Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS)-Aided and Non-RIS-Aided Signal Timing

Abstract

The method includes transmitting a first on-demand request from the UE for a first PRS resource of a first signal type based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS of a first signal type having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type having at least a second threshold quality, one of the first and second signal types is for non-RIS reflected signal forwarding and the other signal type is for RIS reflected signal forwarding, or transmitting a second on-demand request from the UE for a second PRS resource for RIS reflected signal forwarding, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of multiple RIS associated with a common base station, or transmitting a capability message from the UE indicating that the UE supports different PRS symbol durations for the RIS reflected PRS and the non-RIS reflected PRS, or any combination thereof.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Greek Patent Application No. 20210100136, entitled "RIS-AIDED AND NON-RIS-AIDED SIGNAL TIMING," filed on March 5, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. [Background technology]

[0002]

[0002] 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, fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth generation (5G) service, and the like. Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variants of TDMA, and the like.

[0003]

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard requires, among other improvements, higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage. 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 must be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency must be enhanced and latency must be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] An exemplary UE (user equipment) includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to transmit a capability report via the transceiver indicating that the UE is configured to measure a first type of DL-PRS (downlink reference signal) and a second type of DL-PRS, measure the first type of DL-PRS received directly from a TRP (transmit / receive point), and measure the second type of DL-PRS received from the TRP via a RIS (reconfigurable intelligent surface).

[0005]

[0005] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to disable measurements of a second type of DL-PRS in response to a measurement of the first type of DL-PRS by the UE having at least a threshold quality. The processor is configured to transmit an indication to a network entity via the transceiver that a measurement report from the UE will lack a measurement of the second type of DL-PRS. The processor is configured to measure the second type of DL-PRS in response to the processor being unable to obtain a measurement of the first type of DL-PRS having at least the threshold quality. The processor is configured to obtain a first measurement of a DL-PRS of a first type and a second measurement of a DL-PRS of a second type, determine which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a higher measurement quality as a higher quality measurement, determine which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a lower measurement quality as a lower quality measurement, and transmit the higher quality measurement to the network entity via the transceiver shortly before transmitting the lower quality measurement to the network entity. The processor is configured to descramble the DL-PRS of the second type based on an identity of the TRP and an identity of the RIS.

[0006]

[0006] An exemplary positioning reference signal measurement method includes transmitting a capability report from the UE indicating that the UE is configured to measure a first type DL-PRS and a second type DL-PRS, and measuring the first type DL-PRS received directly from the TRP, or the second type DL-PRS received from the TRP via a RIS, or a combination thereof.

[0007]

[0007] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The method includes disabling measurements of a second type of DL-PRS in response to a measurement of a first type of DL-PRS by the UE having at least a threshold quality. The method includes transmitting an indication from the UE to a network entity that a measurement report from the UE will lack a measurement of the second type of DL-PRS. Measuring the second type of DL-PRS is performed in response to the UE being unable to obtain a measurement of the first type of DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. Measuring the first type DL-PRS and the second type DL-PRS includes obtaining a first measurement of the first type DL-PRS and a second measurement of the second type DL-PRS, the method including determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a higher measurement quality as a higher quality measurement, determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a lower measurement quality as a lower quality measurement, and transmitting the higher quality measurement from the UE to the network entity shortly before transmitting the lower quality measurement to the network entity. The method includes descrambling the second type DL-PRS based on an identity of the TRP and an identity of the RIS.

[0008]

[0008] Another exemplary UE includes means for transmitting a capability report indicating that the UE is configured to measure a first type DL-PRS and a second type DL-PRS, and means for measuring the first type DL-PRS received directly from the TRP, or the second type DL-PRS received from the TRP via a RIS, or a combination thereof.

[0009]

[0009] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The UE includes means for disabling measurements of a second type of DL-PRS in response to a measurement by the UE of the first type of DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. The UE includes means for transmitting an indication from the UE to a network entity that a measurement report from the UE will lack a measurement of the second type of DL-PRS. The means for measuring the second type of DL-PRS includes means for measuring the second type of DL-PRS in response to the UE being unable to obtain a measurement of the first type of DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. The means for measuring the first type DL-PRS and the means for measuring the second type DL-PRS include means for obtaining a first measurement of the first type DL-PRS and a second measurement of the second type DL-PRS, and the UE includes means for determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a higher measurement quality as a higher quality measurement, means for determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a lower measurement quality as a lower quality measurement, and means for transmitting the higher quality measurement to the network entity shortly before transmitting the lower quality measurement to the network entity. The UE includes means for descrambling the second type DL-PRS based on an identity of the TRP and an identity of the RIS.

[0010]

[0010] An exemplary non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of a UE to send a capability report indicating that the UE is configured to measure a first type DL-PRS and a second type DL-PRS, and to measure the first type DL-PRS received directly from a TRP, or the second type DL-PRS received from the TRP via a RIS, or a combination thereof.

[0011]

[0011] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to disable measurements of a second type of DL-PRS in response to a measurement of a first type of DL-PRS by the UE having at least a threshold quality. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit an indication to a network entity that a measurement report from the UE will lack a measurement of the second type of DL-PRS. The processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to measure a second type of DL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to measure a second type of DL-PRS in response to a failure of the UE to obtain a measurement of the first type of DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. The processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to measure a DL-PRS of a first type and a DL-PRS of a second type include processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to obtain a first measurement of a DL-PRS of the first type and a second measurement of a DL-PRS of the second type, and the storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a higher measurement quality as a higher quality measurement, determine which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a lower measurement quality as a lower quality measurement, and transmit the higher quality measurement to the network entity shortly before transmitting the lower quality measurement to the network entity. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to descramble the DL-PRS of the second type based on an identity of the TRP and an identity of the RIS.

[0012]

[0012] An exemplary network entity includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to transmit via the transceiver a first DL-PRS of a first type of DL-PRS, and to transmit via the transceiver a second DL-PRS of a second type of DL-PRS to a RIS.

[0013]

[0013] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to scramble the second DL-PRS using an identity of the network entity and an identity of the RIS. The processor is configured to transmit the second DL-PRS with a higher number of repetitions per instance than the first DL-PRS. The processor is configured to transmit the second DL-PRS with a different carrier frequency than the first DL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first DL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first DL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first DL-PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0014]

[0014] Also or alternatively, such an implementation of the UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a first source signal of a first type of source signal, and transmit, via the transceiver, a second source signal of a second type of source signal to the RIS. The processor is configured to receive, via the transceiver, from the UE an indication indicating a first transmit beam corresponding to the received source signal, transmit to the UE a quasi-co-located (QCL) indication indicating a QCL type of the second transmit beam relative to the first transmit beam, and transmit to the UE one of the first DL-PRS or the second DL-PRS using the second transmit beam quasi-co-located with the first transmit beam. The processor is configured to transmit a third source signal of the second type of source signal to the RIS via the transceiver, the second source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a first quasi-collocation type, and the third source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a second quasi-collocation type, with the same index number for the second source signal and the third source signal. The processor is configured to transmit a timing and a frequency of the second type of source signal to a UE (User Equipment) via the transceiver.

[0015]

[0015] An exemplary method of providing a positioning reference signal includes transmitting a first DL-PRS of a first type of DL-PRS from a network entity, and transmitting a second DL-PRS of a second type of DL-PRS from the network entity to a RIS.

[0016]

[0016] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The method includes scrambling the second DL-PRS using an identity of the network entity and an identity of the RIS. Transmitting the second DL-PRS includes transmitting the second DL-PRS with a higher number of repetitions per instance than the first DL-PRS. Transmitting the second DL-PRS includes transmitting the second DL-PRS with a different carrier frequency than the first DL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first DL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first DL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first DL-PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0017]

[0017] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The method includes transmitting a first source signal of a first type of source signal and transmitting a second source signal of a second type of source signal to a RIS. The method includes receiving, at a network entity, from the UE an indication indicating a first transmit beam corresponding to the received source signal, and transmitting to the UE a QCL indication indicating a QCL type of a second transmit beam relative to the first transmit beam, where one of the first DL-PRS or the second DL-PRS is transmitted to the UE using a second transmit beam quasi-collocated with the first transmit beam. The method includes transmitting a third source signal of the second type of source signal from the network entity to the RIS, the second source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a first quasi-collocation type and the third source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a second quasi-collocation type, transmitting the second source signal and the third source signal at the same index number. The method includes transmitting a timing and a frequency of the second type of source signal from the network entity to the UE.

[0018]

[0018] Another exemplary network entity includes means for transmitting a first DL-PRS of a first type of DL-PRS and means for transmitting a second DL-PRS of a second type of DL-PRS to a RIS.

[0019]

[0019] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The network entity includes means for scrambling the second DL-PRS using an identity of the network entity and an identity of the RIS. The means for transmitting the second DL-PRS includes means for transmitting the second DL-PRS with a higher number of repetitions per instance than the first DL-PRS. The means for transmitting the second DL-PRS includes means for transmitting the second DL-PRS with a different carrier frequency than the first DL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first DL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first DL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first DL-PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0020]

[0020] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The network entity includes means for transmitting a first source signal of a first type of source signal and means for transmitting a second source signal of a second type of source signal to the RIS. The network entity includes means for receiving an indication of a first transmit beam corresponding to the received source signal and means for transmitting a QCL indication to the UE indicating a QCL type of a second transmit beam relative to the first transmit beam, where one of the first DL-PRS or the second DL-PRS is transmitted to the UE using a second transmit beam quasi-collocated with the first transmit beam. The network entity includes means for transmitting a third source signal of the second type of source signal to the RIS, and means for transmitting the second source signal and the third source signal at the same index number, the second source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a first quasi-collocation type, and the third source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a second quasi-collocation type. The network entity includes means for transmitting a timing and a frequency of the second type of source signal from the network entity to the UE.

[0021]

[0021] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of a network entity to transmit a first DL-PRS of a first type of DL-PRS and to transmit a second DL-PRS of a second type of DL-PRS to a RIS.

[0022]

[0022] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to scramble the second DL-PRS using an identity of the network entity and an identity of the RIS. The processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit the second DL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit the second DL-PRS with a higher number of repetitions per instance than the first DL-PRS. The processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit the second DL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit the second DL-PRS with a different carrier frequency than the first DL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first DL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first DL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first DL-PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0023]

[0023] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit a first source signal of a first type of source signal and to transmit a second source signal of a second type of source signal to a RIS. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to receive from the UE an indication of a first transmit beam corresponding to the received source signal and transmit to the UE a QCL indication indicating a QCL type of a second transmit beam relative to the first transmit beam, where one of the first DL-PRS or the second DL-PRS is transmitted to the UE using a second transmit beam quasi-collocated with the first transmit beam. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit a third source signal of the second type of source signal to the RIS, and to transmit the second source signal and the third source signal having the same index number, the second source signal quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a first quasi-collocation type and the third source signal quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a second quasi-collocation type. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit a timing and frequency of the second type of source signal to the UE.

[0024]

[0024] Another exemplary UE includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to transmit a first UL-PRS (Uplink Positioning Reference Signal) of a first type of UL-PRS directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater via the transceiver, and to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type of UL-PRS to a RIS via the transceiver.

[0025]

[0025] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to transmit the second UL-PRS using a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof. The processor is configured to measure a type-2 path loss reference signal received from the RIS and transmit the second UL-PRS using a transmit power based on a path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal. The path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal is a second path loss and the transmit power is a second transmit power, and the processor is configured to measure a type-1 path loss reference signal received from the RIS and transmit the first UL-PRS simultaneously with the second UL-PRS using a first transmit power based on the first path loss of the type-1 path loss reference signal. The path loss is a primary path loss, the transmit power is a primary transmit power, and the processor is configured to measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) received by the transceiver, and in response to failing to determine the primary path loss, transmit a second UL-PRS using a secondary transmit power that is based on the SSB path loss of the SSB.

[0026]

[0026] Also or alternatively, such an implementation of the UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to attempt to measure DL-PRS for uplink / downlink positioning techniques, and in response to failing to measure the DL-PRS with at least a threshold quality, transmit an indication via the transceiver that the UE is skipping transmission of the corresponding UL-PRS. To determine the direction of the RIS, the processor is configured to attempt to measure at least one downlink reference signal reflected by the RIS using multiple UE receive beams, determine a selected receive beam of the multiple UE receive beams corresponding to the strongest signal measurement of the at least one downlink reference signal, and determine a UE transmit beam of the UE corresponding to the selected receive beam.

[0027]

[0027] The positioning reference signal providing method includes transmitting a first UL-PRS of a first type of UL-PRS directly from the UE to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and transmitting a second UL-PRS of a second type of UL-PRS from the UE to a RIS.

[0028]

[0028] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof. The method includes measuring a type-2 path loss reference signal received from a RIS, and the second UL-PRS is transmitted using a transmit power based on a path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal. The path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal is a second path loss, and the transmit power is a second transmit power, and the method includes measuring a type-1 path loss reference signal received from a RIS, and the first UL-PRS is transmitted using a first transmit power based on a first path loss of the type-1 path loss reference signal.

[0029]

[0029] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The method includes attempting to measure a type 2 path loss reference signal and measuring an SSB received by the UE, and a second UL-PRS is transmitted using a secondary transmit power based on the SSB path loss of the SSB in response to failing to determine a reference signal path loss based on the type 2 path loss reference signal. The method includes attempting to measure a DL-PRS for an uplink / downlink positioning technique in the UE, and in response to failing to measure a DL-PRS with at least a threshold quality, transmitting an indication that the UE is skipping transmission of the corresponding UL-PRS. The method includes determining a direction of the RIS by attempting to measure at least one downlink reference signal reflected by the RIS using multiple UE receive beams, determining a selected receive beam of the multiple UE receive beams corresponding to the strongest signal measurement of the at least one downlink reference signal, and determining a UE transmit beam of the UE corresponding to the selected receive beam.

[0030]

[0030] Another exemplary UE includes means for transmitting a first UL-PRS of a first type of UL-PRS directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and means for transmitting a second UL-PRS of a second type of UL-PRS to a RIS.

[0031]

[0031] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof. The UE includes means for measuring a type-2 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, and the second UL-PRS is transmitted using a transmit power based on a path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal. The path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal is a second path loss, and the transmit power is a second transmit power, and the UE includes means for measuring a type-1 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, and the means for transmitting the first UL-PRS includes means for transmitting the first UL-PRS using a first transmit power based on the first path loss of the type-1 path loss reference signal.

[0032]

[0032] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The UE includes means for attempting to measure a Type 2 path loss reference signal and means for measuring an SSB received by the UE, where the means for transmitting a second UL-PRS includes means for transmitting the second UL-PRS using a secondary transmit power based on an SSB path loss of the SSB in response to failing to determine the reference signal path loss based on the Type 2 path loss reference signal. The UE includes means for attempting to measure a DL-PRS for an uplink / downlink positioning technique at the UE, and means for transmitting an indication that the UE is skipping transmission of the corresponding UL-PRS in response to failing to measure a DL-PRS with at least a threshold quality. The UE includes means for determining a direction of the RIS, including means for attempting to measure at least one downlink reference signal reflected by the RIS using a plurality of UE receive beams, means for determining a selected receive beam of the plurality of UE receive beams that corresponds to the strongest signal measurement of the at least one downlink reference signal, and means for determining a UE transmit beam of the UE that corresponds to the selected receive beam.

[0033]

[0033] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of a UE entity to transmit a first UL-PRS of a first type of UL-PRS directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type of UL-PRS to a RIS.

[0034]

[0034] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to measure a Type 2 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, and the processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the second UL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the second UL-PRS using a transmit power based on a path loss of the Type 2 path loss reference signal. The path loss of the Type 2 path loss reference signal is a second path loss and the transmit power is a second transmit power, and the storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to measure a Type 1 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, and the processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the first UL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the first UL-PRS using a first transmit power that is based on the first path loss of the Type 1 path loss reference signal.

[0035]

[0035] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to attempt to measure a type 2 path loss reference signal and measure an SSB received by the UE, and the processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit a second UL-PRS include processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the second UL-PRS using a secondary transmit power based on the SSB path loss of the SSB in response to a failure to determine a reference signal path loss based on the type 2 path loss reference signal. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to attempt to measure, at the UE, a DL-PRS for an uplink / downlink positioning technique, and in response to a failure to measure a DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality, transmit an indication that the UE is skipping transmission of the corresponding UL-PRS. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to attempt to measure at least one downlink reference signal reflected by the RIS using a plurality of UE receive beams, determine a selected receive beam among the plurality of UE receive beams that corresponds to the strongest signal measurement value of the at least one downlink reference signal, and determine a UE transmit beam for the UE that corresponds to the selected receive beam, in order to cause the processor to determine a direction of the RIS.

[0036]

[0036] Another example network entity includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to schedule a first uplink positioning signal resource for the UE to transmit a first UL-PRS of a first type directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and to schedule a second uplink positioning signal resource for the UE to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type to a RIS.

[0037]

[0037] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a first termination indication indicating that the UE will stop scheduled transmission of the first UL-PRS in response to receiving the second UL-PRS and failing to receive the first UL-PRS, or transmit, via the transceiver, a second termination indication indicating that the UE will stop scheduled transmission of the second UL-PRS in response to receiving the first UL-PRS and failing to receive the second UL-PRS, or a combination thereof. The processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a first downlink path loss reference signal of a first type to the UE, and transmit, via the transceiver, a second downlink path loss reference signal of a second type to the RIS. The first downlink path loss reference signal is a first synchronization signal block or a first positioning reference signal, the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second synchronization signal block or a second positioning reference signal, and the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second positioning reference signal, and the processor is further configured to transmit an indication of a transmit power of the second positioning reference signal to the RIS via the transceiver. The processor is configured to schedule the second UL-PRS with a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof; allocate both the first downlink path loss reference signal and the first UL-PRS with the first carrier frequency, the first bandwidth, and the first timing characteristic; and allocate both the second downlink path loss reference signal and the second UL-PRS with the second carrier frequency, the second bandwidth, and the second timing characteristic.

[0038]

[0038] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to control selection of one or more of the multiple antenna beams of the RIS and to transmit a beam indication to the UE indicating the selected one of the multiple antenna beams of the RIS.

[0039]

[0039] An exemplary method for scheduling uplink positioning reference signals includes transmitting, from a network entity to a UE, a first schedule of first uplink positioning signal resources for the UE to transmit a first UL-PRS of a first type directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and transmitting, from the network entity to the UE, a second schedule of second uplink positioning signal resources for the UE to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type to a RIS.

[0040]

[0040] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The method includes: transmitting a first termination indication from the network entity to the UE in response to receiving the second UL-PRS and failing to receive the first UL-PRS, the first termination indication indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the first UL-PRS; or transmitting a second termination indication from the network entity to the UE in response to receiving the first UL-PRS and failing to receive the second UL-PRS, the second termination indication indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the second UL-PRS; or a combination thereof. The method includes transmitting a first downlink path loss reference signal of a first type from the network entity to the UE and transmitting a second downlink path loss reference signal of a second type from the network entity to the RIS. The first downlink path loss reference signal is a first synchronization signal block or a first positioning reference signal, and the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second synchronization signal block or a second positioning reference signal. The second downlink path loss reference signal is a second positioning reference signal, and the method includes transmitting an indication of a transmit power of the second positioning reference signal from the network entity to the RIS. In accordance with the first schedule and the second schedule, the second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof, and the method includes allocating both the first downlink path loss reference signal and the first UL-PRS with the first carrier frequency, the first bandwidth, and the first timing characteristic, and allocating both the second downlink path loss reference signal and the second UL-PRS with the second carrier frequency, the second bandwidth, and the second timing characteristic.

[0041]

[0041] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The method includes controlling a selection of one or more of a plurality of antenna beams of the RIS, and transmitting a beam indication from a network entity to the UE, the beam indication indicating the selected one of the plurality of antenna beams of the RIS.

[0042]

[0042] Another example network entity includes means for transmitting a first schedule of first uplink positioning signal resources to the UE for the UE to transmit a first UL-PRS of a first type directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and means for transmitting a second schedule of second uplink positioning signal resources to the UE for the UE to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type to a RIS.

