Near-field / far-field determination of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) for mobile device positioning

Abstract

Techniques for determining reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure may comprise determining, for one or more RIS, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. The techniques may also comprise determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on measurements taken by the mobile device of a radio frequency (RF) signal reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS. The techniques may also comprise providing a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to determining the location or position of a mobile device using radio frequency (RF) signals. [Background technology]

[0002]

[0002] In wireless communication networks, the location of a mobile device may be determined by using the mobile device to measure RF signals transmitted by transmitting devices of the wireless communication network. New techniques are being developed for this type of determination to utilize reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), where the mobile device measures RF signals transmitted by one or more transmitting devices and reflected from one or more RISs. Using RISs in this way can improve the accuracy and / or availability of this type of network-based positioning of mobile devices.

[0003]

[0003] Measurements made by a mobile device to perform this type of network-based positioning typically assume that the mobile device is far enough away from the transmitting device and the RIS that near-field transmission effects do not apply. However, this is not always the case. For example, a RIS may be used indoors to improve wireless network coverage in a room or other relatively small area, so that the RIS may be in close proximity to the mobile device, in which case near-field effects may need to be considered. Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] An exemplary method for determining reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure comprises determining, for one or more RISs, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. The method also comprises conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, the positioning session including measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. The method also comprises determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device. The method also comprises providing a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0005]

[0005] An exemplary device for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure comprises a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The one or more processing units are configured to determine, for one or more RISs, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. The one or more processing units are also configured to perform a positioning session for the mobile device, the positioning session including measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. The one or more processing units are also configured to determine a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device. The one or more processing units are also configured to provide a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0006] Another exemplary device for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure comprises means for determining, for one or more RISs, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. The device also comprises means for conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, the positioning session including measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. The device also comprises means for determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device. The device also comprises means for providing a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0007]

[0007] An exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium according to the present disclosure stores instructions for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system. The instructions comprise code for determining, for one or more RISs, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. The instructions also comprise code for conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, the positioning session including measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. The instructions also comprise code for determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device. The instructions also comprise code for providing a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram of a positioning system, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2]

[0009] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning system illustrating one embodiment of a positioning system implemented within a 5G NR communication system (e.g., the positioning system of FIG. 1). [Diagram 3]

[0010] A simplified diagram of a positioning system configuration showing how user equipment (UE) positioning can be performed without the use of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). [Figure 4]

[0011] 1 is a simplified diagram of an arrangement in which positioning of a UE may be performed with the assistance of a RIS, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 5]

[0012] 1 is a call flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process for determining RIS operations for RIS-assisted position determination of a UE. [Figure 6] 1 is a call flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process for determining RIS operations for RIS-assisted position determination of a UE. [Figure 7]

[0013] 4 is a flow diagram of a method for determining RIS operations for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, according to one embodiment. [Figure 8]

[0014] 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a mobile device that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein. [Figure 9]

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system that may be utilized in the embodiments described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009]

[0016] The same reference numbers in various figures refer to the same elements according to some exemplary implementations. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by a first number of the element followed by a letter or a hyphen and a second number. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, it should be understood as any instance of the element (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).

[0010]

[0017] The following description is directed to several implementations for the purpose of describing the inventive aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein may be applied in many different ways. The described implementations may be implemented in a variety of ways, including systems utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or further implementations thereof, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Wi-Fi technology), Bluetooth standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Based Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B, EV-DO Rev C, EV-DO Rev D ... B, may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communications standard, such as High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals used to communicate within a wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0011]

[0018] As used herein, an "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave that transports information through space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath RF signal."

[0012]

[0019] 1 is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100, according to one embodiment, in which a user equipment (UE) 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 can use techniques provided herein to perform a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted position determination of the UE 105, and further to determine whether the UE 105 is within a near-field operating distance of one or more RISs. However, it can be noted that the techniques described herein are not necessarily limited to the positioning system 100. The techniques described herein can be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 can include a UE 105, one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS), a base station 120, an access point (AP) 130, a location server 160, a network 170, and an external client 180. Generally speaking, the positioning system 100 can estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or sent from the UE 105 and known locations of other components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130) that are transmitting and / or receiving the RF signals. Further details regarding specific location estimation techniques are discussed in more detail with respect to FIG.

