clauses 8 to 10, further comprising transmitting measurement value reports to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0220]

[0196] Clause 12. Any of the methods of clauses 5 to 11, further comprising performing an LTE or NR positioning procedure together with at least one network node, in addition to the IR-UWB ranging procedure, via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and the at least one network node.

[0221]

[0197] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein performing an LTE or NR positioning procedure comprises transmitting a measurement report of the LTE or NR positioning procedure to a positioning entity.

[0222]

[0198] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein transmitting the LPP capability message comprises transmitting a measurement report to the positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0223]

[0199] Clause 15. Any of the methods of clauses 13 to 14, wherein transmitting the LPP capability message comprises transmitting a measurement report to the positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0224]

[0200] Clause 16. Any of clauses 12 to 15, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0225]

[0201] Clause 17. Any of the methods of clauses 12 to 15, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0226]

[0202] Clause 18. Any of the methods of clauses 12 to 17, wherein the UE is equipped with an IR-UWB transceiver and an LTE or NR transceiver, the IR-UWB transceiver and the LTE or NR transceiver are synchronized, an IR-UWB ranging procedure is performed using the IR-UWB transceiver, and an LTE or NR positioning procedure is performed using the LTE or NR transceiver.

[0227]

[0203] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, further comprising adjusting one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0228]

[0204] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein an IR-UWB ranging request signal, an IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are mapped to one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link to enable the UE to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0229]

[0205] Clause 21. The method of clause 20, wherein one or more PRS resources are scheduled periodically, and IR-UWB ranging request signals, IR-UWB ranging response signals, or both, are scheduled on-demand.

[0230]

[0206] Clause 22. Any of the methods of clauses 12 to 21, wherein the one or more assistance parameters comprise an indication of a frequency band, a cell, a component carrier, or any combination thereof, associated with the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, an indication of a configuration of PRS resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link, an indication of a resource association between the LTE or NR communications link and the IR-UWB communications link, or any combination thereof.

[0231]

[0207] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 12-22, further comprising aggregating the IR-UWB communication link and the LTE or NR communication link based on carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or both.

[0232]

[0208] Clause 24. Any of the methods of clauses 5 to 23, wherein the IR-UWB communications link comprises an NR communications link having an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limit of 41 decibel milliwatts (dBm) or less and a channel bandwidth of 500 megahertz (MHz).

[0233]

[0209] Clause 25. The method of clause 24, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform.

[0234]

[0210] Clause 26. The method of clause 24, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an IR-based waveform.

[0235]

[0211] Clause 27. The method of any of clauses 1 to 26, further comprising receiving a trigger from at least one network node to perform an IR-UWB ranging procedure in a medium access control element (MAC-CE), downlink control information (DCI), or both.

[0236]

[0212] Clause 28. The method of any of clauses 1 to 27, wherein the network entity comprises a base station, another UE, an access point, or a positioning beacon.

[0237]

[0213] Clause 29. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: send a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity via the at least one transceiver; receive an LPP assistance data message from the network entity via the at least one transceiver, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with the at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; and perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more assistance parameters configuring the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0238]

[0214] Clause 30. A UE of clause 29, wherein the one or more capability parameters comprise an identification of one or more synchronization header (SHR) preambles supported by the UE, whether the UE supports a two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, whether the UE supports a symmetric double-sided two-way time of arrival (SDS-TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, or any combination thereof.

[0239]

[0215] Clause 31. A UE of any of clauses 29 to 30, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of an IR-UWB SHR preamble to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether the IR-UWB ranging procedure is a TW-TOA IR-UWB ranging procedure or an SDS-TW-TOW IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of a carrier frequency to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an identifier of at least one network node, or any combination thereof.