[0043]

[0043] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The network entity includes an entity, means for transmitting a first termination indication to the UE in response to receiving the second UL-PRS and failing to receive the first UL-PRS, indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the first UL-PRS, or means for transmitting a second termination indication to the UE in response to receiving the first UL-PRS and failing to receive the second UL-PRS, indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the second UL-PRS, or a combination thereof. The network entity includes means for transmitting a first downlink path loss reference signal of a first type to the UE and means for transmitting a second downlink path loss reference signal of a second type to the RIS. The first downlink path loss reference signal is a first synchronization signal block or a first positioning reference signal, and the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second synchronization signal block or a second positioning reference signal. The second downlink path loss reference signal is a second positioning reference signal, and the network entity includes means for transmitting an indication of a transmit power of the second positioning reference signal to the RIS. According to the first schedule and the second schedule, the second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof, and the network entity includes means for allocating both the first downlink path loss reference signal and the first UL-PRS with the first carrier frequency, the first bandwidth, and the first timing characteristic, and means for allocating both the second downlink path loss reference signal and the second UL-PRS with the second carrier frequency, the second bandwidth, and the second timing characteristic.

[0044]

[0044] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The network entity includes means for controlling selection of one or more of the multiple antenna beams of the RIS and means for transmitting a beam indication indicating the selected one of the multiple antenna beams of the RIS to the UE.

[0045]

[0045] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause a processor of a network entity to transmit a first schedule of first uplink positioning signal resources to a user equipment (UE) for the UE to transmit a first UL-PRS (uplink positioning reference signal) of a first type directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater, and to transmit a second schedule of second uplink positioning signal resources to the UE for the UE to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0046]

[0046] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to: transmit to the UE, an entity, a first termination indication indicating that the UE will stop scheduled transmissions of the first UL-PRS in response to receiving the second UL-PRS and failing to receive the first UL-PRS, or transmit to the UE, a second termination indication indicating that the UE will stop scheduled transmissions of the second UL-PRS in response to receiving the first UL-PRS and failing to receive the second UL-PRS, or a combination thereof. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit to the UE a first downlink path loss reference signal of a first type and to transmit to the RIS a second downlink path loss reference signal of a second type. The first downlink path loss reference signal is a first synchronization signal block or a first positioning reference signal, the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second synchronization signal block or a second positioning reference signal, and the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second positioning reference signal, and the storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit an indication of a transmit power of the second positioning reference signal to the RIS. In accordance with the first schedule and the second schedule, the second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof, and the storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause the processor to allocate both the first downlink path loss reference signal and the first UL-PRS with the first carrier frequency, the first bandwidth, and the first timing characteristic, and to allocate both the second downlink path loss reference signal and the second UL-PRS with the second carrier frequency, the second bandwidth, and the second timing characteristic.

[0047]

[0047] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to control selection of one or more of a plurality of antenna beams of the RIS and to transmit a beam indication to the UE indicating the selected one of the plurality of antenna beams of the RIS.

[0048] Another exemplary UE includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a communication unit communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the communication unit configured to: transmit a first on-demand request for a first PRS resource of a first signal type to a network entity via the transceiver based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS (downlink reference signal) of a first signal type from a network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality; determine whether one of the first signal type and the second signal type is a non-reconfigurable-intelligent-surface-reflected (RIS) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or transmitting, via the transceiver to the network entity, a second on-demand request for second PRS resources for RIS-reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RIS associated with the common base station, or transmitting, via the transceiver to the network entity, a second on-demand request for second PRS resources for RIS-reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RIS associated with the common base station, or transmitting, via the transceiver to the network entity, the UE specifying different PRS symbol durations for the RIS-reflected PRS and the non-RIS-reflected PRS.and transmitting a capability message indicating support for the at least one IEEE 802.11 standard, ...

[0049]

[0049] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to: send a first on-demand request, where the first PRS resource is a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, or send a second on-demand request, where the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource, or a combination thereof. The processor is configured to send the first on-demand request, where the first DL-RS is a path loss reference signal. The processor is configured to transmit a second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a first RIS, and further based on lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS. The processor is configured to transmit a capability message to the network entity via the transceiver, the processor configured to transmit the capability message including a first PRS symbol duration supported by the UE to receive a non-RIS reflected PRS and a second PRS symbol duration supported by the UE to receive a RIS reflected PRS. The processor is configured to determine the second PRS symbol duration based on a separation of at least two RISs associated with the network entity.

[0050] UE position determination an exemplary method for facilitating determination of a capability message from the UE to the network entity based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS of a first signal type from a network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality, wherein one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, or transmitting a second on-demand request from the UE to the network entity for second PRS resources for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, wherein the second on-demand request specifies a first RIS of a plurality of RIS associated with the common base station, or transmitting a capability message from the UE to the network entity indicating that the UE supports different PRS symbol durations for the RIS reflected PRS and the non-RIS reflected PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0051]

[0051] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The method includes transmitting a first on-demand request, the first PRS resource being a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, or transmitting a second on-demand request, the second PRS resource being a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource, or a combination thereof. The method includes transmitting a first on-demand request, the first DL-RS being a path loss reference signal. The method includes transmitting a second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a first RIS, and further based on lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS. The method includes transmitting a capability message to a network entity, the capability message including a first PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a non-RIS reflected PRS and a second PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a RIS reflected PRS. The method includes determining the second PRS symbol duration based on a separation of at least two RISs associated with the network entity.

[0052]

[0052] Another exemplary UE includes a transceiver and means for facilitating position determination of the UE, the means for facilitating position determination including means for transmitting a first on-demand request for a first PRS resource of a first signal type to a network entity via the transceiver based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS of a first signal type from a network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality, one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the first the other of the signal type and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, or means for sending, via the transceiver to the network entity, a second on-demand request for second PRS resources for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RIS associated with the common base station, or means for sending, via the transceiver to the network entity, a capability message indicating that the UE supports different PRS symbol durations for the RIS reflected PRS and the non-RIS reflected PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0053]

[0053] Such an implementation of the UE may include one or more of the following features: The UE includes means for transmitting a first on-demand request, the first PRS resource being a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, or means for transmitting a second on-demand request, the second PRS resource being a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource, or a combination thereof. The UE includes means for transmitting a first on-demand request, the first DL-RS being a path loss reference signal. The UE includes means for transmitting a second on-demand request, the means for transmitting the second on-demand request including means for transmitting the second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a first RIS, and further based on lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of a plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS. The UE includes means for transmitting a capability message to a network entity, the capability message including a first PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a non-RIS reflected PRS and a second PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a RIS reflected PRS. The UE includes means for determining the second PRS symbol duration based on a separation of at least two RISs associated with the network entity.

[0054] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes a processor of the UE that, based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS of a first signal type from a network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from a network entity having at least a second threshold quality, sends to the network entity a first on-demand request for first PRS resources of a first signal type, one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, or sends to the network entity a second on-demand request for second PRS resources for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request being received from a common base station (CBS) In one embodiment, the UE includes processor-readable instructions for causing the UE to specify a first RIS of multiple RISs associated with a RIS-reflected PRS (a PRS-reflected station), or to transmit a capabilities message to a network entity indicating that the UE supports different PRS symbol durations for RIS-reflected PRS and non-RIS-reflected PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0055]

[0055] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to send a first on-demand request, where the first PRS resource is a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, or send a second on-demand request, where the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource, or a combination thereof. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to send a first on-demand request, where the first DL-RS is a path loss reference signal. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to transmit a second on-demand request, the processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit the second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a first RIS, and further based on lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to transmit a capability message to the network entity, the capability message including a first PRS symbol duration supported by the UE to receive a non-RIS reflected PRS and a second PRS symbol duration supported by the UE to receive a RIS reflected PRS. The storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine the second PRS symbol duration based on a separation of at least two RISs associated with the network entity.

[0056]

[0056] Another example network entity includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to: receive from the UE via the transceiver a capability message indicating a first PRS symbol duration for the UE for processing a DL-PRS of a first signal type and a second PRS symbol duration for the UE for processing a second DL-PRS of a second signal type; and schedule a second resource of the second DL-PRS of the second signal type based on the capability message, such that the second resource of the second DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the second PRS symbol duration, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0057]

[0057] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: the second PRS symbol duration is shorter in time than the first PRS symbol duration, and the processor is configured to schedule the first resource of the first DL-PRS of the first signal type based on the capability message such that the first resource of the first DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the first PRS symbol duration; the first PRS symbol duration is an amount of slots and the second PRS symbol duration is an amount of subslots of a symbol.

[0058]

[0058] A downlink positioning reference signal scheduling method includes receiving, at a network entity, a capability message from a UE indicating a first PRS symbol duration of the UE for processing a DL-PRS of a first signal type and a second PRS symbol duration of the UE for processing a second DL-PRS of a second signal type, and scheduling a second resource of the second DL-PRS of the second signal type based on the capability message, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, such that the second resource of the second DL-PRS extends below the second PRS symbol duration.

[0059]

[0059] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The second PRS symbol duration is shorter in time than the first PRS symbol duration, and the method includes scheduling a first resource of a first DL-PRS of a first signal type based on the capability message such that the first resource of the first DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the first PRS symbol duration. The first PRS symbol duration is an amount of slots and the second PRS symbol duration is an amount of subslots of a symbol.

[0060]

[0060] Another example network entity includes means for receiving a capability message from the UE indicating a first PRS symbol duration in the UE for processing a DL-PRS of a first signal type and a second PRS symbol duration in the UE for processing a second DL-PRS of a second signal type, and means for scheduling a second resource of the second DL-PRS of the second signal type based on the capability message, such that the second resource of the second DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the second PRS symbol duration, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0061]

[0061] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: the second PRS symbol duration is shorter in time than the first PRS symbol duration, and the network entity includes means for scheduling, based on the capability message, the first resource of the first DL-PRS of the first signal type such that the first resource of the first DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the first PRS symbol duration; the first PRS symbol duration is an amount of slots and the second PRS symbol duration is an amount of subslots of a symbol.

[0062]

[0062] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause a processor of a network entity to receive a capability message from a UE indicating a first PRS symbol duration in the UE for processing a DL-PRS of a first signal type and a second PRS symbol duration in the UE for processing a second DL-PRS of a second signal type, and schedule a second resource of the second DL-PRS of the second signal type based on the capability message, such that the second resource of the second DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the second PRS symbol duration, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0063]

[0063] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: the second PRS symbol duration is shorter in time than the first PRS symbol duration, and the storage medium includes processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to schedule, based on the capability message, a first resource of the first DL-PRS of the first signal type such that the first resource of the first DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the first PRS symbol duration. The first PRS symbol duration is an amount of slots and the second PRS symbol duration is an amount of subslots of a symbol.

[0064]

[0064] Another example network entity includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a memory, and communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and configured to receive from the UE via the transceiver: (1) a measurement indication indicating a first measurement value of a first signal type, or a second measurement value of a second signal type, or a combination thereof, where the first signal type is for a non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for a RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or (2) a first UL-PRS of the first signal type, or a second UL-PRS of the second signal type, or a combination thereof; or (3) a power-saving mode of the UE. and a processor configured to receive at least one signal including at least one of an indication of a first signal type or a second signal type (UL-PRS) and transmit a message in response to the at least one signal via the transceiver to the UE, wherein the message indicates that the UE will report DL-PRS (Downlink PRS) measurements of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or indicates that the UE will transmit UL-PRS of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or a combination thereof.

[0065]

[0065] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The indication of the power saving mode of the UE includes a request for the UE to operate in a power saving mode. One of the first signal type or the second signal type indicated by the message corresponds to a better measured quality of the signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0066]

[0066] An exemplary method for controlling signal exchange includes receiving at least one signal from the UE including at least one of: (1) a measurement indication indicating a first measurement value of a first signal type, or a second measurement value of a second signal type, or a combination thereof, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, or (2) a first UL-PRS of the first signal type, or a second UL-PRS of the second signal type, or a combination thereof, or (3) an indication of a power saving mode of the UE, and transmitting a message to the UE in response to the at least one signal, where the message indicates that the UE reports a measurement value of DL-PRS (downlink PRS) of only one type of the first signal type or the second signal type, or indicates that the UE transmits a UL-PRS of only one type of the first signal type or the second signal type, or a combination thereof.

[0067]

[0067] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The indication of the power saving mode of the UE includes a request for the UE to operate in a power saving mode. One of the first signal type or the second signal type indicated by the message corresponds to a better measured quality of the signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0068]

[0068] Another exemplary network entity includes means for receiving at least one signal from the UE including at least one of: (1) a measurement indication indicating a first measurement value of a first signal type, or a second measurement value of a second signal type, or a combination thereof, where the first signal type is for non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, or (2) a first UL-PRS of the first signal type, or a second UL-PRS of the second signal type, or a combination thereof, or (3) an indication of a power saving mode of the UE; and means for transmitting a message to the UE in response to the at least one signal, wherein the message indicates that the UE reports a measurement value of DL-PRS (downlink PRS) of only one type of the first signal type or the second signal type, or indicates that the UE transmits a UL-PRS of only one type of the first signal type or the second signal type, or a combination thereof.

[0069]

[0069] Implementations of such a network entity may include one or more of the following features: The indication of the power saving mode of the UE includes a request for the UE to operate in a power saving mode. One of the first signal type or the second signal type indicated by the message corresponds to a better measured quality of the signal transfer between the network entity and the UE.

[0070] Another exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes a network entity that receives from a processor of the UE: (1) a measurement indication indicating a first measurement of a first signal type, or a second measurement of a second signal type, or a combination thereof, where the first signal type is for a non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type is for a RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or (2) a first UL-PRS of the first signal type, or a second UL-PRS of the second signal type, if and (3) an indication of a power saving mode of the UE; and transmitting a message in response to the at least one signal, wherein the message indicates that the UE will report measurements of DL-PRS (Downlink PRS) of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or indicates that the UE will transmit UL-PRS of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or a combination thereof.

[0071]

[0071] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The indication of the power saving mode of the UE includes a request for the UE to operate in a power saving mode. One of the first signal type or the second signal type indicated by the message corresponds to a better measured quality of the signal transfer between the network entity and the UE. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0072] [Figure 1]

[0072] A simplified diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. [Diagram 2]

[0073] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3]

[0074] 2 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary transmit / receive point; [Figure 4]

[0075] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary server, various embodiments of which are illustrated in FIG. [Diagram 5]

[0076] A simplified diagram of a wireless communication environment including a RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface). [Figure 6]

[0077] 1 is a simplified diagram of an exemplary user equipment (UE). [Figure 7]

[0078] 1 is a block diagram of a network entity. [Figure 8]

[0079] 1 is a simplified diagram of signaling between a base station and a UE. [Figure 9]

[0080] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling and process flow for determining positioning information using RIS reflected signals and / or non-RIS reflected signals. [Figure 10]

[0081] 1 is a block flow diagram of a positioning reference signal measurement method. [Figure 11]

[0082] 4 is a block flow diagram for providing a positioning reference signal. [Figure 12]

[0083] 1 shows a simplified diagram of signaling between multiple base stations and a UE. [Figure 13]

[0084] A simplified diagram of a wireless communications environment including a RIS. [Figure 14]

[0085] FIG. 1 illustrates the signaling and process flow for providing an uplink positioning reference signal with or without a RIS. [Figure 15]

[0086] 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for providing a positioning reference signal. [Figure 16]

[0087] 4 is a block flow diagram of a method for scheduling uplink positioning reference signals. [Figure 17]

[0088] 4 is a simplified timing diagram of reception of positioning reference signals from a reference base station, a neighbor base station, a reference RIS, and a neighbor RIS. [Figure 18]

[0089] FIG. 1 illustrates the signaling and process flow for providing DL-PRS and UL-PRS and measuring DL-PRS with or without a RIS. [Figure 19]

[0090] 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for facilitating position determination of a UE. [Figure 20]

[0091] 4 is a method block flow diagram of a downlink positioning reference signal scheduling method. [Figure 21]

[0092] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified signaling and process flow for on-demand request of DL-PRS measurements and / or UL-PRS. [Figure 22]

[0093] 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for controlling signal exchange. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0073]

[0094] Techniques are described herein relating to defining and using different signal types for signals (e.g., reference signals such as path loss reference signals, synchronization signals, channel state information reference signals, positioning reference signals (PRS), etc.), where one type of signal travels between a user equipment (UE) and a base station without being reflected by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), and another type of signal is reflected by a RIS between the UE and the base station. For example, the different types of signals may have one or more different transmission characteristic values ​​(e.g., different repetition factors, different carrier frequencies, different bandwidths, different beams, one or more different timing characteristic values, etc.), and / or different codewords. The different types of signals may include downlink and / or uplink signals, e.g., downlink reference signals (DL-RS) and / or uplink PRS, etc. As another example, various quasi-co-location types may be supported for signal types. As another example, the UE may provide a capability message to indicate the UE's ability to support (e.g., measure) different signal types. As another example, the UE may receive both signal types and give higher priority (e.g., for measurement and / or reporting) to non-RIS reflected signals over RIS reflected signals (e.g., such that RIS reflections may not be measured while non-RIS reflected signals are measured and / or such that measurements of non-RIS reflected signals are reported while measurements of RIS reflected signals are not reported). As another example, the UE may measure both signal types and provide a measurement report including measurement information only for the signal measurement having the higher quality. The UE may avoid measuring or attempting to measure one type of signal from the base station (e.g., skipping one or more scheduled measurements) if the UE does not expect to be able to measure that type of signal at all, or at least with a threshold quality, or may expect to measure the other type of signal with very high quality.For example, if the UE is unable to measure one type of reference signal (e.g., RIS reflected or non-RIS reflected) or measures a reference signal but of poor quality, the UE may stop measuring that type of signal (skip scheduled measurements of that type of signal) and skip the corresponding measurement report. As another example, if the UE measures a RIS reflected reference signal and a non-RIS reflected reference signal and one has very high quality, the UE may stop measuring the type of signal that was received with very low quality. The UE may indicate to the base station and / or location server that the UE is skipping one or more measurements of a specified signal type and / or a specified signal. These are examples and other examples may be implemented.

[0074]

[0095] Techniques are described herein, among others, for RIS reflected uplink signals and non-RIS reflected uplink signals, e.g., uplink PRS (i.e., sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning). For example, the RIS reflected downlink reference signal may be used to determine a downlink path loss, which is used to set an uplink transmit power for the RIS reflected uplink signal and the non-RIS reflected uplink signal, respectively. As another example, measurements of the downlink signal may be used to determine one or more antenna beams to be used for uplink signal transmission. As another example, a beam currently being used for uplink transmission may be defined relative to a beam, e.g., a previously used beam, which may be the same beam as the currently used beam. As another example, the base station may provide the UE with information regarding a receiving beam used (e.g., by the RIS) to receive an uplink signal from the UE. As another example, the UE may determine that the UE is unable to measure the downlink signal (at all, or at least with a threshold quality) and, in response, not attempt to perform scheduled measurements and indicate that the UE is not performing scheduled measurements. The UE may indicate, for example, for an operational implementation involving corresponding downlink and uplink signal exchange (e.g., round-trip time positioning), that a corresponding uplink signal (e.g., an uplink PRS) is not sent by the UE.

[0075]

[0096] Described herein are techniques for downlink PRS (DL-PRS) and / or uplink PRS (UL-PRS) signaling, e.g., on-demand requests for DL-PRS and / or UL-PRS, PRS symbol duration for processing received PRS, etc. For example, a UE may send an on-demand request for DL-PRS, which may request one or more specific PRS parameter values ​​and / or may request PRS from a specific base station. As another example, a UE may request allocation of resources for a particular type of UL-PRS, e.g., a RIS-reflected UL-PRS, in response to the UE being unable to measure a non-RIS-reflected DL-RS (with at least sufficient quality). As another example, a UE may request a particular RIS to be used for DL-PRS and / or UL-PRS, e.g., based on measurements (or attempted measurements) of a RIS-reflected DL-RS. As another example, the UE may report a symbol duration to be used by the UE to process the PRS, and a network entity (e.g., a base station and / or a server) may allocate DL-PRS resources that correspond to (e.g., fall within) the reported symbol duration.