[0013]

[0020] It should be noted that FIG. 1 provides only a generalized view of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be replicated as necessary. In particular, while only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include a greater or lesser number of base stations 120 and / or APs 130 than those shown in FIG. 1. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 comprise data and signaling connections that may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0014]

[0021] Depending on the desired functionality, the network 170 may comprise any of a variety of wireless and / or wireline networks. The network 170 may comprise any combination of, for example, public and / or private networks, local and / or wide area networks, and the like. Additionally, the network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, the network 170 may comprise, for example, a cellular or other mobile network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), and / or the Internet. Examples of the network 170 include a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network, a fifth generation (5G) wireless network (also referred to as a New Radio (NR) wireless network or a 5G NR wireless network), a Wi-Fi WLAN, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The network 170 may also include two or more networks and / or two or more types of networks.

[0015]

[0022] The base stations 120 and access points (APs) 130 are communicatively coupled to the network 170. In some embodiments, the base stations 120s may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described herein below. Depending on the technology of the network 170, the base stations 120 may comprise a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), a NR Node B (gNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. A base station 120 that is a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that may connect to a 5G core network (5GC) if the network 170 is a 5G network. The APs 130 may comprise, for example, a Wi-Fi AP or a Bluetooth AP. Thus, the UE 105 may send and receive information to and from a network-connected device, such as the location server 160, by accessing the network 170 via the base station 120 using the first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, the AP 130 may also be communicatively coupled to the network 170 so that the UE 105 may use the second communications link 135 to communicate with Internet-connected devices, including a location server 160 .

[0016]

[0023] The term "base station" as used herein may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at the base station 120. A transmit / receive point (TRP) (also known as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably with the terms "gNB", "ng-eNB", and "base station" herein. A physical transmission point may comprise an array of antennas of a base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or when the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may further refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-co-located physical transmission point may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE 105 and a neighboring base station in case the UE 105 is measuring a reference RF signal of the neighboring base station.

[0017]

[0024] The term "cell" as used herein may generally refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with base station 120 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 communications (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area over which a logical entity operates.

[0018]

[0025] The location server 160 may comprise a server and / or other computing devices configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location determination. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may comprise a Home SUPL Location Platform (H-SLP) that may support a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) User Plane (UP) location solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information of the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may comprise a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also comprise an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) that supports the location of the UE 105 using a Control Plane (CP) location solution for LTE radio access by the UE 105. The location server 160 may further comprise a location management function (LMF) that supports the location of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) location solution for NR radio access by the UE 105. In a CP location solution, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may be exchanged between elements of the network 170 and with the UE 105 using existing network interfaces and protocols, and as signaling from the perspective of the network 170. In a UP location solution, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data from the perspective of the network 170 (e.g., data transported using Internet Protocol (IP) and / or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0019]

[0026] As mentioned above (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated location of the UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals sent from and / or received by the UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information regarding the relative distance and / or angle of the UE 105 from one or more components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, AP 130, base station 120) in the positioning system 100. The estimated location of the UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angulation and / or multi-lateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known positions of the one or more components.

[0020]

[0027] Terrestrial components such as AP 130 and base station 120 may be fixed, although embodiments are not so limited. Mobile components may be used. Moreover, in some embodiments, the location of UE 105 is estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs (not shown in FIG. 1), which may be mobile. Such direct communication between UEs may comprise sidelink and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication techniques. Sidelink, as defined by 3GPP, is a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards.

[0021]

[0028] The estimated location of the UE 105 may be used in various applications, such as, for example, to assist a user of the UE 105 in direction finding or navigation, or to assist another user (e.g., associated with the external client 180) in locating the UE 105. "Location" may also be referred to herein as a "location estimate," "estimated location," "location," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated location," "location fix," or "fix." The process of determining a location may be referred to as a "positioning," "position determination," "location determination," or the like. The location of the UE 105 may comprise the absolute location of the UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude and possibly an altitude) or the relative location of the UE 105 (e.g., a location expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below from some other location, such as some other known fixed location, or the location of the UE 105 at some known prior time). The location may also be specified as a geodetic location (as latitude and longitude) or as a civic location (e.g., with a street address or using other location-related names and labels). The location may further include an uncertainty or error indication, such as the horizontal and possibly vertical distance by which the location is expected to be incorrect, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0022]

[0029] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., that may be accessed by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to some other user or users that may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as a friend or relative finder, asset tracking, or child or pet location). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain and provide the location of the UE 105 to an emergency service provider, a government agency, or the like.