[0240]

[0216] Clause 32. A UE of any of clauses 29 to 31, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of how an IR-UWB ranging procedure is activated by a network entity, an indication of whether the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of how the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether joint positioning is enabled using LTE or New Radio (NR) positioning procedures and IR-UWB ranging procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0241]

[0217] Clause 33. A UE of any of clauses 29 to 32, comprising at least one processor configured to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure, comprising: at least one processor configured to transmit at least one IR-UWB ranging request signal to at least one network node via an IR-UWB communications link between the UE and the at least one network node via the at least one transceiver; measure at least one IR-UWB ranging response signal from the at least one network node via the IR-UWB communications link; and receive a timestamp report from the at least one network node via the at least one transceiver.

[0242]

[0218] Clause 34. The UE of clause 33, wherein the time stamp report comprises an IR-UWB time stamp report, and the IR-UWB time stamp report is received via an IR-UWB communications link.

[0243]

[0219] Clause 35. The UE of clause 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, the measurement report to the positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0244]

[0220] Clause 36. A UE of any of clauses 33 to 35, wherein the timestamp report comprises an LTE or NR timestamp report, and the LTE or NR timestamp report is received via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and at least one network node.

[0245]

[0221] Clause 37. A UE of clause 36, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0246]

[0222] Clause 38. A UE of clause 36, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0247]

[0223] Clause 39. A UE of any of clauses 36 to 38, wherein at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via at least one transceiver, measurement value reports to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0248]

[0224] Clause 40. A UE of any of clauses 33 to 39, wherein at least one processor is further configured to perform an LTE or NR positioning procedure together with at least one network node, in addition to an IR-UWB ranging procedure, via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and the at least one network node.

[0249]

[0225] Clause 41. A UE of clause 40, comprising at least one processor configured to perform an LTE or NR positioning procedure and configured to transmit, via at least one transceiver, a measurement report of the LTE or NR positioning procedure to a positioning entity.

[0250]

[0226] Clause 42. A UE of clause 41, comprising at least one processor configured to transmit an LPP capability message, and at least one processor configured to transmit measurement value reports to a positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling via at least one transceiver.

[0251]

[0227] Clause 43. A UE of any of clauses 41 to 42, comprising at least one processor configured to transmit an LPP capability message and at least one processor configured to transmit measurement value reports to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling via at least one transceiver.

[0252]

[0228] Clause 44. A UE of any of clauses 40 to 43, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0253]

[0229] Clause 45. A UE of any of clauses 40 to 43, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0254]

[0230] Clause 46. A UE of any of clauses 40 to 45, wherein the UE is equipped with an IR-UWB transceiver and an LTE or NR transceiver, the IR-UWB transceiver and the LTE or NR transceiver are synchronized, an IR-UWB ranging procedure is performed using the IR-UWB transceiver, and an LTE or NR positioning procedure is performed using the LTE or NR transceiver.

[0255]

[0231] Clause 47. The UE of clause 46, wherein at least one processor is further configured to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0256]

[0232] Clause 48. A UE of clause 47, wherein the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are mapped to one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link to enable the UE to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0257]

[0233] Clause 49. The UE of clause 48, wherein one or more PRS resources are scheduled periodically, and wherein an IR-UWB ranging request signal, an IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are scheduled on demand.

[0258]

[0234] Clause 50. A UE of any of clauses 40 to 49, wherein the one or more assistance parameters comprise an indication of a frequency band, a cell, a component carrier, or any combination thereof, associated with the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, a configuration of PRS resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link, an indication of resource association between the LTE or NR communications link and the IR-UWB communications link, or any combination thereof.

[0259]

[0235] Clause 51. A UE of any of clauses 40 to 50, wherein at least one processor is further configured to aggregate the IR-UWB communication link and the LTE or NR communication link based on carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or both.

[0260]

[0236] Clause 52. A UE of any of clauses 33 to 51, wherein the IR-UWB communication link comprises an NR communication link having an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limit of 41 decibel milliwatts (dBm) or less and a channel bandwidth of 500 megahertz (MHz).

[0261]

[0237] Clause 53. The UE of clause 52, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform.

[0262]

[0238] Clause 54. The UE of clause 52, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an IR-based waveform.