[0076]

[0097] Further techniques are discussed herein.

[0077]

[0098] Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned: Measurements of RIS reflected signals may be enhanced, for example, by providing more repetitions for RIS reflected signals. Positioning latency may be reduced, for example, by reporting stronger measurements before weaker measurements and / or by indicating that measurements of certain signals are not reported. Measurement accuracy may be increased when using RIS and non-RIS reflected signals. Power control for transmitting RIS and non-RIS reflected signals may be improved. Beam management may be enhanced when using RIS and non-RIS reflected signals. Power consumption for positioning may be reduced, for example, by avoiding PRS transmissions and / or measurements (e.g., unlikely to improve positioning accuracy), by using on-demand requests for PRS, and / or by allocating PRS to correspond to the sub-slot processing capabilities of the UE. Energy may be conserved by avoiding sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions, e.g., SRS transmissions corresponding to positioning reference signals that were not received (at least with a threshold quality) and / or SRS transmissions that are not expected to be received with at least a threshold quality. Other capabilities may be provided, and not all implementations according to this disclosure must provide any, much less all, of the discussed capabilities.

[0078]

[0099] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in the wireless network, such as base stations and access points. Standardization for 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods that may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for current position determination.

[0079]

[0100] The description may, for example, refer to a sequence of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. 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 a combination of both. The sequence of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause an associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0080]

[0101] The terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" as used herein are not specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, such 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, 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) fixed and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", "mobile device", or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE may be connected with external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0081]

[0102] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of base stations include an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), or a generic Node B (gNode B, gNB). Furthermore, in some systems the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0082]

[0103] A UE may be embodied by any of several types of devices, including, but not limited to, a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wireline phone, a smart phone, a tablet, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a RAN may send signals to a UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0083]

[0104] The term "cell" or "sector" as used herein may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., on a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish neighboring cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., sector) of a geographic coverage area over which a logical entity operates.

[0084]

[0105] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) 135, here a fifth generation (5G) next generation RAN (NG) (NG-RAN), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a boat, etc.), or other devices. The 5G network may be referred to as a new radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of the NG-RAN and 5GC is ongoing in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from the 3GPP. The RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, e.g., a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 may be configured to send and / or receive signals to / from similar other entities in the system 100 and may be similarly coupled to the UE 105, although such signaling is not shown in FIG. 1 for ease of illustration. Similarly, the description focuses on the UE 105 for simplicity. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou, or some other regional or local SPS, such as an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Described below are additional components of the communications system 100. The communications system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0085]

[0106] 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR Node Bs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and Next Generation eNode Bs (ng-eNBs) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and are each configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and are each communicatively coupled to and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to the external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial point of contact for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station, such as the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114, may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate with short-range technologies such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Bluetooth-low energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.). One or more BSs, e.g., one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114, may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 over multiple carriers. Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic region, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antennas.

[0086]

[0107] FIG. 1 provides a generalized view of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. In particular, while only one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater number (or fewer) of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Additionally, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0087]

[0108] 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate the location of the UE 105 at a location-enabled device, such as the UE 105, gNBs 110a, 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurements received at the UE 105 of such directional transmission signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0088]

[0109] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication in that the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using a wireless connection) directly or indirectly, for example, via the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices, not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). In the case of indirect communication, the communication may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change header information of the data packets, to change the format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., although these are examples and other configurations of UEs may be used, as the UE 105 need not be any of these configurations. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs may be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. Additionally, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the 5GC 140, and / or the external client 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to enable the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0089]

[0110] The UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, WiFi communications, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communications, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., Global System for Mobile (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything, e.g., V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). The V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications)). The system 100 may include multiple A multi-carrier transmitter may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may transmit modulated signals simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal wave division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 may communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communications by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0090]

[0111] The UE 105 may comprise and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a secure user plane location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), or by some other name. Additionally, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, but not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using, for example, a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 105 to communicate with an external client 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or enable the external client 130 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0091]

[0112] The UE 105 may include a single entity, or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of the location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate or position fix, and may be geographic and thus provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height or depth above ground, floor level or basement level). Alternatively, the location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or as a designation of some point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in urban form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location, for example comprising a distance and a direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, with respect to a city, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the values ​​of local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level), if desired.

[0092]

[0113] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported with any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of the groups of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmission / reception point (TRP), such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for the D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of the groups of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​the TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0093]

[0114] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and the gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communication access to the 5G C140 for the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may act as a serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or as a secondary gNB to provide the UE 105 with additional throughput and bandwidth.

[0094]

[0115] 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0095]

[0116] The gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNBs 114 may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector in a cell of a BS may comprise a TRP, but the multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., may share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 may include only a macro TRP, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals having an association with a femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0096]

[0117] As mentioned, Figure 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may comprise base stations comprising evolved node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may comprise an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN+EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 of Figure 1 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0097]

[0118] The gNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with an AMF 115, which communicates with the LMF 120, for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, for example, through wireless communication or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Aided GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Extended Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP).At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including derivation of the location of the UE 105) may be implemented in the UE 105 (e.g., using signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 and / or signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for assistance data provided to the UE 105 by the LMF 120, for example). The AMF 115 may act as a control node that handles signaling between the UE 105 and the 5GC 140 and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105.

[0098]

[0119] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from an external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return a location response (e.g., including a location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations, only one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0099]

[0120] As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (sometimes referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, and NRPPa messages are transferred between the gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and the LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115. As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (sometimes referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP, where LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP) and between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based location methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based location methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNBs 110a, 110b or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location related information from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS (synchronization signal) or PRS transmissions from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be collocated or integrated with a gNB or TRP, or may be disposed remotely from the gNBs and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNBs and / or TRP.

[0100]

[0121] In a UE-assisted location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a round trip signal propagation time (RTT), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or the WLAN APs. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0101]

[0122] In a UE-based location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (which may, for example, be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted location method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by a gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, or other base station or AP).

[0102]

[0123] In a network-based location method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or Time of Arrival (ToA) measurements for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0103]

[0124] The information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using the NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0104]

[0125] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other location method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0105]

[0126] As mentioned, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., that are used to support and interact with mobile devices, such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1) in the 5GC 140. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for a 5G network, except that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may instead be applied to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs, in some cases.

[0106]

[0127] As mentioned, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS or PRS beams sent by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) that are within range of the UE whose position is to be determined (e.g., UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some instances, use directional SS or PRS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114) to calculate the UE's position.

[0107]

[0128] 2, UE 200 is an example of one of the UEs 105, 106 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position device (PD) 219. The processor 210, memory 211, sensors 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and position device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of the camera 218, the position device 219, and / or the sensor 213) may be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may comprise multiple processors, including a general purpose / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may comprise a processor for, for example, RF (radio frequency) sensing (using one or more transmitted cellular wireless signals and reflections used to identify, map, and / or track objects), ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs).For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identity Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connectivity. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 210 to perform a function. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function. The description may refer to the UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 200 that perform the function. The processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 211. The functionality of the processor 210 is described more fully below.

[0108]

[0129] The configuration of UE 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the scope of the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensors 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0109]

[0130] The UE 200 may comprise a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Also or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the general purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0110]

[0131] The UE 200 may include sensors 213, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more light sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscopes). The sensors 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometers) for determining an orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, for example, to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensors may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensors 213 may generate analog and / or digital signal representations that may be stored in memory 211 and processed by the DSP 231 and / or general purpose / application processor 230 supporting one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0111]

[0132] The sensors 213 may be used in relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensors 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. The sensors 213 may be useful to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or moving, and / or to report any useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on information acquired / measured by the sensors 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected motion or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-assisted location determination enabled by the sensors 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensors / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0112]

[0133] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements on the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of the UE 200 that may be used in relative location determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion as well as the displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and displacement may be integrated to track the location of the UE 200. For example, a reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometers and gyroscopes obtained after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of the UE 200 based on the motion (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

[0113]

[0134] The magnetometer can determine the strength of the magnetic field in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide a means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example to the processor 210.

[0114]

[0135] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting the wireless signals 248 to and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog-to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The new radio may use mmWave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies.The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from the NG-RAN 135. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, e.g., by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for sending and / or receiving appropriate signals, respectively.

[0115]

[0136] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include two or more of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store representations of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 for processing by the DSP 231 and / or the general purpose / application processor 230 in response to actions from a user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store representations of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 for presenting output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, speakers, microphones, digital-to-analog circuits, analog-to-digital circuits, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuits (including two or more of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Also or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0116]

[0137] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signals 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signals 260 from wireless signals to wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 to estimate the location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general purpose / application processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized with the SPS receiver 217 to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals and / or to calculate the estimated location of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store representations (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general purpose / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special purpose processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing the measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0117]

[0138] The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also, or alternatively, a video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. The video processor 233 may, for example, decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 216.

[0118]

[0139] The position device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative location of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may be in communication with and / or include some or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may operate in conjunction with the processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods as appropriate, but the description herein may refer to the PD 219 being configured to perform or performing according to the positioning method(s). Also or alternatively, the PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the signals 248) for trilateration, to assist in the acquisition and use of the SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 based on the cell of the serving base station (e.g., cell center) and / or another technique such as E-CID. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains, and / or man-made landmarks such as buildings, bridges, streets, etc.) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)) to determine the location of the UE 200 and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200.The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense and provide an indication of an orientation and / or motion of the UE 200, which the processor 210 (e.g., general purpose / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine the motion (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and / or error of the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in various manners and / or configurations, for example, by the general purpose / application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0119]

[0140] 3, an example of a TRP 300 of the gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the depicted devices (e.g., wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). Memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 312 may not be directly executable by processor 310, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 310 to perform functions.

[0120]

[0141] The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, including other implementations such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the TRP 300 performing the function (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) (and thus one of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNBs 114). The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is described more fully below.

[0121]

[0142] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like.The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communications, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the LMF 120 and / or the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical communications and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0122]

[0143] 3 is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses the TRP 300 being configured to or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0123]

[0144] 4, the server 400, of which the LMF 120 is an example, comprises a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform a function. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 that perform the function. The description may refer to the server 400 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of the server 400 that perform the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411.The functionality of the processor 410 is described more fully below.

[0124]

[0145] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communications, e.g., a network interface, that may be utilized to communicate with the TRP 300, e.g., and / or the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from one or more other network entities.The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0125]

[0146] The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, including other implementations, such as where the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware (stored in memory 411). The description herein may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411) that perform the function.

[0126]

[0147] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example and is not limiting of the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also, or alternatively, the description herein discusses the server 400 being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0127]

[0148] Positioning Techniques

[0149] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateralization (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) often operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, where measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by the base station are made by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the UE's position based on the measurements and the known locations of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the UE's position, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car or cell phone navigation, which instead generally rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0128]

[0150] UEs may use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) for high accuracy positioning using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK) techniques. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements, from ground stations. LTE Release 15 allows the data to be encrypted so that only UEs that have subscribed to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. Thus, a UE that has subscribed to the service may not be able to easily "decrypt" the data for other UEs by transferring it to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. The transfer would need to be repeated each time the assistance data changes.

[0129]

[0151] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a Base Station Almanac (BSA) that contains multiple "entries" or "records," one record per cell, where each record includes the geographic cell location but may also include other data. An identifier for a "record" among the multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the UE's position.

[0130]

[0152] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position and thus avoids sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses the relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (more broadly, the base station)). The BSA information may be encrypted. However, since the BSA information changes much less frequently than, for example, the previously described PPP or RTK assistance data, it may be easier to make the BSA information available (compared to PPP or RTK information) to UEs that do not subscribe and have not paid for a decryption key. The transmission of reference signals by the gNB makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or wardriving, essentially allowing the generation of BSA information based on in-situ and / or over-the-top observations.

[0131]

[0153] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or assessed based on one or more criteria, such as position determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of location-related data and the availability of that data at a positioning system interface, e.g., the interface of the LMF 120. At the initialization of the positioning system, the latency for the availability of location-related data is called the time-to-first-fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between two successive availability of location-related data is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which location-related data is generated after the first fix. Latency may depend, for example, on the processing capability of the UE. For example, the UE may report its processing capability as the duration of DL PRS symbols in time units (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process per T amount of time (e.g., Tms) for a 272 PRB (Physical Resource Block) allocation. Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs that the UE can process PRSs for, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0132]

[0154] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also called positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known positioning techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Extended Cell Identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between the two entities. This distance, as well as the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and another entity may be used to determine the relative distance from the other entity, which may be used in combination with the known location of the other entity to determine the location of the one entity. Angle of arrival and / or departure angle may be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal may be used in combination with the distance between the devices (determined using the signals, e.g., the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure may be a zenith angle relative to directly above the one entity (i.e., relative to a direction radially outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the serving cell's identity, timing advance (i.e., the difference between receive and transmit times at the UE), estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of a signal at the UE from a base station, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the arrival times at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known locations of the sources and known offsets in the transmit times from the sources, are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0133]

[0155] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and the serving base station, since typically at least three base stations are required). One or more base stations transmit the RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the base station to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as the LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also called receive time, reception time, time of reception, or time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE from a DL signal received from its serving base station), transmits (e.g., when commanded by its serving base station) a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations, and records in the payload of each RTT response message the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-TxThe RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. The difference T Tx→Rx The time difference T Rx→Tx By comparing, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE and by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time, the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station.

[0134]

[0156] The UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that the UE (e.g., when commanded by the serving base station) transmits an uplink RTT measurement signal that is received by multiple base stations in the UE's vicinity. Each participating base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0135]

[0157] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the party performing the RTT calculation (network or UE) typically (but not always) sends an initial message or signal (e.g., an RTT measurement signal) and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the initial message or signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message or signal.

[0136]

[0158] Multi-RTT techniques may be used to determine a location. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., base stations and / or other TSPs such as UEs) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entity to determine a distance to the second entity, and may use the multiple distances and the known location of the second entity to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0137]

[0159] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of a linear direction (which may be, for example, in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions), or possibly an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a range of directions (e.g., for the UE from the location of the base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0138]

[0160] In positioning techniques using PRS (positioning reference signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured and the arrival times of the signals, known transmission times, and known locations of the TRPs are used to determine the distance from the UE to the TRPs. For example, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRS or PRS signals. PRS signals are usually sent using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that a PRS signal from a more distant TRP may be buried by a PRS signal from a closer TRP, and so that a signal from a more distant TRP may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, e.g., to 0, and thus not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, a weaker PRS signal (at the UE) may be more easily detected by the UE without the weaker PRS signal interfering with a stronger PRS signal. The terms RS and their variations (e.g., PRS, SRS) may refer to one reference signal or two or more reference signals.

[0139]

[0161] Positioning reference signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, often referred to simply as PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS), which may be referred to as SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning. The PRS may comprise a PN code (pseudorandom code) or may be generated using a PN code (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with the PN code) so that the source of the PRS may act as a pseudolite. The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a designated area so that the same PRS from different PRS sources do not overlap). The PRS may comprise a PRS resource and / or a PRS resource set of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs with PRS resource(s) having common parameters configured by the higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. A common resource block is a set of resource blocks that occupy a channel bandwidth. A bandwidth portion (BWP) is a set of adjacent common resource blocks, which may include all common resource blocks within the channel bandwidth or a subset of a common resource block. Also, the DL PRS point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and the DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set with the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency layer with the same point A.The frequency layers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same value of comb size (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol, where every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element for comb N). A PRS resource set may be identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station. A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or multiple beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a PRS resource or simply a resource may also be referred to as a beam. This does not have any implication as to whether the base station and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0140]

[0162] The TRP may be configured to send the DL PRS per schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may send the DL PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at a fixed interval from the first transmission. The TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same period, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across a slot. Each of the PRS resource sets comprises multiple PRS resources, and each PRS resource comprises multiple OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) resource elements (REs) that may be in multiple resource blocks (RBs) in N (one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot. PRS resources (or reference signal (RS) resources in general) may be referred to as OFDM PRS resources (or OFDM RS resources). An RB is a collection of REs spanning an amount of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and an amount of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 for 5G RBs). Each PRS resource is composed of an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and the number of consecutive symbols the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol in the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols in the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource with respect to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted RE may repeat across slots, with each transmission being called a repetition, and as a result there may be multiple repetitions within a PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID.A DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams).

[0141]

[0163] The PRS resources may also be defined by quasi-co-location and start PRB parameters. The quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi-co-location information of the DL PRS resources with other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) blocks from a serving or non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with SS / PBCH blocks from a serving or non-serving cell. The start PRB parameter defines the start PRB index of the DL PRS resources with respect to reference point A. The start PRB index may have a granularity of one PRB and a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0142]

[0164] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Each time that all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is called an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource, and a specified number of PRS resources in a PRS resource set, such that an instance is complete when a specified number of repetitions have been transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be called an "opportunity." A DL PRS configuration, including a DL PRS transmission schedule, may be provided to a UE to facilitate (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0143]

[0165] Multiple frequency layers of a PRS may be aggregated to give an effective bandwidth larger than any one of the layer bandwidths alone. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which may be contiguous and / or distinct), that meet criteria such as being quasi-co-located (QCLed), having the same antenna ports, etc., may be stitched together to give a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​and UL PRS), resulting in increased time-of-arrival measurement accuracy. Stitching comprises combining PRS measurements across individual bandwidth pieces such that the stitched PRS can be treated as if taken from a single measurement. When QCLed, the different frequency layers behave similarly, allowing stitching of PRSs to result in a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth, sometimes referred to as the aggregated PRS bandwidth or the aggregated PRS frequency bandwidth, provides better time domain resolution (e.g., of TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, where each PRS resource of the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on a different component carrier, band, or frequency layer, or on a different portion of the same band.

[0144]

[0166] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that the RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in the RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP may send DL-PRS signals that are received by the UE, and the UE may send SRS (sounding reference signal) signals that are received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be called SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning may be used, and the UE sends a single UL-SRS for positioning that is received by multiple TRPs, rather than sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT typically looks for UEs currently camped on that TRP (served UEs, the TRP is the serving TRP), and also looks for UEs camped on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). The neighboring TRPs may be TRPs of a single BTS (base transceiver station) (e.g., gNB), or may be TRPs of one BTS and TRPs of separate BTSs. In RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS and UL-SRS signals for the positioning signals in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thus the distance between the UE and the TRP) may be close in time to each other, so that errors due to UE movement and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE within about 10 ms of each other, respectively. It has been found that when the SRS for the positioning signal is sent by the UE and the PRS and SRS for the positioning signal are carried close in time to each other, especially when many UEs attempt to position simultaneously, radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (which may cause excessive noise, etc.) may occur and / or calculation congestion may occur in the TRP attempting to measure many UEs simultaneously.

[0145]

[0167] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT and the corresponding distance to each of the TRPs 300 and the location of the UE 200 based on the distance to the TRPs 300 and the known location of the TRPs 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures positioning signals and provides measurement information to the TRPs 300, which determines the RTT and distance. The TRPs 300 provide distances to a location server, e.g., server 400, which determines the location of the UE 200, e.g., based on the distances to the different TRPs 300. The RTT and / or distances can be determined by the TRPs 300 receiving signals from the UE 200, by the TRPs 300 in combination with one or more other devices, e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400, or by one or more devices other than the TRPs 300 receiving signals from the UE 200.

[0146]

[0168] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only, UL-only, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0147]

[0169] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be called by other names, such as a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A position 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 position estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position 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).