[0023]

[0030] As previously mentioned, the exemplary positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network, such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network. 5G NR is a wireless RF interface undergoing standardization by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 5G NR is poised to provide improved capabilities over previous generation (LTE) technology, such as significantly faster and more responsive mobile broadband, improved conductivity through Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and more. In addition, 5G NR enables new positioning techniques for UEs, including Angle of Arrival (AoA) / Angle of Departure (AoD) positioning, UE-based positioning, and multi-cell round-trip signal propagation time (RTT) positioning. With regard to RTT positioning, this involves taking RTT measurements between the UE and multiple base stations.

[0024]

[0031] 2 illustrates a diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 illustrating one embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., positioning system 100) implementing 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may be configured to determine a location of a UE 105 by implementing one or more positioning methods using access nodes 210, 214, 216 (which may correspond to base stations 120 and access points 130 of FIG. 1) and (optionally) an LMF 220 (which may correspond to location server 160). Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 comprises a UE 105 and a constituent 5G NR network comprising a Next Generation (NG) Radio Access Network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G Core Network (5G CN) 240. The 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network, the NG-RAN 235 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN, and the 5G CN 240 may also be referred to as an NG Core Network. Standardization of NG-RAN and 5G CN is underway at 3GPP. Thus, NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 from a GNSS system, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or a similar system. Additional components of 5G NR positioning system 200 are described below. 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0025]

[0032] It should be noted that FIG. 2 provides only 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, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a greater (or lesser) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNBs 210, ng-eNBs 214, WLANs 216, access and mobility functions (AMFs) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 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.

[0026]

[0033] 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. Moreover, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, 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 using Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240), and the like. The UE 105 may also support wireless communications using a WLAN 216, which may connect to other networks, such as the Internet (as one or more RATs and as described above with respect to FIG. 1). Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 105 to communicate with external clients 230 (e.g., via elements of the 5G CN 240 not shown in FIG. 2, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) and / or enable the external clients 230 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 225).

[0027]

[0034] The UE 105 may include a single entity or multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O 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 geodetic 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 above or below ground level, 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 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 also be expressed as an area or volume (defined geodesically or in urban terms) 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 further be a relative location with distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin in a known location, which may be defined, for example, geodesically, in urban terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may include any of these variations unless otherwise specified. When calculating the location of a UE, it is customary to solve for local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates and then convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates if necessary (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude below or above mean sea level).

[0028]

[0035] The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 2 may correspond to the base stations 120 in FIG. 1 and may include NR NodeBs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generically referred to herein as gNBs 210) and / or antennas of the gNBs. Pairs of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., directly as shown in FIG. 2 or indirectly via other gNBs 210). Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 210, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5G CN 240 for the UE 105 using 5G NR. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) may act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location or as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0029]

[0036] The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 2 may also or instead include a next generation evolved node B 214, also referred to as an ng-eNB. The ng-eNB 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235, e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in FIG. 2 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs. It should be noted that while only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in FIG. 2, some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. The base stations 210, 214 may communicate directly with each other via an Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, the base stations 210, 214 may communicate indirectly via another component of the 5G NR positioning system 200, such as the LMF 220.

[0030]

[0037] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that may connect to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., in case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., AP 130 of FIG. 1). Here, the N3IWF 250 may connect to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access by the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 to one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. For example, the N3IWF 250 may support IPSec tunnel establishment with the UE 105, termination of IKEv2 / IPSec protocols with the UE 105, termination of N2 and N3 interfaces to the 5G CN 240 for the control plane and user plane, respectively, relaying uplink and downlink control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE 105 and the AMF 215 via the N1 interface. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may directly connect to an element in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., the AMF 215 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2) without going through the N3IWF 250, for example, if the WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN for the 5G CN 240. Note that while only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG. 2, some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216.

[0031]

[0038] An access node may comprise any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. This may include a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, a WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, an access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include entities that enable communication to any of a variety of RATs not shown in FIG. 2, which may include non-cellular technologies. Thus, the term "access node" as used in the embodiments described herein below may include, but is not necessarily limited to, a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, or a WLAN 216.