[0263]

[0239] Clause 55. A UE of any of clauses 29 to 54, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive, via at least one transceiver, a trigger to perform an IR-UWB ranging procedure from at least one network node in a medium access control element (MAC-CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or both.

[0264]

[0240] Clause 56. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 55, wherein the network entity comprises a base station, another UE, an access point, or a positioning beacon.

[0265]

[0241] Clause 57. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for sending a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity; means for receiving an LPP assistance data message from the network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; and means for performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more assistance parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more assistance parameters configuring the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0266]

[0242] Clause 58. A UE of clause 57, wherein the one or more capability parameters comprise an identification of one or more synchronization header (SHR) preambles supported by the UE, whether the UE supports a two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, whether the UE supports a symmetric double-sided two-way time of arrival (SDS-TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, or any combination thereof.

[0267]

[0243] Clause 59. A UE of any of clauses 57 to 58, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of an IR-UWB SHR preamble to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether the IR-UWB ranging procedure is a TW-TOA IR-UWB ranging procedure or an SDS-TW-TOW IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of a carrier frequency to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an identifier of at least one network node, or any combination thereof.

[0268]

[0244] Clause 60. A UE of any of clauses 57 to 59, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of how an IR-UWB ranging procedure is activated by a network entity, an indication of whether the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of how the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether joint positioning is enabled using LTE or New Radio (NR) positioning procedures and IR-UWB ranging procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0269]

[0245] Clause 61. A UE of any of clauses 57 to 60, wherein the means for performing at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure comprises means for transmitting at least one IR-UWB ranging request signal to at least one network node via an IR-UWB communications link between the UE and the at least one network node, means for measuring at least one IR-UWB ranging response signal from the at least one network node via the IR-UWB communications link, and means for receiving a timestamp report from the at least one network node.

[0270]

[0246] Clause 62. The UE of clause 61, wherein the time stamp report comprises an IR-UWB time stamp report, and the IR-UWB time stamp report is received via an IR-UWB communications link.

[0271]

[0247] Clause 63. The UE of clause 62, further comprising means for transmitting measurement reports to a positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0272]

[0248] Clause 64. A UE of any of clauses 61 to 63, wherein the timestamp report comprises an LTE or NR timestamp report, and the LTE or NR timestamp report is received via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and at least one network node.

[0273]

[0249] Clause 65. A UE of clause 64, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0274]

[0250] Clause 66. A UE of clause 64, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0275]

[0251] Clause 67. A UE of any of clauses 64 to 66, further comprising means for transmitting a measurement report to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0276]

[0252] Clause 68. A UE of any of clauses 61 to 67, further comprising means for performing an LTE or NR positioning procedure together with at least one network node, in addition to an IR-UWB ranging procedure, via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and at least one network node.

[0277]

[0253] Clause 69. The UE of clause 68, wherein the means for performing an LTE or NR positioning procedure comprises means for transmitting a measurement report of the LTE or NR positioning procedure to a positioning entity.

[0278]

[0254] Clause 70. The UE of clause 69, wherein the means for transmitting the LPP capability message comprises means for transmitting measurement reports to the positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0279]

[0255] Clause 71. A UE of any of clauses 69 to 70, wherein the means for transmitting the LPP capability message comprises means for transmitting a measurement report to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0280]

[0256] Clause 72. A UE of any of clauses 68 to 71, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0281]

[0257] Clause 73. A UE of any of clauses 68 to 71, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0282]

[0258] Clause 74. A UE of any of clauses 68 to 73, wherein the UE is equipped with an IR-UWB transceiver and an LTE or NR transceiver, the IR-UWB transceiver and the LTE or NR transceiver are synchronized, an IR-UWB ranging procedure is performed using the IR-UWB transceiver, and an LTE or NR positioning procedure is performed using the LTE or NR transceiver.

[0283]

[0259] Clause 75. The UE of clause 74, further comprising means for adjusting one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0284]

[0260] Clause 76. A UE of clause 75, wherein the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are mapped to one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link to enable the UE to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0285]

[0261] Clause 77. The UE of clause 76, wherein one or more PRS resources are scheduled periodically, and wherein an IR-UWB ranging request signal, an IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are scheduled on demand.