[0148]

[0170] Environments using RIS reflections

[0171] 5, the wireless communication environment 500 includes a server 505, TRPs 510, 511, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) 520, 521, UEs 530, 531, 532, and obstacles 540 (e.g., buildings or other objects that suppress / block RF signals). The server 505 may be an example of the server 400, the TRPs 510, 511 may be an example of the TRP 300, and the UEs 530, 531 may be an example of the UE 200 or other UEs described herein (e.g., as described with respect to FIG. 6). The TRPs 510, 511 are configured to communicate (transmit and / or receive wireless signals) with at least antenna beams 551, 552, 553, 554, 561, 562, 563, 564, respectively. The RISs 520, 521 are man-made structures with engineered electromagnetic (EM) characteristics. The RIS 520, 521 are configured to receive wireless signals from a transmitter (e.g., a base station or a UE) and passively beamform and retransmit (e.g., without power amplification) the received signals via one or more beams, where the retransmitted signals are referred to as reflected signals toward a receiver (e.g., a base station or a UE). The RIS may be configured to reflect the incident signal in a desired direction. For example, each of the RIS 520, 521 may be dynamically configured to transmit a respective reflected signal toward one or more receivers, such as one or more of the UEs 530-532. The RIS 520 is configured to use antenna beams 571, 572, 573, 574, in this example, to transmit and / or receive wireless signals.

[0149]

[0172] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the TRP 510 is connected to and configured to control the RIS 520, 521 to control the direction of the reflected signal from the RIS 520, 521. As shown, the TRP 510 cannot directly communicate with the UE 531 due to an obstacle 540 being located along the line of sight (LOS) direction between the TRP 510 and the UE 531 (e.g., beam 552 from the TRP 510 to the UE 531). The UE 531 is located behind the obstacle 540 with respect to the TRP 510 and therefore cannot receive the LOS beam (beam 552) from the TRP 510. The TRP 510 may recognize that the obstacle 540 creates a coverage hole, i.e., a geographic area where signals from the TRP 510 cannot reach directly or may reach but be sufficiently attenuated to make detection of the signal by a UE within the coverage hole difficult or impossible. In this scenario, the TRP 510 may bounce signals from one or more RISs into the coverage hole to provide coverage to devices in the coverage hole, including devices that the TRP 510 does not currently recognize. For example, the TRP 510 may use beam 551 to transmit signal 556 to the RIS 520 and control the RIS 520 to reflect the incoming signal into beam 573 and transmit the reflected signal 576 toward the UE 531, thereby communicating with the UE 531 around the obstacle 540. The TRP 510 may configure the RIS 520 to reflect the UL signal from the UE 531 into beam 571 to the TRP 510.

[0150]

[0173] The environment may be used to aid in signal exchange between one or more TRPs and one or more lower tier (e.g., low power, low bandwidth, low antenna count, low baseband processing capability) UEs, such as “NR Lite” UEs or reduced capability UEs (i.e., “NR RedCap” UEs), that may not have the capability to hear or detect PRS transmitted from non-serving TRPs, especially from TRPs that are far from the UE. Similarly, SRS measurements by non-serving TRPs of SRS from low tier UEs may be of lower quality than SRS measurements from UEs that are not low tier UEs. The use of one or more of the RIS 520, 521 may enable the exchange of one or more additional signals between the TRP 510 and the UE 531. The use of the RIS 520, 521 from a single TRP, here the TRP 510, may reduce or eliminate synchronization errors that may occur with multiple signals from multiple TRPs, which may help improve positioning accuracy based on, for example, signal exchange between the TRP 510 and the UE 531.

[0151]

[0174] One or more of the UEs 530-532 may be within the coverage area of ​​a TRP, e.g., TRP 510, only when there is no RIS signal reflection (e.g., UE 530), only when there is a RIS signal reflection (e.g., UE 531), with or without a RIS signal reflection (e.g., UE 532), or not within the coverage area of ​​a TRP (not shown in FIG. 5). Due to the mobility of the UEs 530-532, any of the UEs 530-532 may be in one coverage situation (e.g., only when there is no RIS reflection) at one time and in another coverage situation (e.g., only when there is a RIS reflection) at another time. Also, the UE may not be able to receive and measure signals from both the TRP 510 directly and the RIS 520 at the same time / location due to the beam direction of the signals from the TRP 510 and the RIS 520, respectively. For example, UE 531 may attempt to measure a synchronization signal (e.g., SSB (synchronization signal block)) transmitted by TRP 510 in each of beams 551-554, and may be unable to measure the synchronization signal from any of beams 551-554, but may be able to use beam 581 of UE 531 to measure the synchronization signal sent in beam 551 from RIS 520 and reflected in beam 573. UE 531 may not be able to properly use beam 582, which is directed in a LOS direction toward TRP 510, to measure the signal in beam 573.

[0152]

[0175] Referring to FIG. 6 with further reference to FIGS. 1-5, the UE 600 includes a processor 610, a transceiver 620, and a memory 630 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 640. The UE 600 may include the components shown in FIG. 6 and may include one or more other components, such as any of the components shown in FIG. 2, and thus the UE 200 may be an example of a UE 600. For example, the processor 610 may include one or more of the components of the processor 210. The transceiver 620 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 215, such as the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246, or the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, or the wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and the antenna 246. Also or alternatively, the transceiver 620 may include a wired transmitter 252 and / or a wired receiver 254. Memory 630 may be configured similarly to memory 211, including, for example, software with processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 610 to perform functions.

[0153]

[0176] The description herein may refer to the processor 610 performing functions, including other implementations, such as when the processor 610 executes software and / or firmware (stored in memory 630). The description herein may refer to the UE 600 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 600 performing the functions (e.g., the processor 610 and the memory 630). The processor 610 (possibly together with the memory 630 and, where appropriate, the transceiver 620 and / or one or more other components of the UE 600) may include a signal measurement unit 650, a measurement reporting unit 660, a capabilities unit 665, a power control unit 670, an SRS unit 675 for positioning, a beam management unit 680, and / or a PRS request unit 690. The signal measurement unit 650, the measurement reporting unit 660, the capability unit 665, the power control unit 670, the SRS unit for positioning 675, the beam management unit 680, and the PRS request unit 690 are further described below, and this description may refer generally to the processor 610, or generally to the UE 600, as implementing any of the functions of the signal measurement unit 650, the measurement reporting unit 660, the capability unit 665, the power control unit 670, the SRS unit for positioning 675, the beam management unit 680, and / or the PRS request unit 690.

[0154]

[0177] 7, the network entity 700 includes a processor 710, a transceiver 720, and a memory 730 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 740. The network entity 700 may include the components shown in FIG. 7 and may include one or more other components, such as any of the components shown in FIG. 3 and / or FIG. 4, such that the TRP 300 may be an example of the network entity 700 and / or the server 400 may be an example of the network entity 700 (e.g., the network entity 700 may comprise a TRP and / or server component and be configured to perform a TRP and / or server function). For example, the transceiver 720 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 315 and / or the transceiver 415, such as the antenna 346 and the wireless transmitter 342 and / or the wireless receiver 344, and / or the antenna 446 and the wireless transmitter 442 and / or the wireless receiver 444. Also or alternatively, the transceiver 720 may include the wired transmitter 352, the wired receiver 354, the wired transmitter 452, and / or the wired receiver 454. The memory 730 may be configured similarly to the memory 311 and / or the memory 411, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 710 to perform functions. In the description herein, the network entity 700 is assumed to include both the TRP 510 and the server 505.

[0155]

[0178] The description herein may refer to the processor 710 performing functions, including other implementations, such as when the processor 710 executes software and / or firmware (stored in memory 730). The description herein may refer to the network entity 700 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the network entity 700 performing the functions (e.g., the processor 710 and the memory 730). The processor 710 may include a signal allocation unit 750, a beam management unit 760, and a signal measurement unit 770 (possibly along with the memory 730 and, where appropriate, the transceiver 720 and one or more other components of the network entity 700). The signal allocation unit 750, the beam management unit 760, and the signal measurement unit 770 are described further below, and the description may refer generally to the processor 710, or generally to the network entity 700, as performing any of the functions of the signal allocation unit 750, the beam management unit 760, and / or the signal measurement unit 770.

[0156]

[0179] Non-RIS-reflected signals and RIS-reflected signals

[0180] To facilitate the service of different coverage areas with non-RIS reflected signals and RIS reflected signals, different types of signals may be used for non-RIS reflected signals and RIS reflected signals corresponding to different coverage areas. Thus, for example, the signal allocation unit 750 is configured to allocate resources between the TRP 510 and the UE 531 for signals to be reflected by the RIS 520, 521, and allocate resources for signals to be exchanged between the TRP 510 and the UE 530, 532 without reflection by the RIS. The non-RIS reflected DL signals (LOS signals) may be referred to as type 1 DL signals, and the RIS reflected signals may be referred to as type 2 DL signals. For example, the signals 556 and 557 are type 2 DL signals, and the signals 558, 559 are type 1 DL signals. The type 1 DL signals and / or type 2 DL signals may include various signals such as reference signals (e.g., PRS, SSB, CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal), etc.). The Type 1 and Type 2 DL signals may have one or more different transmission characteristic values ​​(e.g., different carrier frequencies, different frequency layers, different repetition factors, different bandwidths, different beams, different timing (e.g., different slots, different symbol sets (e.g., durations), different time offsets, etc.), and / or different codewords (i.e., having different codewords applied to different signal types). Type 2 DL signals are typically lower power than Type 1 DL signals when received and may be configured by the signal allocation unit 750 with a larger repetition factor than Type 1 signals to aid the receiver (e.g., UE) in receiving and measuring Type 2 signals. Thus, Type 2 repetitions may be repeated more and / or more frequently to facilitate integration of more repetitions to facilitate signal measurement. The repetition factor may depend on the implementation, e.g., knowledge of the locations of the TRP, RIS, and obstructions. A location server (e.g., server 505) may store the locations of the TRP and RIS and where the TRP and RIS can direct signals.While the RIS may be moved, the server may store the current location of the RIS (e.g., updated accordingly in response to the RIS being moved, and possibly in response to a threshold time having elapsed while the RIS is stationary, etc.). The beam of the Type 1 DL signal may cover a larger area than the area covered by the beam of the Type 2 DL signal, e.g., due to the beam of the Type 1 DL signal being transmitted over a longer distance than the beam of the Type 2 DL signal.

[0157]

[0181] Type 1 DL signals are associated with their transmitting TRPs, and type 2 DL signals are associated with their transmitting TRPs and their reflected RISs. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may generate and transmit a type 1 signal to include the TRP ID of the TRP 510, and may generate and transmit each type 2 signal to include the TRP ID of the TRP 510 and the RIS ID of the respective RIS to which the type 2 signal is sent and to which the type 2 signal is reflected. For example, type 2 signal 556 may include the TRP ID of the TRP 510 and the RIS ID of the RIS 520, and type 2 signal 557 may include the TRP ID of the TRP 510 and the RIS ID of the RIS 521. The signal allocation unit 750 may be configured to scramble type 2 signals, e.g., signals 556, 557, using the TRP IDs and respective RIS IDs (i.e., use the TRP IDs and RIS IDs as seeds for generating pseudo-random sequences of signals, such as PRSs). The signal measurement unit 650 of the UE 600 may be configured to descramble each pseudo-random Type-2 signal (e.g., Type-2 PRS) using the respective TRP ID and RIS ID. Because multiple RISs may be associated with a single TRP, e.g., the RISs 520, 521 associated with the TRP 510, one of the RISs may be selected as the serving RIS, and then each of the one or more other RISs becomes a neighboring RIS (and whether a RIS is a serving or neighboring RIS may change over time).

[0158]

[0182] The beam management unit 760 may select a beam for transmitting a signal and may provide beam information in the transmitted signal. For example, the beam management unit 760 may be configured to provide an indication regarding a QCL type of the transmitted signal. For example, the beam management unit 760 may include QCL information in the transmitted source signal indicating that the source signal is QCL-type C or QCL-type D with DL-PRS. The network entity 700 may be configured to support QCL-type C for type 1 SSB source signals from a serving or nearby TRP for type 1 DL-PRS source signals or type 1 SSB source signals from a serving or nearby TRP for type 2 DL-PRS. The network entity 700 may be configured to support QCL-type C for type 2 SSB source signals from a serving or nearby RIS for type 2 DL-PRS source signals or type 2 SSB source signals from a serving or nearby RIS for type 2 DL-PRS source signals or type 2 SSB source signals from a serving or nearby RIS for type 2 DL-PRS source signals or type 2 SSB source signals. QCL-Type D refers to transmissions using different antenna ports with a common downlink angle of arrival (e.g., dominant AoA and average AoA). QCL-Type C refers to transmissions using different antenna ports with a common Doppler shift and average delay.

[0159]

[0183] 8, the beam management unit 760 of the network entity 700 is configured to transmit multiple source signal beams 820, 821, 822 from a TRP 810 having a source signal to be measured. The source signal may be any of a variety of signals, e.g., SSB, PRS, CSI-RS, etc. The processor 710 may provide a time-frequency location for SSB transmission on a neighboring TRP through an LPP. The beam management unit 760, possibly in combination with the signal allocation unit 750, is configured to transmit a synchronization signal (e.g., SSB) to establish a connection with the UE. The UE 830, e.g., the signal measurement unit 650, may measure the synchronization signal and establish communication with the TRP 810 based on receiving the synchronization signal. The capability unit 665 of the UE 600 may provide a capability report indicating an amount of the source signal that the UE 600 can measure. The TRP 810, e.g., the signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760, may transmit information to the UE 830 indicating the source signal beams, e.g., the source signal beams 820-822 to be used to transmit the source signals (e.g., SSB, PRS), and the respective resource allocations for the source signals to be sent in the source signal beams 820-822. The network entity 700 may transmit the source signals using a number of source signal beams up to the amount of beams indicated in the capability report that the UE can measure. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 of the UE 830 is configured to measure the source signal using one or more receive beams (e.g., receive beam 825) and determine from which of the source signal beams 820-822 the source signal was measured with the best quality (e.g., highest RSRP). The measurement report unit 660 is configured to transmit a report to the network entity 700 indicating the source signal beams 820-822 for which the highest quality measurement was determined. When the measurement reporting unit 660 reports RS RSRP measurements (e.g., SSB RSRP or PRS RSRP) on RS resources from the same set, the measurement reporting unit 660 may indicate which RS RSRP measurements were measured using the same receive beam.

[0160]

[0184] The source signal beams 820-822 are QCLed with the respective DL-PRS beams 840, 841, 842, and thus the DL-PRS may be sent by the beam management unit 760 with the PRS beams 840-841 QCLed with the source signal beams 820-822 indicated by the UE as the source signal beams 820-822 for which the highest quality measurement was determined. The source signal beams 820-822 each have a source signal index number (e.g., an SSB index if the source signal is an SSB). When multiple source signals associated with different beams are QCLed with a single DL-PRS, the same index is used for the multiple source signals (e.g., the same SSB index for DL-PRSs that are QCL-type C and QCL-type D with SSB). The QCL relationship between two Type 1 PRSs may be provided for PRS resources associated with the same TRP, and the QCL relationship between two Type 2 PRSs may be provided for PRS resources associated with the same RIS. As described above, in the case of a Type 1 DL-PRS, the network entity 700 may support QCL-Type C for a Type 1 SSB source signal from a serving or nearby TRP, or QCL-Type D for a Type 1 DL-PRS source signal or a Type 1 SSB source signal from a serving or nearby TRP. Also, as described above, in the case of a Type 2 DL-PRS, the network entity 700 may support QCL-Type C for a Type 2 SSB source signal from a serving or nearby RIS, or QCL-Type D for a Type 2 DL-PRS source signal or a Type 2 SSB source signal from a serving or nearby RIS.

[0161]

[0185] In the case of QCL for type-2 (i.e., RIS-reflected) PRS, the network entity 700 and / or the UE 600 may follow various guidelines. For example, the network entity 700 may provide a QCL relationship between two PRS resources only for PRS resources associated with the same RIS. For a QCL between one PRS and another PRS to be valid, both PRSs pass through the same RIS. As another example, the UE 600 may expect to be provided with a time-frequency location for SSB transmission on the RIS through an LPP from the network entity 700. The time-frequency information provided through the LPP may help the UE 600 to search for the SSB. As another example, if a type-2 PRS has a QCL-type C or QCL-type D source with SSB, the same SSB index is used. Thus, if multiple source signals associated with different beams are QCLed with a single DL-PRS, the same index is used for the multiple source signals (e.g., the same SSB index for DL-PRS that are QCL-type C and QCL-type D with SSB).

[0162]

[0186] The UE 600 may or may not use the QCL information provided with the source signal when processing the subsequent PRS. The network entity 700 provides the QCL information with the source signal (e.g., SSB, PRS, CSI-RS, etc.) that the UE 600 measures. The UE 600, e.g., the signal measurement unit 650, determines the source signal with the highest quality measurement, e.g., the highest measured RSRP, and the measurement reporting unit 660 transmits a message to the network entity 700 indicating the source beam corresponding to the highest quality measurement. The network entity 700, e.g., the signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760, transmits the PRS with the beam corresponding to the source signal beam that produces the highest quality measurement, i.e., the PRS beam that is QCLed with this source signal beam. The UE 600, e.g., the signal measurement unit 650, may use the QCL type information to affect the processing of the PRS signal. For example, upon knowing that the PRS is QCL-type with a measured source signal, the signal measurement unit 650 may use the AoD determined from the source signal without determining the AoD for the PRS (e.g., using the AoD of the source signal as the AoD for the PRS). As another example, upon knowing that the PRS is QCL-type C with a measured source signal, the signal measurement unit 650 may use the Doppler shift and / or average delay of the source signal as the Doppler shift and / or average delay, respectively, for the PRS. However, the UE 600 need not leverage QCL information and may determine the AoA, Doppler shift, and / or average delay independent of such measurements of the source signal.

[0163]

[0187] The signal measurement unit 650 may be configured to measure non-RIS reflected PRS and RIS reflected PRS and may prioritize measurement of one type of PRS over another type of PRS. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may first search for type 1 PRS and, in response to failing to measure the type 1 PRS, search for type 2 PRS (only). As another example, the signal measurement unit 650 may avoid measuring one or more type 2 PRSs based on the UE 600 being located at a location where the type 2 PRS is unlikely or impossible to measure with acceptable quality, the UE 600 being located at a location where the signal measurement unit 650 is able to measure the type 1 PRS with at least a threshold quality, and / or measurement of the type 2 PRS is unnecessary. The UE 600 may be disposed in LOS with a TRP, such as, for example, the UE 530 with respect to the TRP 510 shown in FIG. 5, such that the UE 600 can measure the type 1 PRS very well. As another example, UE 600 may be disposed in a location blocked from the RIS, such as UE 530 relative to RIS 520 shown in Figure 5, such that UE 600 is unlikely to measure Type 2 PRS from RIS 520 with sufficient quality or may not be able to measure Type 2 PRS from RIS 520 at all. As another example, even if UE 600 could measure Type 1 and Type 2 PRS at the same location, e.g., the location of UE 532 shown in Figure 5, signal measurement unit 650 may avoid measuring Type 2 PRS, for example, if it is optional to do so (e.g., there is sufficient measurement information to determine the location with a desired accuracy without Type 2 PRS measurements or Type 1 measurements have already been successfully performed, e.g., with at least a threshold quality).Similarly, the signal measurement unit 650 may avoid measuring the Type 1 PRS on the basis that the UE 600 is located at a location where the Type 1 PRS is unlikely or impossible to be measured with acceptable quality, the UE 600 is located at a location where the signal measurement unit 650 is able to measure the Type 2 PRS with at least a threshold quality, and / or measurement of the Type 1 PRS is unnecessary. The UE 600 may be located in LOS with the RIS, such as the UE 531 to the RIS 520 shown in FIG. 5, for example, such that the UE 600 can measure the Type 2 PRS very well. As another example, the UE 600 may be located in a location blocked from the TRP, such as the UE 531 to the TRP 510 shown in FIG. 5, such that the UE 600 is not likely to measure the Type 1 PRS from the TRP 510 with sufficient quality or is not able to measure the Type 1 PRS from the TRP 510 at all. As another example, even if UE 600 could measure a Type 1 PRS and a Type 2 PRS at the same location, e.g., the location of UE 532 shown in FIG. 5, signal measurement unit 650 may avoid measuring a Type 1 PRS, e.g., if it is optional to do so (e.g., there is sufficient measurement information to determine the location with a desired accuracy without a Type 1 PRS measurement or a Type 2 measurement has already been successfully performed, e.g., with at least a threshold quality). Avoiding one or more Type 1 measurements and / or one or more Type 2 PRS measurements may reduce power consumption by UE 600 for the measurements and possibly for processing the measurements.