[0032]

[0039] In some embodiments, an access node such as the gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216 (alone or in combination with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to take measurements (e.g., measurements of the UE 105) for one of the multiple RATs and / or obtain measurements from the UE 105 that are forwarded to the access node using one or more of the multiple RATs in response to receiving a request from the LMF 220 for location information for the multiple RATs. As mentioned, although FIG. 2 illustrates the access nodes 210, 214, and 216 configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using a WCDMA protocol for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using an LTE protocol for an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or Bluetooth Beacons using a Bluetooth protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an E-UTRAN, which may comprise a base station with an eNB supporting LTE wireless access. The core network of the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may then comprise an E-UTRAN+EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 235 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GCN 240 of FIG. 2. The methods and techniques described herein for UE 105 positioning using a general or generic positioning procedure may be applicable to such other networks as well.

[0033]

[0040] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 may communicate with an AMF 215, which communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functions. The AMF 215 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers of the UE 105 from a first RAT access node 210, 214, or 216 to a second RAT access node 210, 214, or 216. The AMF 215 may also be responsible for supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, and may support position procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Aided GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (sometimes referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), ECID, Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN positioning, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process location service requests for the UE 105, for example, received from the AMF 215 or the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may also be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). In some embodiments, a node / system implementing the LMF 220 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Service Location Protocol (SLP).It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functionality (including determining the location of the UE) may be performed in the UE 105 (e.g., by processing downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214 and / or the WLAN 216 and / or using assistance data provided to the UE 105, e.g., by the LMF 220).

[0034]

[0041] The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 to be forwarded by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220 or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 220. A location response from the LMF 220 (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225 directly or via the AMF 215, which may then return a location response (e.g., including a location estimate) to the external client 230. Although the GMLC 225 is shown connected to both the AMF 215 and the LMF 220 in FIG. 2, in some implementations, only one of these connections may be supported by the 5G CN 240.

[0035]

[0042] As further shown in FIG. 2, the LMF 220 may communicate with the gNB 210 and / or the ng-eNB 214 using an LPPa protocol (which may also be referred to as NRPPa or NPPa). The LPPa protocol in NR may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPPa protocol in LTE (related to the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)), and LPPa messages are transferred between the gNB 210 and the LMF 220 and / or between the ng-eNB 214 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215. As further shown in FIG. 2, the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LPP protocol. The LMF 220 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using the LPP protocol (which in NR may also be referred to as NRPP or NPP). Here, the LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the serving gNB 210-1 or serving ng-eNB 214 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or LPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using service-based operation messages (e.g., based on HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)) and between the AMF 215 and the UE 105 using 5G NAS protocols. The LPP and / or LPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based position methods, such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, and / or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID). The LPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based location methods such as ECID (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214) and / or may be used by the LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from the gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0036]

[0043] In the case of UE 105 access to WLAN 216, LMF 220 may use LPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for UE 105 access to gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, LPPa messages may be forwarded between WLAN 216 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 and N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of UE 105 and / or forwarding of other location information from WLAN 216 to LMF 220. Alternatively, LPPa messages may be forwarded between N3IWF 250 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements known to or accessible to N3IWF 250 and forwarded from N3IWF 250 to LMF 220 using LPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215, the N3IWF 250, and the serving WLAN 216 for the UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of the UE 105 by the LMF 220.

[0037]

[0044] With the UE-assisted position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 220) for calculation of a location estimate of the UE 105. The location measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), RTT, reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), time of arrival (ToA), AoA, differential AoA (DAoA), AoD, or timing advance (TA) of one or more access points for the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, and / or the WLAN 216. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of a RAT-independent positioning method, such as GNSS (e.g., GNSS pseudorange, GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase of the GNSS satellites 110), WLAN, etc. With a UE-based location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (which may be the same or similar to the location measurements of a UE-assisted location method, for example) and may further calculate a location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the aid of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 220 or broadcast by the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, or the WLAN 216). With a network-based location method, one or more base stations (e.g., the gNB 210 and / or the ng-eNB 214), one or more APs (e.g., in the WLAN 216), or the N3IWF 250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AoA, or ToA measurements) of signals transmitted by the UE 105 and / or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105 or, in the case of the N3IWF 250, by an AP in the WLAN 216 and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 220) for calculation of a location estimate of the UE 105.