[0286]

[0262] Clause 78. A UE of any of clauses 68 to 77, wherein the one or more assistance parameters comprise an indication of a frequency band, a cell, a component carrier, or any combination thereof, associated with the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, a configuration of PRS resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link, an indication of resource association between the LTE or NR communications link and the IR-UWB communications link, or any combination thereof.

[0287]

[0263] Clause 79. The UE of any of clauses 68 to 78, further comprising means for aggregating the IR-UWB communication link and the LTE or NR communication link based on carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or both.

[0288]

[0264] Clause 80. A UE of any of clauses 61 to 79, wherein the IR-UWB communication link comprises an NR communication link having an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limit of 41 decibel milliwatts (dBm) or less and a channel bandwidth of 500 megahertz (MHz).

[0289]

[0265] Clause 81. The UE of clause 80, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform.

[0290]

[0266] Clause 82. The UE of clause 80, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an IR-based waveform.

[0291]

[0267] Clause 83. A UE of any of clauses 57 to 82, further comprising means for receiving a trigger to perform an IR-UWB ranging procedure in a medium access control element (MAC-CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or both, from at least one network node.

[0292]

[0268] Clause 84. A UE according to any of clauses 57 to 83, wherein the network entity comprises a base station, another UE, an access point, or a positioning beacon.

[0293]

[0269] Clause 85. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), causes the UE to: send a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; and perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters, the LPP assistance data message including one or more aiding parameters that configure the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0294]

[0270] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 85, wherein the one or more capability parameters comprise an identification of one or more synchronization header (SHR) preambles supported by the UE, whether the UE supports a two-way time of arrival (TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, whether the UE supports a symmetric double-sided two-way time of arrival (SDS-TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure, or any combination thereof.

[0295]

[0271] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 86, wherein the one or more aiding parameters comprise an indication of an IR-UWB SHR preamble to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether the IR-UWB ranging procedure is a TW-TOA IR-UWB ranging procedure or an SDS-TW-TOW IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of a carrier frequency to be used for the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an identifier of at least one network node, or any combination thereof.

[0296]

[0272] Clause 88. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 87, wherein the one or more aiding parameters include an indication of how an IR-UWB ranging procedure is activated by a network entity, an indication of whether the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of how the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure, an indication of whether joint positioning is enabled using LTE or New Radio (NR) positioning procedures and IR-UWB ranging procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0297]

[0273] Clause 89. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 88, comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform at least an IR-UWB ranging procedure, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to send at least one IR-UWB ranging request signal to at least one network node via an IR-UWB communications link between the UE and the at least one network node, measure at least one IR-UWB ranging response signal from the at least one network node via the IR-UWB communications link, and receive a timestamp report from the at least one network node.

[0298]

[0274] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89, wherein the time stamp report comprises an IR-UWB time stamp report, and the IR-UWB time stamp report is received via an IR-UWB communications link.

[0299]

[0275] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to transmit measurement reports to a positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0300]

[0276] Clause 92. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 91, wherein the timestamp report comprises an LTE or NR timestamp report, and the LTE or NR timestamp report is received via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and at least one network node.

[0301]

[0277] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 92, wherein a bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link overlaps with a bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0302]

[0278] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 92, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0303]

[0279] Clause 95. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 92 to 94, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to transmit measurement value reports to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0304]

[0280] Clause 96. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 95, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform an LTE or NR positioning procedure together with at least one network node, in addition to an IR-UWB ranging procedure, via an LTE or NR communications link between the UE and the at least one network node.

[0305]

[0281] Clause 97. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 96 comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform an LTE or NR positioning procedure, and computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to send measurement reports of the LTE or NR positioning procedure to a positioning entity.

[0306]

[0282] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 97 comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to send an LPP capability message, and computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to send a measurement report to a positioning entity using IR-UWB signaling.