[0164]

[0188] The measurement reporting unit 660 may be configured to selectively report PRS measurements. For example, if multiple PRS measurements are available, the measurement reporting unit 660 may report a higher quality PRS measurement before reporting a lower quality PRS measurement, or may report a higher quality PRS measurement without reporting a lower quality PRS measurement. This may help reduce both power consumption by the UE 600 for reporting the measurements and power consumption by the network entity for receiving and processing the reports. Reporting the higher quality measurement first may help reduce latency (of position determination) by facilitating determining a position using a threshold quality faster than if a lower quality measurement was reported before a higher quality measurement. Also or alternatively, the measurement reporting unit 660 may report that a PRS measurement (e.g., a type 1 PRS measurement or a type 2 PRS measurement) is not reported (e.g., because the measurement is avoided, as described above). Thus, the UE 600 may save power by not reporting PRS measurements, and latency may be improved by avoiding the network entity 700 waiting for PRS measurement reports that the measurement reporting unit 660 does not transmit.

[0165]

[0189] Referring to FIG. 9 with further reference to FIGS. 1-8, a signaling and process flow 900 for obtaining and reporting positioning signal measurements with and without a RIS includes the stages shown. The flow 900 is an example as stages may be added, reordered, and / or removed. The flow 900 illustrates signal exchanges between a network entity 700, a RIS 901, and a UE 902 that may be in LOS cell coverage but not RIS coverage, in RIS coverage but not LOS cell coverage, or in LOS cell coverage and RIS coverage. The description may assume that signals are exchanged successfully between the network entity and the UE 902, but that one or more signals may not be exchanged successfully depending, for example, on the location of the UE 902 relative to the network entity 700 and / or one or more obstacles.

[0166]

[0190] In stage 910, the network entity 700 attempts to transmit a synchronization signal to the UE 902 to establish communication with the UE 902. The network entity 700, e.g., the TRP 510, may transmit a synchronization signal of type 1 (non-RIS reflected) 911 and / or a synchronization signal of type 2 (RIS reflected) 912 via a RIS 901 (e.g., the RIS 521) that the UE 902 may or may not be able to receive. The UE 902 may be at the location of the UE 530 and be able to receive only the synchronization signal of type 1 911, or at the location of the UE 531 and be able to receive only the synchronization signal of type 2 912, or at the location of the UE 532 and be able to receive both the synchronization signals 911 and 912.

[0167]

[0191] At stage 920, the UE 902 responds to the synchronization signal 911, 912 received by the UE 902 by the capability unit 665 sending a capability report 921 and / or a capability report 922 to the network entity 700. The capability report 922, if sent, is sent to the network entity 700 via the RIS 901. The capability report 921, 922 may indicate, among other things, the capability of the UE 902 to receive type 2 DL signals, e.g., type 2 source signals and type 2 DL-PRS. The capability report 921, 922 may indicate that the UE 902 is configured to measure and report type 1 DL signals and type 2 DL signals. The capability report 921, 922 may include an explicit indication that the UE is configured to measure type 2 DL signals, reporting measurements of type 2 DL signals, with the configuration of the UE 902 to measure and report type 1 DL signals being implicit.

[0168]

[0192] In stage 930, the network entity 700 responds to receiving one or more of the capability reports 921, 922 by transmitting one or more source signal beam schedules and corresponding source signal beams. The signal allocation unit 750 may transmit a type 1 source signal beam schedule 931 in response to receiving the capability report 921, and may transmit a type 2 source signal beam schedule 932 in response to receiving the capability report 922. The schedules 931, 932 indicate resources and beams of source signals sent by the network entity 700. The beam management unit 760 of the network entity 700 transmits the source signal using a type 1 source signal beam 933 if the schedule 931 is sent, and / or using a type 2 source signal beam 934 if the schedule 932 is sent. Beam 933 may be, for example, antenna beams 551-554, and beam 934 may be, for example, beams 571-574 (network entity 700 transmits a source signal to RIS 520 in beam 551, and network entity 700 controls RIS 520 to transmit the source signal using beams 571-574). The source signal in beam 934 may include the TRP ID and RIS ID of the TRP and RIS 901, respectively, transmitting and reflecting the PRS corresponding to the source signal.

[0169]

[0193] In step 940, the UE 902 transmits a type 1 measurement beam report 941 and / or a type 2 measurement beam report 942. The signal measurement unit 650 attempts to measure the source signal of the scheduled beam and transmits the measurement beam report 941, 942 corresponding to the source signal beam received in step 930. The measurement beam report 941, if sent, indicates the type 1 source signal beam 933 corresponding to the type 1 source signal measurement value of the highest quality (e.g., strongest RSRP), and the measurement beam report 942, if sent, indicates the type 2 source signal beam 934 corresponding to the type 2 source signal measurement value of the highest quality. The measurement beam reports 941, 942 provide an indication to the network entity 700 as to which beam should be used to transmit the PRS (and / or other signals) to the UE 902.

[0170]

[0194] At stage 950, the network entity 700 transmits DL-PRS to the UE 902. The beam management unit 760 determines a PRS beam that corresponds to (is QCLed with) the source signal beams 933, 934 indicated by the measurement beam reports 941, 942. The signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760 allocate PRS resources based on the determined beam and transmit a Type 1 DL-PRS schedule 951 and / or a Type 2 DL-PRS schedule 952 to the UE 902, followed by a Type 1 DL-PRS 953 and / or a Type 2 DL-PRS 954.

[0171]

[0195] In stage 960, the UE 902 may measure the PRSs 953, 954. If only one of the PRSs 953, 954 is sent to the UE 902, the signal measurement unit 650 measures (or at least attempts to measure) the received PRSs 953, 954. If both DL-PRSs 953, 954 are sent to the UE 902, the UE 902 may selectively measure the DL-PRSs 953, 954 and avoid measuring one DL-PRS, e.g., if another DL-PRS is already measured or is already measured at least with a threshold quality. If both DL-PRS953, 954 are sent to and measured by the UE902, the UE902 may give priority to the measurement of the Type 1 DL-PRS953, for example, prioritizing the measurement of the Type 1 DL-PRS953 over the measurement of a Type 2 DL-PRS, and / or prioritizing the reporting of the measurement of the Type 1 DL-PRS953 over the reporting of the measurement of the Type 2 DL-PRS954.

[0172]

[0196] In stage 970, the UE 902 may transmit a Type 1 PRS measurement report 971 and / or a Type 2 PRS measurement report 972. If only one of the DL-PRS 953, 954 is measured, the measurement reporting unit 660 may transmit the appropriate one of the measurement reports 971, 972. If both DL-PRS 953, 954 are measured, the measurement reporting unit 660 may transmit both measurement reports 971, 972 or selectively transmit one of the measurement reports 971, 972 (e.g., the higher quality measurement report, or the higher quality measurement report first and await a request for the other measurement report, or the Type 1 measurement report 972 first and await a request for the Type 2 measurement report 972, etc.). The measurement report 971 or measurement report 972 may indicate that a Type 2 PRS measurement or a Type 1 PRS measurement is not being reported (e.g., because the measurement is being avoided), respectively. Either or both of the measurement reports 971, 972 may include one or more processed measurement information such as location information such as one or more PRS measurements, one or more distances, one or more pseudo-ranges, one or more location estimates, one or more speeds, one or more velocities, etc. The network entity 700 may process the measurement reports 971, 972 to determine location information (e.g., location estimate, speed, velocity, etc.) regarding the UE 902.

[0173]

[0197] 1-9, a PRS measurement method 1000 includes the steps shown. However, method 1000 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. Method 1000 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0174]

[0198] At stage 1010, the method 1000 includes transmitting, from the UE, a capability report indicating that the UE is configured to measure a first type DL-PRS and a second type DL-PRS. For example, the capability unit 665 of the UE 902 may transmit one or both of the capability reports 921, 922 to the network entity 700 (and / or transmit one or more other capability reports to one or more other network entities) indicating that the UE 902 is configured to measure a Type 1 signal and a Type 2 signal. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the capability report.

[0175]

[0199] At stage 1020, method 1000 includes measuring a first type DL-PRS received directly from the TRP, or a second type DL-PRS received from the TRP via the RIS, or a combination thereof. For example, UE 902 may measure Type 1 PRS 953 directly from network entity 700 (e.g., UE 530 measures Type 1 PRS from TRP 510, or UE 532 measures Type 1 PRS from TRP 510) and / or measure Type 2 PRS from network entity 700 via RIS 901 (e.g., UE 531 measures Type 2 PRS from TRP 510 via RIS 520, or UE 532 measures Type 2 PRS from TRP 510 via RIS 521). The processor 610, in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the antenna 246 and the wireless receiver 244), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for measuring the first type DL-PRS or the second type DL-PRS, or a combination thereof.

[0176]

[0200] Implementations of the method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1000 comprises disabling measurement of a second type of DL-PRS in response to a measurement by the UE of a first type of DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may prioritize measuring a type 1 PRS over measuring a type 2 PRS and may avoid measuring a type 2 PRS based on a measurement of a type 1 PRS having at least a threshold quality (e.g., at least a threshold RSRP). The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for disabling measurement of a DL-PRS. In another example implementation, the method 1000 comprises transmitting an indication from the UE to a network entity that a measurement report from the UE will lack a measurement of a second type of DL-PRS. For example, the measurement reporting unit 660 may include an indication in the type 1 measurement report 971 or the type 2 measurement report 972, respectively, that measurements of the type 2 PRS or the type 1 PRS will not be reported. The processor 610, in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting an indication that the DL-PRS measurement report will lack a measurement of a DL-PRS, e.g., a second type of DL-PRS.

[0177]

[0201] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1000 may include one or more of the following features: In an example implementation, measuring the second type DL-PRS is performed in response to the UE being unable to obtain a measurement of the first type DL-PRS having at least a threshold quality. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may measure the type 2 PRS 954 only if the signal measurement unit 650 fails to measure a type 1 PRS having at least a threshold quality (e.g., at least a threshold RSRP). This may help save energy by avoiding signal measurements when appropriate signal measurements have already been made. In another example implementation, measuring the first type DL-PRS and the second type DL-PRS comprises obtaining a first measurement of the first type DL-PRS and a second measurement of the second type DL-PRS, and the method 1000 comprises determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a higher measurement quality as the higher quality measurement, determining which of the first measurement or the second measurement has a lower measurement quality as the lower quality measurement, and transmitting the higher quality measurement from the UE to the network entity shortly before transmitting the lower quality measurement. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may measure the Type 1 PRS 953 to determine the first PRS measurement and the Type 2 PRS to determine the second PRS measurement, and transmit the higher quality measurement of the first and second PRS measurements before transmitting the other measurement, if the other measurement is transmitted. The processor 610, in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for obtaining a first measurement value of a first type of DL-PRS and a second measurement value of a second type of DL-PRS.The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for determining a higher quality measurement and a lower quality measurement, and the processor 610, possibly in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the higher quality measurement before the lower quality measurement. In another example implementation, the method 1000 comprises descrambling the second type DL-PRS based on an identification of the TRP and an identification of the RIS. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may use the TRP ID and the RIS ID (e.g., from the source signal beam 934) as a seed for generating a pseudo-random sequence for measuring the PRS. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for descrambling the second type DL-PRS.

[0178]

[0202] 1-9, a method 1100 of providing a positioning reference signal includes the steps shown. However, the method 1100 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1100 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0179]

[0203] At stage 1110, the method 1100 includes transmitting, from a network entity, a first DL-PRS of a first type of DL-PRS. For example, the network entity 700 transmits a PRS 953 of type 1 to the UE 902. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the first DL-PRS.

[0180]

[0204] At stage 1120, the method 1100 includes transmitting a second DL-PRS of a second type DL-PRS from the network entity to the RIS. For example, the network entity 700 transmits a PRS 954 of type 2 to the UE 902. The processor 710 may access a location of the RIS 901 from the memory 730 (e.g., in response to the measurement beam report 942 of type 2) to determine a direction of the RIS relative to the network entity. The processor 610 in combination with the memory 630 may comprise means for determining a direction of the RIS. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the second DL-PRS.

[0181]

[0205] Implementations of the method 1100 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1100 may comprise scrambling the second DL-PRS using an identity of the network entity and an identity of the RIS. For example, the processor 710 may use a TRP ID and a RIS ID as a seed for generating a pseudo-random sequence for the DL-PRS. The processor 710, possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for scrambling the second DL-PRS. In another example implementation, transmitting the second DL-PRS comprises transmitting the second DL-PRS with a higher number of repetitions per instance than the first DL-PRS. The processor 710 may use a repetition factor for the first DL-PRS and the second DL-PRS such that the second DL-PRS is repeated more frequently, e.g., to facilitate measurement of a lower power PRS (on reception). In another example implementation, transmitting the second DL-PRS comprises transmitting the second DL-PRS using a different carrier frequency than the first DL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first DL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics that are different from the first DL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first DL-PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0182]

[0206] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1100 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1100 includes transmitting a first source signal of the first type of source signals and transmitting a second source signal of the second type of source signals to the RIS. For example, the network entity 700 may transmit Type 1 and Type 2 source signals (e.g., SSB, PRS, CSI-RS, etc.). The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the first source signal and the second source signal. In another example implementation, the method 1100 comprises receiving, at a network entity, from a UE an indication indicating a first transmit beam corresponding to a received source signal, and transmitting a QCL indication to the UE indicating a QCL type of a second transmit beam relative to the first transmit beam, where one of the first DL-PRS or the second DL-PRS is transmitted to the UE using the first transmit beam and the QCLed second transmit beam. For example, the network entity 700 may receive one or both of the measurement beam reports 941, 942. The transmit beam indication may be explicit (e.g., a beam ID) or implicit (e.g., a signal ID with the network entity 700 having a mapping of signal IDs to beam IDs). The network entity 700 may transmit the QCL indication before the transmit beam indication is received, e.g., transmits respective QCL information with the source signal in multiple transmit beams, and the UE collects the QCL information from the source signal information. The network entity 700 transmits a Type 1 PRS 953 and / or a Type 2 PRS 954 using the indicated transmit beam and the QCLed respective beam. Multiple transmit beams are also shown, where multiple PRSs may be transmitted with corresponding transmit beams. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for receiving an indication of the first transmit beam.The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting a QCL indication. In another example implementation, the method 1100 comprises transmitting a third source signal of a second type of source signal from a network entity to a RIS, the second source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a first quasi-collocation type, and the third source signal being quasi-collocated with a second DL-PRS having a second quasi-collocation type, transmitting the second source signal and the third source signal with the same index number. For example, a Type 2 PRS may have a QCL-Type C relationship with one source signal (e.g., an SSB) and a QCL-Type D relationship with another source signal (e.g., another SSB) and have the same source index (e.g., an SSB index) indicated for both source signals. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the second source signal and the third source signal. In another example implementation, the method 1100 comprises transmitting the timing and frequency of the second type of source signal from a network entity to the UE. For example, the processor 710 may transmit timing and frequency information to the UE 902 via the transceiver 720 using LPP. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the timing and frequency of the second type of source signal.

[0183]

[0207] Uplink PRS for RIS-aided positioning

[0208] The UE 600 may be configured to transmit the UL-PRS, also referred to as SRS for positioning, as a Type 1 (non-RIS reflected) or Type 2 (RIS reflected) signal. The UL-PRS may be configured differently for Type 1 and Type 2 signals, e.g., with different carrier frequencies, different bandwidths, different beams, different time characteristics, and / or different codewords. The Type 1 and Type 2 UL-PRS may be configured similarly to the Type 1 and Type 2 DL-PRS, respectively.

[0184]

[0209] Referring to FIG. 12 with further reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, open loop power control may be supported to set (e.g., adjust) the transmit power of the UE 1230 for transmitting the SRS for positioning. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may support configuring the DL-PRS or SSB of the serving cell, e.g., TRP 1210, or a neighboring cell, e.g., TRP 1220, to be used as a DL path loss reference, e.g., as part of the QCL reference signal 1212 and the path loss reference signal 1222, respectively. The processor 610 measures the power of a received reference signal with known transmit power to determine the path loss and uses the path loss to set the transmit power of the UE 600, e.g., the SRS for positioning. In the case of a DL-PRS to be used as a DL path loss reference, the processor 710 may provide a PRS resource power parameter (i.e., transmit power of the DL-PRS) along with the DL-PRS (e.g., in the same or separate signal). The power control unit 670 is configured to determine the downlink path loss from the DL path loss reference signal. The power control unit 670 may be configured to use another signal to determine path loss if the power control unit 670 fails to determine downlink path loss from the DL path loss reference signal. For example, the power control unit 670 may use a reference signal resource from an SSB that the UE 600 uses to acquire a MIB (master information block) as a path loss reference signal in response to failing to determine downlink path loss from the provided DL path loss reference signal. The power control unit 670 may use the DL path loss from each of the TRPs 1210, 1220 to the UE 1230 to determine a transmit power for transmitting the SRSs 1232, 1234 to the TRPs 1210, 1220, respectively. The power control unit 670 may determine up to N separate path loss estimates across the SRS resource set for positioning, where N={0, 4, 8, 16}, for example, that are different from the up to four path loss estimates per serving cell that the UE 600 may maintain for PUSCH / PUCCH and other SRS transmissions.

[0185]

[0210] The UE 600 may support a spatial relationship between a beam for the SRS for positioning and one or more other beams. For example, the beam management unit 680 may support a relationship between a beam for SRS positioning and a DL RS beam and / or another SRS for positioning beam (e.g., may support a spatial relationship between multiple resources for the SRS for positioning). The beam management unit 680 may use the determined AoA of the DL-RS and the spatial relationship between the AoA of the DL RS and the AoD of the SRS for positioning to determine an AoD to be used for the SRS for positioning. For example, the beam management unit 680 may select a transmit beam for transmitting the SRS for positioning according to a relationship of the transmit beam to a receive beam that received the DL-RS.

[0186]

[0211] Referring to FIG. 13 with further reference to FIG. 1-7, a wireless communication environment 1300 is similar to the environment 500 but includes fewer components, including a server 1305, a TRP 1310, a RIS 1320, UEs 1330, 1331, and an obstacle 1340. The server 1305 may be an example of a server 400, the TRP 1310 may be an example of a TRP 300, and the UEs 1330, 1331 may be examples of a UE 600. For a UE that is in cell coverage but not in RIS coverage, e.g., the UE 1330, the signal measurement unit 650 may not be able to receive the DL RS reflected by the RIS 1320 and / or may not be able to measure the DL-RS reflected by the RIS with at least a threshold quality. Thus, the power control unit 670 may not be able to use the DL-RS transmitted by the TRP 1310 and reflected by the RIS 1320 to determine the transmit power for the SRS for positioning. The beam management unit 680 may not be able to use the RIS-reflected DL-RS to determine a beam to use for transmitting the SRS for positioning. Similarly, a UE in a cellular coverage hole of the TRP 1310, e.g., the UE 1331, may not be able to use a non-RIS-reflected DL-RS to determine a transmit power and / or beam to use for the SRS for positioning to be transmitted to the RIS 1320 for reflection to the TRP 1310.