[0038]

[0045] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, some location measurements (e.g., AoA, AoD, ToA) taken by the UE 105 may use RF signals (reference signals) received from the base stations 210 and 214. These signals may comprise PRS, which may be used, for example, to perform TDOA, AoD, and RTT-based positioning of the UE 105. Other reference signals that may be used for positioning may include cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), synchronization signals (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization signals (SS)), etc. Moreover, signals may be transmitted in Tx beams (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which may affect angle measurements such as AoD.

[0039]

[0046] FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of a positioning system configuration showing how positioning of the UE 105 can be performed without using a RIS. Unlabeled arrows represent communication links. Communication between the UE 105 and the location server 160 can be performed via one or more of the base stations 120 or via another communication link (not shown) between the UE 105 and the network 170. Here, each base station 120 (which may correspond to the gNB 210 and / or the ng-eNB 214 of FIG. 2) transmits a respective RF signal 310, which is measured by the UE 105. The location server 160 can determine the type of positioning to be performed (e.g., OTDOA, AoD, RTT, etc.) and, via communication with the base stations 120 and the UE 105, coordinate the transmission of the RF signal 310 by the base stations 120 and the measurement of the RF signal 310 by the UE 105. The type of measurement performed by the UE 105 can vary depending on the type of positioning to be performed. Using measurements of the RF signals 310 taken by the UE 105 and the known locations of the base stations 120, the location of the UE 105 can be determined geometrically, for example using multilateration and / or multi-angulation techniques. As mentioned above, in UE-assisted positioning, this determination may be made by the location server 160, in which case the measurements may be provided to the location server 160 by the UE 105. In UE-based positioning, this determination may be made by the UE 105.

[0040]

[0047] 4 is a simplified diagram of an arrangement in which positioning of a UE 105 may be performed with the aid of a RIS 425, according to one embodiment. (Herein, "RIS-assisted" positioning of a UE 105 refers to positioning of the UE 105 using a RIS 425.) Similar to the arrangement of FIG. 3, a location server 160 coordinates positioning of the UE 105 through the use of transmissions of RF signals 410 by the base stations 120 and measurements of these signals by the UE 105. However, here an obstruction 415 is located between a first base station 120-1 and the UE 105. Because of this, the UE 105 may essentially be in the "blind spot" of the base station 120-1, such that signals transmitted by the base station 120-1 cannot reach the UE 105. However, the RIS 425 can help mitigate problems resulting from the obstruction 450.

[0041]

[0048] RIS (sometimes called software-controlled metasurfaces, intelligent reflective surfaces, or reconfigurable reflective arrays / metasurfaces) have gained recent attention in wireless communication applications as a means to enable propagation paths for RF signals around obstructions. While the RIS 425 may be a passive device, it may comprise an array and thus redirect RF signals using beamforming. As such, the RIS 425 may enable the wireless coverage of the base station 120 (or more broadly, the wireless network of the base station 120) to be extended to areas that would otherwise be unreachable. The RIS 425 may do this by redirecting wireless signals towards the UE 105 in real time using software-controlled reflection / scattering profiles. Additionally or alternatively, the RIS 425 may act as a repeater by receiving signals transmitted by the base station 120-1 and sending them towards the UE 105. (As used herein, "direct," "redirect," "reflect," and similar terms when referring to the functionality of the RIS 425 may refer to the reflecting and / or repeating functionality of the RIS.) The functionality of the RIS 425 may be controlled by the base station 120-1 using a control channel, although alternative embodiments may allow the location server 160 and / or the UE 105 to control the RIS 425. In either case, this adds a controllable path to the channel between the base station 120-1 and the UE 105, which is useful in environments with severe obstructions 415. Thus, for positioning purposes, an RF signal 410-1 may be transmitted to the RIS 425, which allows the UE 105 to measure the reflected RF signal 420. With various positioning techniques, positioning of the UE 105 may be performed using a process similar to that in the configuration of FIG. 3, but with additional information regarding the location of the RIS 425.

[0042]

[0049] It may be noted that the configuration shown in FIG. 4 is provided merely as an example. In other configurations, multiple obstructions may be present and multiple RISs may be used to facilitate communication with and / or positioning of the UE 105. Moreover, according to some embodiments, positioning using the RIS 425 may also be performed in the absence of obstructions 415. That is, the beamforming capabilities and antenna sensitivity of the RIS 425 may be advantageous for accurate positioning of the UE 105. Thus, the RIS 425 may be used to position the UE 105 even in the absence of obstructions 415 that would otherwise block the RF signal transmitted by the base station 120-1 from reaching the UE 105.