[0307]

[0283] Clause 99. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 97 to 98, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to send an LPP capability message, and computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to send a measurement report to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

[0308]

[0284] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 96 to 99, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communications link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communications link.

[0309]

[0285] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 96 to 99, wherein the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link.

[0310]

[0286] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 96 to 101, wherein the UE is equipped with an IR-UWB transceiver and an LTE or NR transceiver, the IR-UWB transceiver and the LTE or NR transceiver are synchronized, an IR-UWB ranging procedure is performed using the IR-UWB transceiver, and an LTE or NR positioning procedure is performed using the LTE or NR transceiver.

[0311]

[0287] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 102, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0312]

[0288] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 103, wherein an IR-UWB ranging request signal, an IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are mapped to one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources scheduled on an LTE or NR communications link to enable a UE to adjust one or more measurement results from an LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure.

[0313]

[0289] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 104, wherein one or more PRS resources are scheduled periodically, and an IR-UWB ranging request signal, an IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are scheduled on demand.

[0314]

[0290] A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 96 to 105, wherein the one or more assistance parameters comprise an indication of a frequency band, a cell, a component carrier, or any combination thereof, associated with the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, a configuration of PRS resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communications link, an indication of a resource association between the LTE or NR communications link and the IR-UWB communications link, or any combination thereof.

[0315]

[0291] Clause 107. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 96 to 106, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to aggregate an IR-UWB communication link and an LTE or NR communication link based on carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or both.

[0316]

[0292] Clause 108. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 107, wherein the IR-UWB communications link comprises an NR communications link having an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limit of 41 decibel milliwatts (dBm) or less and a channel bandwidth of 500 megahertz (MHz).

[0317]

[0293] Clause 109. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 108, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform.

[0318]

[0294] Clause 110. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 108, wherein a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, is an IR-based waveform.

[0319]

[0295] Clause 111. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 110, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to receive a trigger from at least one network node to perform an IR-UWB ranging procedure in a medium access control element (MAC-CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or both.

[0320]

[0296] Clause 112. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 111, wherein the network entity comprises a base station, another UE, an access point, or a positioning beacon.

[0321]

[0297] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0322]

[0298] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described with respect to the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this compatibility of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally with respect to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0323]

[0299] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0324]

[0300] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described with respect to the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, or in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0325]

[0301] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that enables transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0326]

[0302] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; receiving an LPP Assistance Data message from the network entity, the LPP Assistance Data message including one or more assistance parameters that configure the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure; performing at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters; Wherein the network entity comprises a location server or a base station, and the network node comprises a base station, an access point, or another UE; A method comprising:

2. The one or more performance parameters are: Identification of one or more synchronization header (SHR) preambles supported by the UE; Whether the UE supports a Two-Way Time-of-Arrival (TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure; whether the UE supports a Symmetric Double-Sided Two-Directional Time-of-Arrival (SDS-TW-TOA) IR-UWB ranging procedure; or Any combination of them The method of claim 1 , comprising:

3. The one or more assisting parameters are: an indication of an IR-UWB SHR preamble to be used for said IR-UWB ranging procedure; an indication of whether the IR-UWB ranging procedure is a TW-TOA IR-UWB ranging procedure or an SDS-TW-TOW IR-UWB ranging procedure; An indication of a carrier frequency to be used for said IR-UWB ranging procedure; an identifier of the at least one network node; or Any combination of them or The one or more assisting parameters are: an indication of how the IR-UWB ranging procedure is activated by the network entity; an indication of whether the UE is expected to report results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure; an indication of how the UE is expected to report the results of the IR-UWB ranging procedure; an indication of whether joint positioning using LTE or New Radio (NR) positioning procedures and the IR-UWB ranging procedure is enabled; or Any combination of them The method of claim 1 , comprising:

4. performing at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure; transmitting at least one IR-UWB ranging request signal to the at least one network node via an IR-UWB communication link between the UE and the at least one network node; measuring at least one IR-UWB ranging response signal from the at least one network node over the IR-UWB communications link; and receiving a timestamp report from the at least one network node.