[0187]

[0212] To facilitate positioning of the UE 600 in different coverage areas, the UE 600 is configured to generate and transmit different types of SRS for positioning for non-RIS reflected signals and RIS reflected signals corresponding to different coverage areas. Thus, for example, the SRS unit 675 for positioning is configured to generate and transmit a signal directly to the TRP (e.g., with the help of the power control unit 670 and the beam management unit 680) and transmit a signal indirectly to the TRP via the RIS. The non-RIS reflected SRS for positioning signals may be referred to as a type 1 SRS for positioning (or a type 1 UL-PRS), and the RIS reflected SRS for positioning signals may be referred to as a type 2 SRS for positioning (or a type 2 UL-PRS). For example, the signal 1351 is a type 1 SRS for positioning, and the signal 1352 is a type 2 SRS for positioning. The SRS for positioning unit 675 may generate the type-1 and type-2 SRS for positioning to have one or more different transmission characteristic values ​​(e.g., different carrier frequencies, different frequency layers, different repetition factors, different bandwidths, different beams, different timings (e.g., different slots, different symbol sets (e.g., durations), different time offsets, etc.), and / or different codewords (a different codeword is applied to a type-1 signal than is applied to a type-2 signal) according to the allocation by the signal allocation unit 750. Using different characteristic values ​​of the type-1 and type-2 SRS for positioning may help the network entity 700 (e.g., a TRP that is or is part of the network entity 700) to receive the SRS for positioning. The type-1 and type-2 SRS for positioning may be defined similarly to the type-1 and type-2 DL-RS (e.g., DL-PRS, SSB, CSI-RS, etc.).Non-RIS reflected signals may not be able to reach a TRP where the UE 600 is in a coverage hole (e.g., at the location of the UE 1331), and the TRP may not be able to receive the RIS reflected signals using a beam that is not directed at the RIS (e.g., beam 1363 directed at the UE 1330).

[0188]

[0213] The network entity 700 and the UE 600 may be configured such that the UE 600 may control the transmit power of the type-1 and type-2 SRS. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may allocate and transmit a type-1 DL-RS and a type-2 DL-RS to the UE 600, and the SRS for positioning unit 675 may transmit the SRS for positioning to the network entity 700, for example, with the assistance of the power control unit 670 and / or the beam management unit 680. The type-1 DL-RS and the type-2 DL-RS may be path loss reference signals. Each of the path loss reference signals may be, for example, a DL-PRS or an SSB and may be from a serving cell or a neighboring cell. If the path loss reference signal is a DL-PRS, the network entity 700 may provide a PRS resource power value to the UE 600. The power control unit 670 may use the type-1 DL path loss RS to determine a corresponding path loss and to determine a corresponding transmit power for the type-1 SRS for positioning. Similarly, the power control unit 670 may use the type 2 DL path loss RS to determine the corresponding path loss and to determine the corresponding transmit power for the type 2 SRS for positioning. The power control unit 670 may provide both transmit power values ​​to the SRS for positioning unit 675, which may transmit the type 1 and type 2 SRS for positioning using the respective transmit powers, and may do so simultaneously. The DL-PRS as a path loss reference may yield a more relevant path loss for the SRS for positioning than the other DL-RS. The power control unit 670 may be configured to respond to the inability to determine the path loss from the DL path loss reference signal by using another reference signal to determine the path loss. For example, the power control unit 670 may be configured to use a reference signal resource obtained from the SSB that the UE 600 uses to obtain the MIB (e.g., because the UE 600 measures the SSB to enable further interaction between the UE 600 and the network entity 700) as the other path loss reference signal.The power control unit 670 may be capable of determining separate path loss estimates for multiple SRSs for a positioning resource set, e.g., for type 1 and type 2 SRSs for positioning to be sent to the same TRP, for SRSs for positioning to be sent to different TRPs, and / or for SRSs for positioning to be sent to different RISs. Thus, multiple sets of multiple path loss estimates may be determined by the power control unit 670.

[0189]

[0214] The beam management unit 680 is configured to select a beam to be used by the SRS for positioning unit 675 to transmit the SRS for positioning. The downlink and uplink beams may have a spatial relationship for Type 1 signals and / or Type 2 signals, and the beam management unit 680 may be configured to select an uplink beam for transmitting the SRS for positioning based on a beam that best receives the DL-RS (e.g., DL-PRS, SSB, CSI-RS). The beam management unit 680 may select a transmission beam based on a spatial relationship (i.e., mapping) between the beams stored in the memory 630. The multiple beams for resources of Type 1 SRS for positioning may have a spatial relationship and / or the multiple beams for resources of Type 2 SRS for positioning may have a spatial relationship, and the beam management unit 680 may be configured to use the relationship to determine a beam to be used for the SRS for positioning transmission. For example, the beam management unit 680 may use a previously used (e.g., most recently used) beam as a reference and select a beam to use for transmitting the SRS for positioning based on a relationship between beams including the previously used beam. The beam management unit 680 may select a beam to continue transmitting the SRS for positioning to the network entity 700 based on other information such as, for example, a movement (e.g., rotation) of the UE 600 and / or an indication from the network entity 700 of a receiving beam to be used by the network entity 700 to receive the SRS for positioning from the UE 600. The beam management unit 680 may select a transmitting beam of the UE 600 corresponding to a receiving beam of the UE 600 that best received the DL-RS from the network entity 700. The measurement reporting unit 660 may transmit an indication of the network entity transmitting beam used to transmit the best received DL-RS such that the network entity 700 may use the corresponding receiving beam to receive the SRS for positioning.For example, the beam management unit 680 of the UE 1330 may select beam 1373 from beams 1371, 1372, 1373, 1374 to transmit the signal 1351 based on the corresponding beam that best receives the DL-RS from the TRP 1310, and the UE 1330 may indicate that beam 1363 was used to transmit the best received DL-RS. The beam management unit 680 may use one or more QCL relationships for the SRS for positioning that are different from the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state because the TCI state is for QCL relationships for PDCCH or PDSCH that are not applicable to DL-PRS and UL-PRS.

[0190]

[0215] The network entity 700 may selectively enable transmission of the SRS for positioning and / or cancel scheduled transmission of the SRS for positioning. The network entity 700 may enable only SRS for positioning that is likely to be received with adequate quality and / or cancel scheduled SRS for positioning that is unlikely to be received with adequate quality. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may allocate (or reallocate) resources for a type 1 SRS for positioning but not for a type 2 SRS for positioning if (1) the network entity 700 receives an indication (e.g., a measurement report, a response message, etc.) that the UE 600 has received a type 1 RS from the network entity but does not receive an indication that the UE 600 has received a type 2 RS sent by the network entity, or (2) the network entity 700 does not receive a scheduled type 2 SRS for positioning from the UE 600 with sufficient quality (e.g., at least a threshold power). Similarly, the signal allocation unit 750 may allocate resources for a type 2 SRS for positioning but not for a type 1 SRS for positioning if (1) the network entity 700 receives an indication that the UE 600 has received a type 2 RS from the network entity (e.g., a measurement report, a response message, etc.) and the UE 600 does not receive an indication that the UE 600 has received a type 1 RS sent by the network entity, or (2) the network entity 700 does not receive a scheduled type 1 SRS for positioning from the UE 600 with sufficient quality (e.g., at least a threshold power). The signal allocation unit 750 may also or alternatively be configured to send an indication to the UE 600 not to use scheduled resources for a certain type of SRS for positioning and / or to stop transmitting a certain type of SRS for positioning based on not receiving an indication of receipt of the same type of DL-RS and / or lack of receipt of the same type of SRS for positioning.For example, the UL-PRS may be scheduled to be transmitted every 160 ms, and the network entity 700 may send a message to the UE 600 indicating that the UE 600 will not transmit one or more future scheduled UL-PRS transmissions. Avoiding and / or canceling transmissions of SRS for positioning may save energy of the UE 600 and the network entity 700 that is spent listening to SRS for positioning.

[0191]

[0216] The SRS for positioning unit 675 may be configured to selectively transmit a type 1 or type 2 SRS for positioning, for example, based on the expected usefulness of the SRS for positioning. For example, if the SRS for positioning is to be used in a joint DL / UL positioning technique (e.g., RTT) and a DL-PRS corresponding to the SRS for positioning is not received (at least not of sufficient quality to trigger a corresponding action, such as providing a measurement report with sufficient accuracy), the SRS for positioning unit 675 may determine whether to transmit the SRS for positioning. The SRS for positioning unit 675 may transmit an indication of omission of the transmission of the scheduled SRS for positioning to the network entity 700, and may transmit an indication of the reason for the omission. For example, in an RTT positioning session, if the signal measurement unit 650 is unable to measure the type 1 DL-PRS, the SRS unit for positioning 675 may skip transmitting a scheduled type 1 SRS for positioning and may send a message indicating the transmission skip to the network entity 700 (e.g., a gNB and / or a location server).

[0192]

[0217] Referring to FIG. 14 with further reference to FIGS. 1-9 and 13, a signaling and process flow 1400 for providing UL-PRS (SRS for positioning) with or without RIS includes the stages shown. Flow 1400 is an example as stages may be added, reordered, and / or removed. Flow 1400 illustrates signal exchanges between network entity 700, RIS 1401, and UE 1402 that may be in LOS cell coverage but not RIS coverage, in RIS coverage but not LOS cell coverage, or in LOS cell coverage and RIS coverage. The description may assume that signals are exchanged successfully between network entity 700 and UE 1402, but one or more signals may not be exchanged successfully depending, for example, on the location of UE 1402 relative to network entity 700 and / or one or more obstacles. Flow 1400 may include stages shown in FIG. 9 but not shown here for simplicity of illustration.

[0193]

[0218] At stage 1410, the network entity 700 attempts to transmit a synchronization signal to the UE 1402 to establish communication with the UE 902. Similar to stage 910 described above, the network entity 700, e.g., the TRP 1310, may transmit a type 1 synchronization signal 1411 and / or a type 2 synchronization signal 1412 via a RIS 1401 (e.g., the RIS 1320) that the UE 1402 may or may not be able to receive.

[0194]

[0219] At stage 1420, the network entity 700 transmits one or more Type 1 path loss reference signals 1421 and / or one or more Type 2 path loss reference signals 1422 to the UE 1402. The path loss signals 1421, 1422 may have known transmit power and / or the network entity 700 may indicate the transmit power (e.g., in a PRS resource power field for a DL-PRS used as a path loss reference signal).

[0195]

[0220] At stage 1430, the UE 1402 may transmit one or more reference signal acknowledgement (ACK) signals 1431, 1432. The ACK signal 1431 may be an indication that the UE 1402 has received a Type 1 synchronization signal 1411, and / or that the UE 1402 has received a path loss reference signal 1421, and / or that the UE 1402 has received some other Type 1 reference signal. The ACK signal 1432 may be an indication that the UE 1402 has received a Type 2 synchronization signal 1412, and / or that the UE 1402 has received a path loss reference signal 1422, and / or that the UE 1402 has received some other Type 2 reference signal. The UE 1402 may not transmit any of the ACK signals 1431, 1432, for example, if the UE 1402 is not configured to do so or if the UE 1402 does not receive a reference signal to be acknowledged.

[0196]

[0221] In stage 1440, the network entity 700 transmits PRS schedules 1441, 1442. The signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760 allocate PRS resources and an appropriate beam and transmit a type 1 PRS schedule 1441 including a schedule for a type 1 DL-PRS to be transmitted to the UE 1402 and / or a schedule for a type 1 UL-PRS to be transmitted by the UE 1402. Also or alternatively, the signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760 allocate PRS resources and an appropriate beam and transmit a type 1 PRS schedule 1442 including a schedule for a type 2 DL-PRS to be transmitted to the UE 1402 and / or a schedule for a type 2 UL-PRS to be transmitted by the UE 1402. The signal allocation unit 750 may allocate resources to a single type of UL-PRS, for example, if no ACK signals 1431, 1432 of other types of signals are received.

[0197]

[0222] In step 1450, the network entity 700 transmits the DL-PRS to the UE 1402. The signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760 transmit (via the RIS 1401) the type 1 DL-PRS 1451 and / or the type 2 DL-PRS 1452 to the UE 1402 according to the DL-PRS schedule provided in step 1440.

[0198]

[0223] In stage 1460, the UE 1402 may measure the DL-PRSs 1451, 1452. If only one of the DL-PRSs 1451, 1452 is transmitted to the UE 1402, the signal measurement unit 650 may measure (or at least attempt to measure) the received DL-PRSs 1451, 1452. If both DL-PRSs 1451, 1452 are transmitted to the UE 1402, the UE 1402 may selectively measure one, both, or none of the DL-PRSs 1451, 1452.

[0199]

[0224] At stage 1470, the UE 1402 may transmit a Type 1 PRS measurement report 1471 and / or a Type 2 PRS measurement report 1472. If the corresponding DL-PRS 1411, 1452 was not received or measured, the measurement report 1471, 1472 may indicate this or the corresponding measurement report 1471, 1472 may not be transmitted.

[0200]

[0225] In stage 1480, the UE 1402 may transmit a UL-PRS 1481 of type 1 and / or a UL-PRS 1482 of type 2. The SRS unit for positioning 675 may transmit the UL-PRS 1481, 1482 with respective transmit powers determined by the power control unit 670 based on path losses determined by the power control unit 670 from received powers of the path loss reference signals 1421, 1422 measured by the signal measurement unit 650, or from another reference signal measurement (e.g., of the signals 1411, 1412) if the signal measurement unit 650 is unable to measure the path loss reference signals 1421, 1422. The SRS unit for positioning 675 may transmit the UL-PRS 1481, 1482 with respective beams determined by the beam management unit 680. The UE 1402 may not transmit one or more of the UL-PRSs 1481, 1482, for example, if the UE 1402 is in a joint UL / DL positioning session and the corresponding DL-PRSs 1451, 1452 are not received or are not received with at least a threshold quality.

[0201]

[0226] In stage 1490, the network entity 700 may transmit a Type 1 UL-PRS schedule signal 1491 and / or a Type 2 UL-PRS schedule signal 1492 (although the network entity 700 may not transmit either of the UL-PRS schedule signals 1491, 1492). The UL-PRS schedule signals 1491, 1492 may reallocate resources for the UL-PRS and / or indicate to stop UL-PRS transmission of the UL-PRS based on DL-PRS measurements 1471, 1472 or lack thereof and / or based on UL-PRS measurements 1481, 1482 or lack thereof. For example, if a type of PRS (DL and / or UL) is not measured (with at least a threshold quality), then a UL-PRS of that type may not be allocated resources in the new schedule and / or measurements of a UL-PRS of that type may be indicated to be stopped (e.g., indicated internally to the network entity 700 and / or indicated from the network entity 700 to the UE 1402). Stage 1490 may be performed after stage 1480 as shown, or before or during stage 1480, for example, to cause the UE 1402 to stop transmitting a UL-PRS and / or not transmit a scheduled UL-PRS.

[0202]

[0227] 1-14, a positioning reference signal providing method 1500 includes the steps shown. However, the method 1500 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1500 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0203]

[0228] At stage 1510, the method 1500 includes transmitting a first UL-PRS of a first type of UL-PRS from the UE directly to a telecommunications device other than a repeater. For example, the SRS unit for positioning 675 transmits the UL-PRS 1481 of type 1 to the network entity 700 and / or another UE without passing through a RIS (or other repeater). The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the first UL-PRS.

[0204]

[0229] At stage 1520, the method 1500 includes transmitting a second UL-PRS of the second type of UL-PRS from the UE to the RIS. For example, the SRS unit for positioning 675 transmits the type 2 UL PRS 1482 to the network entity 700 using the beam determined to be directed to the RIS at stage 1520. The beam management unit 680 may determine the beam directed to the RIS (to be used to transmit the second UL-PRS) based on the receiving beam that best received the DL-RS, as indicated by the signal measurement unit 650, as described with respect to stage 940, for example. The processor 610 possibly combined with the memory 630 and / or the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246) may comprise a means for determining the direction of the RIS. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (eg, the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the second UL-PRS.

[0205]

[0230] Implementations of the method 1500 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics than the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof. In another example implementation, the method 1500 comprises measuring a type-2 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, where the second UL-PRS is transmitted using a transmit power based on a path loss of the type-2 path loss reference signal. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for measuring the type-2 path loss reference signal. The power control unit 670 may determine a path loss of the path loss reference signal 1422 based on one or more measurements by the signal measurement unit 650 and set a transmit power for transmitting the Type 2 UL-PRS 1482. The processor 610, possibly combined with the memory 630, may comprise means for determining a path loss of the Type 2 path loss reference signal. In another example implementation, the path loss of the Type 2 path loss reference signal is a second path loss and the transmit power is a second transmit power, and the method 1500 comprises measuring a Type 1 path loss reference signal received from the RIS, and the first UL-PRS is transmitted using a first transmit power based on the first path loss of the Type 1 path loss reference signal. For example, the power control unit 670 may determine a path loss of the path loss reference signal 1421 based on one or more measurements by the signal measurement unit 650 and set a transmit power for transmitting the Type 1 UL-PRS 1481. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for measuring a Type 1 path loss reference signal. The processor 610 in combination with the memory 630 may comprise means for determining a path loss of the Type 1 path loss reference signal.

[0206]

[0231] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1500 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1500 comprises attempting to measure a Type 2 path loss reference signal and measuring an SSB received by the UE, where the second UL-PRS is transmitted using a secondary transmit power based on the SSB path loss of the SSB in response to failing to determine the reference signal path loss based on the Type 2 path loss reference signal. For example, in response to the signal measurement unit 650 being unable to measure the path loss reference signal 1422 (e.g., due to lack of transmission of the signal 1422, due to poor quality (e.g., insufficient received power) of the signal 1422, etc.), the power control unit 670 may use the measurement of the SSB (e.g., of the Type 2 synchronization signal 1412) indicated by the signal measurement unit 650 to determine the path loss of the SSB and set the transmit power of the Type 2 UL-PRS 1482 based on the SSB path loss. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for attempting to measure a type 2 path loss reference signal and means for measuring the SSB. The processor 610 in combination with the memory 630 may comprise means for determining the SSB path loss. In another example implementation, the method 1500 comprises attempting to measure a DL-PRS for an uplink / downlink positioning technique at a UE, and in response to failing to measure a DL-PRS with at least a threshold quality, transmitting an indication that the UE is skipping transmission of a corresponding UL-PRS. For example, the SRS unit 675 for positioning may skip one or more scheduled UL-PRS transmissions based on the UE 600 being in a UL / DL positioning session (e.g., an RTT session) and one or more DL-PRS are not received or measured with sufficient quality, and may transmit a notification to the network entity 700 that the scheduled UL-PRS transmissions are being skipped.Skipping a transmission may save UE energy, and notifying the network entity 700 may help the network entity 700 save energy by not listening to the skipped transmission. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for attempting to measure the DL-PRS. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting a notification to the network entity. In another example implementation, the method 1500 comprises determining a direction of the RIS by attempting to measure at least one downlink reference signal reflected by the RIS using a plurality of UE receive beams, determining a selected receive beam of the plurality of UE receive beams corresponding to a strongest signal measurement of the at least one downlink reference signal, and determining a UE transmit beam of the UE corresponding to the selected receive beam. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 of the UE 1331 may attempt to measure the DL-RS from the RIS 1320 using each of several receive beams. The signal measurement unit 650 may determine which of the receive beams best received the DL-RS (e.g., with the most power), and the beam management unit 680 may determine (e.g., from a mapping of receive beams and transmit beams stored in the memory 630) the transmit beam corresponding to the receive beam that best received the DL-RS. For example, the beam management unit 680 may determine that the transmit beam 1383 (from the transmit beams 1381, 1382, 1383, 1384) corresponds to the receive beam that best received the DL-RS and thus corresponds to the direction of the RIS 1320, and the SRS unit for positioning 675 in cooperation with the beam management unit 680 may transmit the signal 1352 using the beam 1383.The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with a memory 630, may comprise means for attempting to measure at least one DL-PRS reflected by a RIS. The processor 610 in combination with the memory 630 may comprise means for determining a selected receive beam and means for determining a UE transmit beam corresponding to the selected receive beam.

[0207]

[0232] 1-14, a method 1600 for scheduling an uplink positioning reference signal includes the steps shown. However, the method 1600 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1600 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step split into multiple steps.

[0208]

[0233] At stage 1610, the method 1600 includes transmitting, from the network entity to the UE, a first schedule of first uplink positioning signal resources for the UE to transmit a first UL-PRS of a first type directly to a telecommunication device other than a repeater. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 of the network entity 700 transmits the type 1 PRS schedule 1441 including a schedule for the type 1 UL-PRS for transmission to the network entity 700 and / or another UE without passing through a RIS (or other repeater). The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the first schedule.