[0043]

[0050] As previously indicated, positioning of the UE 105 (e.g., using the configurations shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4) typically assumes that the UE 105 is operating within a far-field operating distance from the base station 120 and the RIS 425. And while this may typically be the case for most base stations 120, this is not always the case for the RIS 425. As mentioned, the RIS may often be used in buildings to reflect signals into rooms or other relatively small indoor areas. Moreover, given typical dimensions of the RIS and the operating 5G NR frequency, the boundary between the near-field operating distance and the far-field operating distance of the RIS may be, for example, between 10 m and 20 m. Thus, a UE 105 in a room or other indoor area served by a RIS may be within the near-field operating distance of the RIS.

[0044]

[0051] For antennas or antenna arrays larger than half the wavelength of the emitted radio waves, the near and far fields may be defined in terms of the Fraunhofer distance as follows:

[0045]

number

[0046] where D is the maximum dimension of the radiator (or the diameter of the antenna or antenna array) and λ is the wavelength of the radio wave (e.g., the carrier frequency of the transmitted RF signal). If the receiving device (e.g., UE 105) is located less than the Fraunhofer distance from the antenna or antenna array (e.g., base station 120 or RIS 425 reflecting the RF signal), the receiving device may be considered to be within the near-field operating distance of the antenna or antenna array. Otherwise, the receiving device is considered to be in the far-field operating distance.

[0047]

[0052] In a near-field scenario, the RF signal wavefront arriving at the receiving device has a curvature. This therefore allows different measurements to be taken for the purpose of positioning the UE 105. For example, based at least in part on the curvature, unique coordinates of the UE 105 can be determined. However, in a far-field scenario, the wavefront does not have a curvature, and therefore traditional measurements (e.g., TDOA, RTT, AoD, and AoA) may be used in this case.

[0048]

[0053] The UE 105 may be capable of taking near-field measurements, far-field measurements, or both. Thus, whether the RIS 425 can be used to position the UE 105 depends not only on whether the UE 105 is within the near-field or far-field operating distance of the RIS 425, but also on the capability of the UE 105 to take near-field or far-field measurements.

[0049]

[0054] Embodiments herein address these and other problems by identifying whether a UE is within a near-field operating distance of one or more RISs, determining the UE's capabilities and (optionally) preferences for near-field and / or far-field operation, and performing RIS-assisted positioning of the UE based on this information. This can be applied to both UE-based and UE-assisted positioning. Embodiments are described below and illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

[0050]

[0055] FIG. 5 is a call flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a process for determining RIS operations for RIS-assisted position determination of a UE. As with other figures provided herein, FIG. 5 is provided as a non-limiting example. As discussed in more detail below, alternative embodiments may perform some functions in a different order, simultaneously, etc. It may be noted that the arrows between the UE 105 and the location server 160 in FIG. 5 indicate messages or information sent from one component to another. Additionally (although not explicitly shown in FIG. 5), these communications between the location server 160 and the UE 105 may occur through any number of intervening components, which may include computer servers, base stations, RIS, and / or other components or devices of a wireless communication network. As previously mentioned, communications between the UE 105 and the location server 160 in a 5G NR network may utilize the LPP protocol.

[0051]

[0056] The process illustrated in FIG. 5 may comprise UE-assisted positioning of the UE 105. Thus, the process may begin at block 505, where the location server 160 receives a position request. As mentioned, the position request received by the location server 160 may comprise a request from an external client 180 or from an external client or the AF 230. The location server 160 may then initiate a positioning session with the UE 105, as indicated by arrow 510. As part of the exchange between the location server 160 and the UE 105, the UE 105 may provide its capabilities and optionally preferences with respect to near-field and far-field operation. This may be in response to a request by the location server 160 for capabilities (and optionally preferences).

[0052]

[0057] The manner in which the UE provides its capabilities may vary depending on the desired functionality. Since far-field functionality has been supported by legacy positioning systems, according to some embodiments, the UE's capability for far-field operation may be assumed. In such embodiments, the UE 105 may simply indicate whether the UE 105 can perform near-field measurements or positioning. However, in other embodiments, the UE 105 may indicate its capabilities for either or both near-field and far-field operation.