5. the time stamp report comprises an IR-UWB time stamp report; the IR-UWB time stamp report is received over the IR-UWB communications link; 5. The method of claim 4, optionally further comprising: transmitting measurement reports using IR-UWB signaling to a positioning entity, the positioning entity configured to estimate the location of the UE.

6. the timestamp report comprises an LTE or NR timestamp report; The LTE or NR timestamp report is received via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and the at least one network node; Optionally, the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link; or the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link; Optionally, the method further comprises transmitting the measurement report to a positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: wherein the positioning entity is configured to estimate the location of the UE.

7. performing an LTE or NR positioning procedure with the at least one network node in addition to the IR-UWB ranging procedure via an LTE or NR communication link between the UE and the at least one network node; The method of claim 4 further comprising:

8. performing the LTE or NR positioning procedure, transmitting a measurement report of the LTE or NR positioning procedure to a positioning entity, the positioning entity being configured to estimate the location of the UE; Equipped with Optionally, sending the LPP capability message further comprises: transmitting said measurement reports to said positioning entity using IR-UWB signalling; or transmitting the LPP capability message, transmitting the measurement report to the positioning entity using LTE or NR signaling; Optionally, the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link overlaps with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link; or the bandwidth of the IR-UWB communication link does not overlap with the bandwidth of the LTE or NR communication link; Optionally, the UE is equipped with an IR-UWB transceiver and an LTE or NR transceiver; The IR-UWB transceiver and the LTE or NR transceiver are synchronized; the IR-UWB ranging procedure is performed using the IR-UWB transceiver; The method of claim 7 , wherein the LTE or NR positioning procedure is performed using the LTE or NR transceiver.

9. adjusting one or more measurements from the LTE or NR positioning procedure based on one or more measurements from the IR-UWB ranging procedure; Further equipped with Optionally, the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are mapped to one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communication link to enable the UE to adjust the one or more measurement results from the LTE or NR positioning procedure based on the one or more measurement results from the IR-UWB ranging procedure; Optionally, the one or more PRS resources are scheduled periodically; The method of claim 8 , wherein the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, are scheduled on-demand.

10. The one or more assisting parameters are: an indication of a frequency band, a cell, a component carrier, or any combination thereof, associated with the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both; Configuring PRS resources scheduled on the LTE or NR communication link; an indication of a resource association between the LTE or NR communication link and the IR-UWB communication link; or Any combination of them The method of claim 7 comprising:

11. Aggregating the IR-UWB communication link and the LTE or NR communication link based on carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or both. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

12. the IR-UWB communication link comprises an NR communication link having an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) limit of 41 decibel milliwatts (dBm) or less and a channel bandwidth of 500 megahertz (MHz); Optionally, a waveform of the IR-UWB ranging request signal, the IR-UWB ranging response signal, or both, comprises: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, or The method of claim 4 , wherein the waveform is an IR-based waveform.

13. receiving a trigger to perform the IR-UWB ranging procedure in a medium access control element (MAC-CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or both from the at least one network node; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

14. A user equipment (UE), means for transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; means for receiving an LPP Assistance Data message from the network entity, the LPP Assistance Data message including one or more assistance parameters for configuring the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure. means for performing at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters; Wherein the network entity comprises a location server or a base station, and the network node comprises a base station, an access point, or another UE; A UE comprising:

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a user equipment (UE), causing the UE to: sending a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability message to a network entity, the LPP capability message including one or more capability parameters indicating a capability of the UE to engage in a positioning session with at least one network node, the positioning session comprising an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) ranging procedure between the UE and the at least one network node; receiving an LPP Assistance Data message from the network entity, the LPP Assistance Data message including one or more assistance parameters that configure the UE to perform at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure; performing at least the IR-UWB ranging procedure based at least on the one or more aiding parameters; Wherein the network entity comprises a location server or a base station, and the network node comprises a base station, an access point, or another UE; A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing

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