[0209]

[0234] At stage 1620, the method 1600 includes transmitting, from the network entity to the UE, a second schedule of second uplink positioning signal resources for the UE to transmit a second UL-PRS of a second type to a RIS (reconfigurable intelligent surface). For example, the signal allocation unit 750 of the network entity 700 transmits the type 2 PRS schedule 1442 including the schedule for the type 2 UL-PRS. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the second schedule.

[0210]

[0235] Implementations of the method 1600 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1600 comprises transmitting a first termination indication from the network entity to the UE in response to receiving the second UL-PRS and failing to receive the first UL-PRS, indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the first UL-PRS, or transmitting a second termination indication from the network entity to the UE in response to receiving the first UL-PRS and failing to receive the second UL-PRS, indicating that the UE stops scheduled transmission of the second UL-PRS, or a combination thereof. For example, the processor 710 responds to receiving the Type 2 UL-PRS 1482 and not receiving the Type 1 UL-PRS 1481 by transmitting a UL-PRS schedule signal 1491 indicating to stop transmitting the Type 1 UL-PRS 1481 (or not to transmit the scheduled Type 1 UL-PRS 1481). Also or alternatively, the processor 710 responds to receiving the Type 1 UL-PRS 1481 and not receiving the Type 2 UL-PRS 1482 by transmitting a UL-PRS schedule signal 1492 indicating to stop transmitting the Type 2 UL-PRS 1482 (or not to transmit the scheduled Type 2 UL-PRS 1482). The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting a first termination indication and means for transmitting a second termination indication. In another example implementation, the method 1600 includes controlling selection of one or more of a plurality of antenna beams of the RIS and transmitting a beam indication indicative of the selected one of the plurality of antenna beams of the RIS from the network entity to the UE.For example, the processor 710 may send one or more instructions to the RIS, e.g., the RIS 1320, to cause the RIS to use a particular beam to reflect a signal (e.g., emit a signal) and may send an indication to the UE 600 regarding the RIS beam used for emission, which may help the UE 600 determine a receive beam and / or transmit beam to use for signal exchange with the RIS. The processor 710, possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for controlling selection of one or more antenna beams of the RIS, and the processor 710, possibly in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the beam indication to the UE.

[0211]

[0236] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1600 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1600 comprises transmitting a first downlink path loss reference signal of a first type from a network entity to the UE and transmitting a second downlink path loss reference signal of a second type from the network entity to the RIS. For example, the processor 710 may transmit a type 1 path loss reference signal 1421 to the UE 600 (e.g., the UE 1330) (using multiple beams or using a beam predetermined to be directed to the UE), determine the direction of the RIS (e.g., from a table of RIS locations stored in the memory 730), and transmit a type 2 path loss reference signal 1422 to the RIS (e.g., the RIS 1320 for reflection to the UE 1331). The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting a first downlink path loss reference signal. The processor 710 in combination with the memory 730 may comprise means for determining a direction of the RIS. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting a second downlink path loss reference signal. In another exemplary implementation, the first downlink path loss reference signal is a first synchronization signal block or a first positioning reference signal, and the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second synchronization signal block or a second positioning reference signal. In another example implementation, the second downlink path loss reference signal is a second positioning reference signal, and the method 1600 comprises transmitting an indication of a transmit power of the second positioning reference signal from the network entity to the RIS. For example, the indication of the transmit power may be provided in a PRS resource power parameter. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting the indication of the transmit power.In another example implementation, in accordance with the first schedule and the second schedule, the second UL-PRS has a different carrier frequency than the first UL-PRS, or a different bandwidth than the first UL-PRS, or one or more timing characteristics different from the first UL-PRS, or a different codeword than the first UL-PRS, or any combination thereof, and the method 1600 comprises allocating both the first downlink path loss reference signal and the first UL-PRS with the first carrier frequency, the first bandwidth, and the first timing characteristic, and allocating both the second downlink path loss reference signal and the second UL-PRS with the second carrier frequency, the second bandwidth, and the second timing characteristic. For example, the signal allocation unit allocates similar resources for a type 1 path loss reference signal 1421 and a type 1 UL-PRS 1481, and allocates similar resources for a type 2 path loss reference signal 1422 and a type 2 UL-PRS 1482. The processor 710, possibly combined with the memory 730, may comprise means for allocating a first downlink path loss reference signal and a first UL-PRS, and means for allocating a second downlink path loss reference signal and a second UL-PRS.

[0212]

[0237] Flexible RIS-aided positioning reference signal timing

[0238] The selectable timing of positioning reference signal transmission and / or reception may be used in an environment with RIS-assisted signaling. For example, RIS-reflected and non-RIS-reflected DL-PRS and / or UL-PRS may be provided on demand. Based on the measurement of one or more DL-RS, for example, the UE may determine whether some DL-PRS and / or UL-PRS may be well measured and request on-demand allocation (by the UE or by a network entity) of PRS resources that are likely to be well measured and not request PRS resources that are unlikely to be well measured. As another example, the timing of listening to RIS-reflected DL-PRS may be reduced compared to non-RIS-reflected PRS. The receiving circuitry for receiving RIS-reflected DL-PRS may be activated for a time window that is smaller than the time window for receiving non-RIS-reflected DL-PRS. As another example, measurement reports of DL-PRS may be requested on demand, measurements of DL-PRS may be requested on demand, and / or provision of UL-PRS may be requested on demand.

[0213]

[0239] Referring again to FIG. 6 with further reference to FIGS. 1-5 and 7, the PRS request unit 690 is configured to send an on-demand PRS request to the network entity 700. The PRS request unit 690 may request appropriate PRS resources (e.g., specifying one or more TRPs 300, direction / beam, periodicity, PRS configuration (e.g., frequency layer, SCS, slot offset, repetition factor, etc.), etc.). The requested PRS resources may be determined based on the need determined by the UE 600.

[0214]

[0240] Using an on-demand PRS request may provide one or more of various advantages. For example, an on-demand request for a PRS may allow for an increase in resources to be allocated for DL-PRS transmission (e.g., increased bandwidth, beam direction, and / or TRP). An indication to terminate and / or deschedule one or more DL-PRS transmissions may be sent. The increased DL-PRS transmission may be simplified by being limited to a few PRS configurations that may be configured in the gNB and / or LMF. For example, a set of PRS configuration parameters may be used for non-enhanced PRS transmissions in the absence of a request for an increased PRS transmission. A non-enhanced PRS transmission may include not transmitting a PRS (e.g., to minimize resource usage). One or more levels of increased (enhanced) PRS transmission may each be associated with a different set of PRS configuration parameters (e.g., the same parameters with one or more different values). For example, PRS transmission may be turned on according to a default set of parameters and turned off otherwise (when not needed). On-demand PRS requests may be aperiodic (performed without a schedule), periodic (with requests at regular intervals), or semi-persistent (with a window of periodic requests initiated at unscheduled times). Semi-persistent transmissions may be MAC-CE (medium access control-control medium) triggered, while aperiodic PRS may be DCI (downlink control information) triggered. PRS resources (DL and / or UL) may be dynamically allocated, with resources allocated based on the PRS request and deallocated upon termination of the request (e.g., expiration of a periodic window, receipt of a termination request, etc.). On-demand PRS may provide one or more advantages, such as improving device efficiency, reducing resource usage, saving energy (e.g., reducing energy consumption), etc.

[0215]

[0241] On-demand PRS may be initiated by the UE and / or a server (e.g., a location server). The PRS request unit 690 may send an on-demand request asking for specific properties for UL-PRS (SRS for positioning) and / or DL-PRS. For example, the UE 600 may attempt to save power by requesting a larger periodicity for the PRS (e.g., 160 ms instead of 20 ms). The UE 600 and / or the server 400 may request / suggest / recommend a specific (DL and / or UL) PRS pattern, (DL and / or UL) PRS transmissions to be turned on, (DL and / or UL) PRS transmissions to be turned off, periodicity, bandwidth, etc.

[0216]

[0242] The PRS request unit 690 may send one or more on-demand requests for a DL-PRS of type 1, a UL-PRS of type 1, a DL-PRS of type 2, and / or a UL-PRS of type 2. For example, the UE 600 may be unable to measure one type of DL-PRS (e.g., a DL-PRS of type 2 when the UE 600 is at the location of the UE 530, or a DL-PRS of type 1 when the UE 600 is at the location of the UE 531). The decision to request a DL-PRS of a particular type from a particular TRP may be based on the measurement of one or more DL-RS. The PRS request unit 690 may communicate with the signal measurement unit 650 to determine whether the signal measurement unit 650 is able to measure a DL-RS of type 1 and / or a DL-RS of type 2, where the DL-RS is, for example, a PRS, an SSB, or a CSI-RS. The PRS request unit 690 may respond to the signal measurement unit 650 being able to measure one type of DL-RS and not the other type (at least with a threshold quality) by requesting DL-PRS of only a type corresponding to the type of DL-RS that the UE 600 was able to measure (e.g., at least with a threshold quality). When the UE 600 is not able to measure the other type of DL-PRS well, the UE 600 may save power by not requesting, and thus avoiding measuring, the other type of DL-PRS. Similarly, the decision to request a particular type of UL-PRS may be based on the measurement of one or more DL-RSs. The PRS request unit 690 may communicate with the signal measurement unit 650 to determine whether the signal measurement unit 650 is able to measure a type 1 DL-RS and / or a type 2 DL-RS, e.g., a path loss reference signal for SRS power control.The PRS request unit 690 may respond to the signal measurement unit 650 being able to measure one type of DL-RS and not the other type (at least with a threshold quality) by requesting a UL-PRS of only a type that corresponds to the type of DL-RS that the UE 600 was able to measure (e.g., with at least a threshold quality). By avoiding requesting, and thus transmitting, the UL-PRS of the other type when it is not likely that the UL-PRS of the other type can be well measured, the UE 600 may save power.

[0217]

[0243] The PRS request unit 690 may transmit one or more on-demand requests for type 2 DL-PRS and / or type 2 UL-PRS for a particular RIS associated with a common TRP. For example, the UE 600 may be unable to measure type 2 DL-PRS from a TRP via one RIS, but may be able to measure type 2 DL-PRS from a TRP via another RIS (e.g., the UE 532 may receive DL-PRS from the TRP 510 via the RIS 521 but not via the RIS 520). The decision to request type 2 DL-PRS via a particular RIS may be based on the measurement of one or more DL-RS. The PRS request unit 690 may communicate with the signal measurement unit 650 to determine that the signal measurement unit 650 via the RIS is able to measure type 2 DL-RS from a TRP. The PRS request unit 690 may respond to the signal measurement unit 650 that it is possible to measure the type 2 DL-RS from one RIS but not another RIS (with at least the threshold quality) by requesting a type 2 DL-PRS corresponding to a RIS from which the UE 600 was able to measure the type 2 DL-RS (e.g., with at least the threshold quality). When the UE 600 is unable to measure the type 2 DL-PRS well from the other RIS, the UE 600 may save power by not requesting, and thus avoiding measuring, the type 2 DL-PRS from the other RIS. Similarly, a decision to request a type 2 UL-PRS for transmission via a particular RIS may be based on measurements of one or more DL-RS, and the PRS request unit 690 responds to the signal measurement unit 650 that it is possible to measure the type 2 DL-RS from one RIS but not another RIS (with at least the threshold quality) by requesting a type 2 UL-PRS corresponding to a RIS from which the UE 600 was able to measure the type 2 DL-RS (e.g., with at least the threshold quality).When the type 2 UL-PRS sent from the UE 600 and reflected by other RISs is unlikely to be well measured, the UE 600 may save power by not requesting, and therefore avoiding transmitting, the type 2 UL-PRS from other RISs.

[0218]

[0244] Referring also to FIG. 17, the UE 600 may be provided with an indication of the expected arrival time of each DL-PRS in case of type 1 DL-PRS or type 2 DL-PRS. For example, the network entity 700 may transmit to the UE 600 a DL-PRS-expectedRSTD parameter value indicating the expected arrival time as a time difference relative to a DL reference signal. The network entity 700 may also transmit to the UE 600 a DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter value indicating the uncertainty in the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD parameter value. The uncertainty parameter may be used to determine the earliest and latest a PRS (from a neighboring TRP) may arrive relative to the reference signal (from the reference TRP), and thus to define a search window around the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD parameter value. The search window may be defined at slot level or sub-slot level. In case of slot level buffering for FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) computation, the duration K may be 2 -μwhere μ is the subcarrier space (SCS) index (with 0, 1, 2 corresponding to SCS of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz) and S is the set of serving cell slots within the Pms window (PRS symbol duration) containing potential DL-PRS resources that consider the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD and DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter values ​​for each pair of (target and reference) DL-PRS resource sets. The PRS symbol duration may correspond to the boundary of the UE buffering window, which extends from the earliest time of PRS arrival (e.g., the start of the symbol span 1712) to the latest time of PRS arrival (e.g., the end of the symbol span 1714). The PRS symbol duration may extend from DL-PRS-expectedRSTD minus the uncertainty of DL-PRS-expectedRSTD to DL-PRS-expectedRSTD plus the uncertainty of DL-PRS-expectedRSTD, and does not refer to the time span of a single OFDM symbol (corresponding to the inverse of the subcarrier spacing). In the case of subslot-level buffering for FFT operations,

[0219]

number

[0220] defines a minimum interval in milliseconds within slot s corresponding to an integer number of OFDM symbols of the serving cell that covers the union of potential PRS symbols, and determines the PRS symbol occupancy within slot s by considering the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD and DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter values ​​for each pair of DL-PRS resource sets (target and reference). For example, to cover the earliest symbol span 1712 and the latest symbol span 1714 for DL-PRS from neighboring TRPs based on the expected RSTD uncertainty relative to the span 1710 of expected RSTD of DL-PRS from the reference TRP, the signal measurement unit 650 may use a slot-level search window 1720 that spans the entire slot. To cover the symbol spans 1712, 1714, the signal measurement unit 650 may use a sub-slot-level search window 1730 that spans symbols from the beginning of the earliest symbol span 1712 to the end of the latest symbol span 1714. Using a sub-slot level search window may reduce operations (e.g., FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) operations) performed by the UE 600 and therefore reduce power consumption by the UE 600 compared to using a slot level search window.

[0221]

[0245] For non-RIS reflected signals, both the distance between the TRP300 and the UE600 and the uncertainty of this distance may be significant, resulting in a significant DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter value. For RIS reflected signals, the PRS symbol duration depends on the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD and DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty, which depend on the RIS deployment. For RIS reflected signals, the distance between the TRP300 and the RIS is known, and the distance between the RIS and the UE600 (e.g., 20 m) is much smaller (at least typically) than the distance between the TRP300 and the UE600 (e.g., 1+ km) for non-RIS reflected signals. Thus, synchronization between the RIS may be better controlled than synchronization between the TRPs, and the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter value for the RIS reflected signal may be much smaller than the DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty parameter value for the RIS reflected signal. For example, the symbols from the earliest symbol span 1752 and the latest symbol span 1754 for DL-PRS from a neighboring RIS based on the expected RSTD uncertainty relative to the span 1750 of the expected RSTD of DL-PRS from a reference RIS may be less than during the window 1730 (as shown). Thus, the signal measurement unit 650 may use a search window 1740 (which is an amount of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols)) for the RIS-reflected PRS that may be much smaller than the search window for the non-RIS-reflected PRS, e.g., the search window 1730. The signal measurement unit 650 may use different PRS symbol durations to measure the non-RIS-reflected and RIS-reflected signals. The RIS-reflected PRS symbol duration may be, for example, a minimum interval (e.g., in milliseconds) within a slot that covers the union of potential type-2 (RIS-reflected) DL-PRS and corresponds to an integer number of (OFDM) symbols that determine the type-2 PRS symbol occupancy within the slot.

[0222]

[0246] The capability unit 665 may report the capability of the UE 600 to support different PRS symbol durations, e.g., different P millisecond windows of potential PRS resources (e.g., to process different amounts of PRS symbols). The PRS symbol duration may correspond to a size of the UE 600's buffer for buffering DL-PRS symbols for processing by, e.g., FFT operations. The size of the UE 600's buffer may be larger than the reported PRS symbol duration, e.g., the UE 600 is configured to use a portion of the buffer corresponding to the indicated PRS symbol duration to process the DL-PRS. The capability report provided by the capability unit 665 may indicate that the UE 600 is capable of slot-level buffering and / or sub-slot-level (symbol-level) buffering. The capability unit 665 may determine (calculate) the PRS symbol durations for the RIS reflected signal and the non-RIS reflected signal, e.g., based on expected RSTD and expected RSTD uncertainty values ​​for the RIS reflected signal and the non-RIS reflected signal, respectively. The RIS-reflected PRS symbol duration relates to the RIS deployment and may be calculated based on one or more separations of two or more RIS for a common (i.e., same) TRP 300. The capability unit 665 may transmit one or more indications of PRS symbol durations (P-values) in a capability report to the network entity 700 indicating the supported PRS symbol durations and corresponding signal types (e.g., RIS-reflected or non-RIS-reflected, or RIS-reflected by a particular RIS, etc.). The UE 1802 may transmit multiple capability reports over time, and one or more of the PRS symbol durations may change over time (e.g., the RIS-reflected PRS symbol duration may change), for example, based on the UE 600's desire to conserve power or based on the UE 600's desire to conserve power weighted against the desire for measurement accuracy. The capability report may explicitly and / or implicitly request that the network entity 700 allocate PRS resources to span no more than the respective PRS symbol durations at the UE 600.

[0223]

[0247] The signal measurement unit 650 may coordinate resources for signal measurement based on the supported PRS symbol duration. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may buffer symbols according to the respective PRS symbol duration. As another example, the signal measurement unit 650 may turn off one or more components of the UE 600 for processing the DL-PRS, e.g., one or more RF chain components, based on the PRS duration. The RF chain components may include, for example, one or more filters, one or more amplifiers (e.g., low noise amplifiers), one or more mixers, etc. The signal measurement unit 650 may turn on components, e.g., for less than a full slot, based on the PRS symbol duration of the PRS to be measured being less than a full slot. Thus, the signal measurement unit 650 may perform fewer operations, e.g., fewer FFT operations, to process the PRS than if the RF components were turned on for a longer time, e.g., one or more full slots. In the case of slot-level buffering, the signal measurement unit 650 buffers and turns on RF processing for one or more entire slots. In the case of sub-slot level (symbol level) buffering, the signal measurement unit 650 buffers symbols at the symbol level, which may reduce UE operation and therefore UE power consumption compared to slot level buffering. Symbol level buffering may buffer an integer number of (OFDM) symbols of the serving cell that includes the union of potential PRS symbols and corresponds to the PRS symbol occupancy in the slot and is based on the expected RSTD and expected RSTD uncertainty for each pair (target and reference) of DL-PRS resource sets. Using RIS reflected PRS symbol duration to reduce buffering and UE operation may reduce power consumption by the UE 600. Power consumption reduction may be achieved by using a reduced PRS symbol duration (and thus a search window) and / or by measuring only the types of PRS (e.g., Type 1 or Type 2) that the UE 600 is able to measure well.For example, in the case of UE 531, power may be saved by not attempting to measure Type 1 PRS and by using a PRS symbol duration specifically for Type 2 PRS (and possibly specifically for Type 2 PRS from RIS 520).

[0224]

[0248] Referring to FIG. 18 with further reference to FIGS. 1-7 and 17, a signaling and process flow 1800 for providing DL-PRS and UL-PRS and measuring DL-PRS with and without RIS includes the stages shown. Flow 1800 is an example as stages may be added, reordered, and / or removed. Flow 1800 illustrates signal exchanges between network entity 700, RIS 1801, and UE 1802 that may be in LOS cell coverage but not RIS coverage, in RIS coverage but not LOS cell coverage, or in LOS cell coverage and RIS coverage. The description may assume that signals are exchanged successfully between network entity 700 and UE 1802, but that one or more signals may not be exchanged successfully depending, for example, on the location of UE 1802 relative to network entity 700 and / or one or more obstacles. Flow 1800 may include stages shown in FIG. 9 but not shown here for simplicity of illustration.

[0225]

[0249] At stage 1810, the UE 1802 transmits a capability report 1811 and / or a capability report 1812 to the network entity 700. The capability report 1812, if transmitted, is transmitted to the network entity 700 via the RIS 1801. The capability reports 1811, 1812 may indicate, among other things, the ability of the UE 1802 to support RIS reflected PRS symbol durations and non-RIS reflected PRS symbol durations, and the reports may include respective values ​​of the PRS symbol durations (e.g., calculated based on an indication of DL-PRS-expectedRSTD and DL-PRS-expectedRSTD uncertainty (not shown)), e.g., values ​​of the windows 1720, 1730, 1740.

[0226]

[0250] In stage 1820, the network entity 700 transmits a DL-PRS on-demand request 1821 of type 1, a DL-PRS on-demand request 1822 of type 2, a UL-PRS on-demand request 1823 of type 1, and a UL-PRS on-demand request 1824 of type 2 to the UE 1802. One or more of the requests 1821-1824, or even all of them, may be omitted from the flow 1800 (e.g., if the UE 1802 does not support on-demand requests and / or if the UE 1802 is not triggered to transmit one or more of the on-demand requests 1821-1824). The signal measurement unit 650 may transmit the requests 1821, 1822, and the SRS unit for positioning 675 may transmit the requests 1823, 1824. The requests 1821-1824 may request specific PRS resource parameters. Request 1822 may request that RIS 1801 be used to reflect a DL-PRS, and request 1824 may indicate that RIS 1801 be used to reflect a UL-PRS.

[0227]

[0251] In stage 1830, the network entity 700 transmits a DL-PRS schedule 1831 of type 1, a DL-PRS schedule 1832 of type 2, a UL-PRS schedule 1833 of type 1, and a UL-PRS schedule 1834 of type 2 to the UE 1802. One or more of the schedules 1831-1834, or even all of them, may be omitted from the flow 1800. One or more of the schedules 1831-1834 may be transmitted in response to one or more of the requests 1821-1824, respectively, or may be transmitted independently of one or more on-demand requests. The signal allocation unit 750 and the beam management unit 760 may allocate PRS resources and appropriate beams and transmit the schedules 1831-1834. The schedules 1831, 1832 may be configured based on and conform to the PRS symbol duration indicated in the capability report 1811, 1812.

[0228]

[0252] At stage 1840, the network entity 700 transmits DL-PRS 1841 of type 1 and DL-PRS 1842 of type 2 to the UE 1802, and the UE 1802 transmits UL-PRS 1843 of type 1 and UL-PRS 1844 of type 2 to the network entity 700 according to respective schedules 1831-1834. One or more, or even all, of the PRSs 1841-1844 may be omitted from the flow 1800. The DL-PRSs 1841, 1842 may fill (e.g., may be configured to be received within) the PRS symbol duration indicated in the capability reports 1811, 1812.

[0229]

[0253] In stage 1850, the UE 1802 may measure the DL-PRS 1841, 1842, e.g., as described above with respect to stage 960 and / or stage 1460. The signal measurement unit 650 may buffer the DL-PRS 1841, 1842 according to the respective PRS symbol durations indicated in the capability reports 1811, 1812, e.g., turn off the RF components of the UE for the PRS. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may buffer the type 2 DL-PRS 1842 according to the search window 1740 and buffer the type 1 DL-PRS 1841 according to the search window 1720 or the search window 1730.

[0230]

[0254] At stage 1860, the UE 1802 may transmit a type 1 PRS measurement report 1861 and / or a type 2 PRS measurement report 1862, similar to the description of stage 970 and / or the description of stage 1470 above. The network entity 700 may process the measurement reports 1861, 1862 to determine location information (e.g., a location estimate, speed, velocity, etc.) regarding the UE 1802.

[0231]

[0255] Referring to FIG. 19 with further reference to FIGS. 1-7, 17, and 18, a method for facilitating position determination of a UE 1900 includes the steps shown. However, the method 1900 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1900 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step split into multiple steps. For example, the method 1900 may include step 1910, or may include step 1920, or may include step 1930, or any combination thereof (steps 1910 and 1920, or steps 1920 and 1930, or steps 1910, 1920, and 1930). Thus, the UE may comprise means for facilitating position determination information for the UE, comprising means for performing step 1910, or means for performing step 1920, or means for performing step 1930, or any combination thereof.

[0232]

[0256] At stage 1910, the method 1900 includes transmitting a first on-demand request for a first PRS resource of a first signal type from the UE to the network entity based on reception by the UE of a first DL-RS of a first signal type from a network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from a network entity having at least a second threshold quality, where one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for a non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for a RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE. For example, the UE 1802 (e.g., the signal measurement unit 650) may transmit one or more of the on-demand requests 1821 or 1823 based on being able to measure the non-RIS reflected DL-RS and being unable to measure the RIS reflected DL-RS. As another example, the UE 1802 (e.g., the signal measurement unit 650) may transmit one or more of the on-demand requests 1822 or 1824 based on being able to measure the RIS reflected DL-RS and being unable to measure the non-RIS reflected DL-RS. The signal types may be for non-RIS reflected signal transfer and RIS reflected signal transfer, in that the signal types may be configurations assigned to direct (non-RIS reflected) signal transfer and indirect (RIS reflected) signal transfer, respectively. The RIS reflected signal may include a RIS ID. The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting a first on-demand request for a first PRS resource.

[0233]

[0257] At stage 1920, the method 1900 includes transmitting a second on-demand request from the UE to a network entity for a second PRS resource for RIS reflected signal forwarding between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RISs associated with a common base station. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 of the UE 1802 may transmit a type 2 DL-PRS on-demand request 1822 and / or a type 2 UL-PRS on-demand request 1824 to the network entity specifying the RIS 1801 (e.g., the RIS 520 of the RIS 520, 521 corresponding to the TRP 510). The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the second on-demand request for the second PRS resource.

[0234]

[0258] At stage 1930, the method 1900 includes transmitting a capability message from the UE to a network entity indicating that the UE supports different PRS symbol durations for RIS reflected PRS and non-RIS reflected PRS. For example, the capability unit 665 of the UE 1802 may transmit one or both of a capability report 1811, 1812 to the network entity 700 indicating that the UE 1802 supports different PRS symbol durations for RIS reflected PRS and non-RIS reflected PRS (the UE 1802 is configured to process PRS having different symbol durations). The processor 610 in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting the capability message.

[0235]

[0259] Implementations of the method 1900 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1900 comprises transmitting a first on-demand request, and the first PRS resource is a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, or transmitting a second on-demand request, and the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource, or a combination thereof. For example, the signal measurement unit may transmit one or more of the on-demand requests 1821-1824. In another example implementation, the method 1900 includes transmitting a first on-demand request, and the first DL-RS is a path loss reference signal. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 may determine whether and which on-demand PRS request 1821-1824 to transmit based on measurements or lack thereof of one or more DL-RSs having one or more respective measurement qualities (e.g., measurements of a DL-RS of type 1 and lack of measurements of a DL-RS of type 2, or measurements of a DL-RS of type 2 and lack of measurements of a DL-RS of type 1). In another example implementation, the method 1900 comprises transmitting a second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a first RIS, and further based on lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS. For example, the signal measurement unit 650 of the UE 532 may send an on-demand request for a Type 2 PRS (UL and / or DL) to be reflected by the RIS 521 based on measurements of the DL-RS reflected by the RIS 521 and the lack of measurements (of adequate quality) of the DL-RS reflected by the RIS 520.The processor 610, in combination with the transceiver 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and the antenna 246), possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for transmitting a second on-demand request for a second PRS resource.

[0236]

[0260] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1900 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 1900 comprises transmitting a capability message to a network entity, the capability message including a first PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a non-RIS reflected PRS and a second PRS symbol duration supported by the UE for receiving a RIS reflected PRS. The symbol duration may be specified, for example, as a number of symbols and / or a time span (e.g., an amount of milliseconds). In another example implementation, the method 1900 comprises determining the second PRS symbol duration based on a separation of at least two RISs associated with the network entity.

[0237]

[0261] Referring to Figure 20 with further reference to Figures 1-7, 17, and 18, a downlink positioning reference signal schedule method 2000 includes the steps shown. However, the method 2000 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 2000 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step split into multiple steps.

[0238]

[0262] In step 2010, the method 2000 includes receiving, at the network entity, a capability message from the UE indicating a first PRS symbol duration of the UE for processing a DL-PRS of a first signal type and a second PRS symbol duration of the UE for processing a second DL-PRS of a second signal type, the first signal type being for a non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE and the second signal type being for a RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE. For example, the network entity 700 may receive one or both of the capability reports 1811, 1812, the reports 1811, 1812 including one or more PRS symbol durations (e.g., amount of symbols, amount of time) for each of the RIS reflected signal and / or the non-RIS reflected signal. The signal types may be for non-RIS reflected signal transfer and RIS reflected signal transfer, in that the signal types may be configurations assigned to direct (non-RIS reflected) signal transfer and indirect (RIS reflected) signal transfer, respectively. The PRS symbol duration for the RIS reflected signal may specify the RIS and may include, for example, a RIS ID. The processor 710 in combination with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346), possibly in combination with the memory 730, may comprise means for receiving a capability message.

[0239]

[0263] At stage 2020, the method 2000 includes scheduling, based on the capability message, a second resource of a second DL-PRS of a second signal type such that the second resource of the second DL-PRS spans less than or equal to a second PRS symbol duration. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may allocate PRS resources to help ensure that the DL-PRS of type 2 is received by the UE 600 within one or more specified PRS symbol durations, e.g., the window 1740. The processor 710, possibly combined with the memory 730 (possibly combined with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346)), may comprise means for scheduling the second resource.

[0240]

[0264] Implementations of the method 2000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the second PRS symbol duration is shorter in time than the first PRS symbol duration, and the method 2000 comprises scheduling a first resource of a first DL-PRS of a first signal type based on the capability message such that the first resource of the first DL-PRS spans less than or equal to the first PRS symbol duration. For example, the signal allocation unit 750 may allocate PRS resources to help ensure that the DL-PRS of type 1 is received by the UE 600 within one or more specified PRS symbol durations, e.g., window 1720 or 1740. The processor 710, possibly combined with the memory 730 (possibly combined with the transceiver 720 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and antenna 346)), may comprise means for scheduling the first resource. In another example implementation, the first PRS symbol duration is an amount of a slot and the second PRS symbol duration is an amount of a sub-slot of the symbol.

[0241]

[0265] 21 with further reference to FIGS. 1-7, 17, and 18, a signaling and process flow 2100 for on-demand request of DL-PRS measurements and / or UL-PRS includes the steps shown. Flow 2100 is an example, as steps may be added, reordered, and / or removed. Flow 2100 may be a complement, e.g., a continuation, of flow 1800.

[0242]

[0266] At stage 2110, the network entity 700 may measure one or more UL-PRS to obtain one or more UL-PRS measurements. For example, the signal measurement unit 770 attempts to measure UL-PRS 1843 and / or UL-PRS 1844. The signal measurement unit 770 may or may not be able to measure the scheduled UL-PRS, for example, due to variable channel conditions. The signal measurement unit 770 may determine, for example, whether the UL-PRS was measured at all, was measured but with insufficient quality, or was measured with sufficient quality for use in determining the location of the UE 1802.

[0243]

[0267] At stage 2120, the UE 1802 may transmit a power saving indication 2122 to the network entity 700. For example, the power control unit 670 may transmit an indication 2122 requesting that the UE 1802 be allowed to enter a power saving mode of the UE 1802 or indicating that the UE 1802 is operating or entering operation in a power saving mode. In a power saving mode, the UE 1802 may have limited capabilities, for example, to process PRS (e.g., measure (DL and / or SL) PRS, report (DL and / or SL) PRS measurements, and / or transmit (UL and / or SL) PRS). The indication 2122 may indicate one or more specific requested changes in operation, e.g., for the UE 1802 to measure only Type 1 PRS or only Type 2 PRS, for the UE 1802 to report only Type 1 PRS measurements or only Type 2 PRS measurements, and / or for the UE 1802 to transmit only Type 1 PRS or only Type 2 PRS. The indication 2122 may, as another example, generally request a power saving mode, e.g., without a specific request for a specific power saving feature (e.g., a change in UE operation).

[0244]

[0268] At stage 2130, the network entity may transmit a PRS type request 2132 to the UE 1802. For example, the network entity 700 may be configured to respond to the indication 2122 by attempting to cause the UE 1802 to use less power and / or to one or more measurements of UL-PRS 1843, 1844 and / or to attempt measurements of UL-PRS 1843, 1844 and / or to one or more indications (or lack thereof) of measurements of DL-PRS 1841, 1842. For example, to help the UE 1802 conserve power, the signal allocation unit 750 may schedule only Type 1 signals for reception by the UE 1802, or schedule only Type 2 signals for reception by the UE 1802, or schedule only Type 1 signals for transmission by the UE 1802, or schedule only Type 2 signals for transmission by the UE 1802. As another example, the processor 710 may be configured to request that the UE 1802 report only measurements of Type 1 PRS or only measurements of Type 2 PRS. As another example, the processor 710 may be configured to request that the UE 1802 report only measurements of Type 1 PRS or only measurements of Type 2 PRS. A request to report only measurements of one type of PRS may be an implicit request for the UE 1802 to measure only one type of PRS. Thus, the network entity 700 may request that the UE 1802 measure and / or report only one type of Type 1 signal and Type 2 signal in response to the indication 2122 and / or in response to one or more DL-PRS measurements and / or one or more UL-PRS measurements. For example, if one type of PRS measurement is measured with sufficient quality and other types of PRS are not measured with sufficient quality (e.g., poor quality or not measured at all), the UE 1802 may be requested to process (measure, report, and / or transmit) the types of PRS that were measured with sufficient quality.

[0245]

[0269] 22, a method 2200 of controlling signal exchange includes the steps shown. However, the method 2200 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 2200 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by having a single step split into multiple steps.

[0246]

[0270] In step 2210, the method 2000 includes receiving at least one signal from a user equipment (UE) comprising at least one of: (1) a measurement indication indicating a first measurement of a first signal type, or a second measurement of a second signal type, or a combination thereof, the first signal type being for a non-RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the second signal type being for a RIS reflected signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, (2) a first UL-PRS (Uplink Positioning Reference Signal) of the first signal type, or a second UL-PRS of the second signal type, or a combination thereof, or (3) an indication of a power saving mode of the UE. For example, the network entity 700 may receive one or more measurements of DL-PRS 1841, 1842, or one or more of UL-PRS 1841, 1842, and / or an indication 2122. The processor 710 in combination with a transceiver 720 (eg, a wireless receiver and antenna), possibly in combination with a memory 730, may comprise means for receiving at least one signal.

[0247]

[0271] At stage 2220, the method 2200 includes transmitting a message to the UE in response to the at least one signal, the message indicating that the UE reports measurements of DL-PRS (downlink PRS) of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or indicating that the UE transmits UL-PRS of only one of the first signal type or the second signal type, or a combination thereof. For example, the network entity 700 may transmit a PRS type request 2132 to the UE 1802. The message may indicate that the UE reports measurements of only one type of signal to the network entity or transmits only one type of signal (e.g., so that the UE may report measurements of other types or transmit other types of signals to another network entity). The indication to report measurements of only one type may be explicit or implicit (e.g., an indication to measure only one type of signal and thus implies reporting measurements of only that type of signal). The processor 710 in combination with a transceiver 720 (eg, a wireless transmitter and antenna), possibly in combination with a memory 730, may comprise means for transmitting messages.

[0248]

[0272] Implementations of the method 2200 may include one or more of the following features: In an example implementation, the indication of the UE's power saving mode comprises a request for the UE to operate in a power saving mode. In another example implementation, one of the first signal type or the second signal type indicated by the message corresponds to a better measured quality of the signal transfer between the network entity and the UE. For example, the network entity 700 may instruct the UE 1802 to report or transmit a type 1 PRS based on a type 1 PRS being exchanged with the network entity 700 and measured with better quality than a type 2 PRS (or vice versa).

[0249]

[0273] Other considerations

[0274] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination of these. Features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0250]

[0275] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0251]

[0276] As used herein, the term RS (Reference Signal) may refer to one or more reference signals and may apply to any form of the term RS, e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc., as appropriate.

[0252]

[0277] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or action is "based on" an item or state means that the function or action is based on the stated item or state, and may be based on one or more items and / or states in addition to the stated item or state.

[0253]

[0278] Also, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items (ending in "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive list, e.g., such that a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C" or "A, B, or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item may be configured to perform the function with respect to A, or may be configured to perform the function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform the function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrases "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" mean that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select whether to measure A and / or B). Similarly, recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether to measure A and / or B).As another example, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of performing a function X or performing a function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and to measure Y (and may be configured to select whether or both of X and Y to measure).

[0254]

[0279] Considerable variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware could be used and / or particular elements could be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets) executed by a processor, or both. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, could be employed. Unless otherwise noted, functional or other components shown in the figures and / or described herein as connected or in communication with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication therebetween.

[0255]

[0280] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components, as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0256]

[0281] A wireless communication system is one in which communications are carried wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but is configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device be dedicated to communication, or even primary thereto, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., includes at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0257]

[0282] Specific details are given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the example configurations (including implementations). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0258]

[0283] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as a signal). In many implementations, the processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0259]

[0284] Although some example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present disclosure. Also, some operations may be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0260]

[0285] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly less than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system.

Claims

1. a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; Memory, a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; A user equipment (UE) comprising: transmitting, via the transceiver to a network entity, a first on-demand request for a first positioning reference signal (PRS) resource of a first signal type based on reception by the UE of a first downlink reference signal (DL-RS) of the first signal type from the network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality; one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (non-RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or sending a second on-demand request to the network entity via the transceiver for a second PRS resource for RIS reflected signal forwarding between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RISs associated with a common base station; or Any combination of them A user equipment (UE) configured to:

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the first on-demand request, and the first PRS resource is a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource.

3. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send the second on-demand request, and the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource.

4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send the first on-demand request and the second on-demand request, the first PRS resource being a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, and the second PRS resource being a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource.

5. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the first on-demand request, and the first DL-RS is a path loss reference signal.

6. 11. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by the first RIS, and further based on a lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs distinct from the first RIS.

7. A method for facilitating position determination of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting a first on-demand request from the UE to a network entity for a first positioning reference signal (PRS) resource of a first signal type based on reception by the UE of a first downlink reference signal (DL-RS) of a first signal type from the network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality; one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (non-RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or sending a second on-demand request from the UE to the network entity for a second PRS resource for RIS reflected signal forwarding between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RISs associated with a common base station; or Any combination of them A method comprising:

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises transmitting the first on-demand request, the first PRS resource being a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting the second on-demand request, wherein the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting the first on-demand request and the second on-demand request, wherein the first PRS resource is a first downlink PRS resource or a first uplink PRS resource, and the second PRS resource is a second downlink PRS resource or a second uplink PRS resource.

11. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises transmitting the first on-demand request, and the first DL-RS is a path loss reference signal.

12. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: transmitting the second on-demand request based on reception by the UE of a third DL-RS having at least a third threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by the first RIS, and further based on a lack of reception of a fourth DL-RS having at least a fourth threshold quality from the network entity and reflected by a second RIS of the plurality of RISs that is distinct from the first RIS.

13. 1. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions causing a processor of a user equipment (UE) to: sending, to a network entity, a first on-demand request for a first positioning reference signal (PRS) resource of a first signal type based on reception by the UE of a first downlink reference signal (DL-RS) of the first signal type from the network entity having at least a first threshold quality and lack of reception of a second DL-RS of a second signal type from the network entity having at least a second threshold quality; one of the first signal type and the second signal type is for non-reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (non-RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE, and the other of the first signal type and the second signal type is for reconfigurable intelligent surface reflection (RIS-reflection) signal transfer between the network entity and the UE; or sending, to the network entity, a second on-demand request for a second PRS resource for RIS reflected signal forwarding between the network entity and the UE, the second on-demand request specifying a first RIS of a plurality of RISs associated with a common base station; or Any combination of them A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium that causes

14. 14. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the storage medium comprises processor readable instructions, the processor readable instructions causing the processor to perform a method according to any one of claims 8 to 12.

Images