[0053]

[0058] Regarding preferences, if the UE 105 is capable of both near-field and far-field measurements, the UE 105 may provide a preferred positioning mode to indicate whether it prefers near-field or far-field measurements under some circumstances. For example, if multiple RISs are available for positioning and the UE is at near-field operating distance from some RISs and far-field operating distance from other RISs, positioning may be performed based on the UE preferences. For example, near-field measurements may result in greater power savings, but the fewer RISs available for measurements, the less accurate the position estimate for the UE 105 may be. On the other hand, far-field measurements may have higher accuracy / more available RISs, but also higher power consumption. Thus, for a given positioning session, the UE 105 may indicate its preference based on a desired balance between accuracy and power consumption.

[0054]

[0059] This indication can be dynamic, since the UE 105 may be operated in different scenarios. For example, the UE 105 may change its preferred positioning mode to save power. In such cases, the UE may not be required to continue ongoing positioning measurements / reports. Thus, the preference indication can be sent by the UE 105 as an early termination of some scheduled reference signal transmissions and associated measurement reports. According to some embodiments, this can be signaled through the Downlink Control Information (DCI) or the Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE).

[0055]

[0060] At block 515, the function comprises obtaining a UE position estimate used to identify a nearby RIS. The manner in which the UE position estimate is obtained may vary depending on various factors. According to some embodiments, for example, the location server 160 may have a recent position estimate for the UE, in which case the recent position estimate may be sufficient. For example, if the recent position estimate was received within a threshold time period (e.g., 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.), the location server 160 may consider the recent position estimate sufficient for determining a nearby RIS. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the location server 160 may request the UE position (as shown by arrow 520) from the UE, and the UE may determine its position, as shown in block 525. Here, when the UE 105 determines its position, the determined position may be using a non-RIS-assisted technique, such as GNSS-based positioning, legacy network-based positioning, positioning based in part on inertial measurement unit (IMU) or similar motion detection.

[0056]

[0061] Once the UE position estimate is obtained, location server 160 can then identify nearby RISs, as shown in block 530. According to some embodiments, the locations of RISs used in the coverage area supported by location server 160 may be stored by location server 160 in a database, almanac, or the like. Thus, location server 160 can identify nearby RISs simply by identifying RISs within a threshold distance of the UE position estimate.

[0057]

[0062] Location server 160 then determines, for each identified RIS, whether the UE is located in a near field or a far field, at block 535. According to some embodiments, the UE may be assumed to be in a far-field operating distance from each RIS unless the UE is determined to be within the Fraunhofer distance of the RIS (e.g., as determined by equation (1)).

[0058]

[0063] As mentioned, this determination may depend on the size of the RIS and the carrier frequency of the RF signal used to position the UE 105. Thus, the location server 160 may make this determination based on known information regarding the size of the RIS (which may be maintained in the same manner and / or in the same database as the location of the RIS). In addition, the location server 160 may determine the carrier frequency at which the base station transmits the RF signal (e.g., PRS signal) to determine the Fraunhofer distance.

[0059]

[0064] As indicated by arrow 540, the location server may then send assistance data including RIS information to the UE 105, where the RIS information is based on the UE capabilities and, optionally, preferences. This assistance data may include, for example, a RIS ID and location for each RIS that will be used in the positioning of the UE 105. Additionally, the assistance data may indicate whether the UE 105 is in a near-field or far-field operating distance from each RIS. To reduce signaling overhead, a group-wise indication may be made as to whether the RIS is near-field or far-field. This may enable the UE 105 to measure the RF signal reflected by each RIS in an appropriate manner by taking near-field or far-field measurements. Additionally or alternatively, as previously described, the location server 160 may choose to provide assistance data for only a subset of the RISs based on the preferences provided by the UE 105 at arrow 510. If the UE is only capable of taking far-field measurements, then according to some embodiments the location server 160 may only provide assistance data for the RIS where the UE 105 is at a far-field operating distance. Similarly, if the UE is only capable of taking near-field measurements, then according to some embodiments the location server 160 may only provide assistance data for the RIS where the UE 105 is at a near-field operating distance.

[0060]

[0065] At block 545, the location server can coordinate RF signal measurements / transmissions. This may comprise configuring one or more base stations (not shown) to transmit RF signals (e.g., PRS) for positioning, providing one or more RISs (not shown) with information regarding the location of the UE 105 so that the RISs can direct RF signals toward the UE 105, and / or providing the UE 105 with information regarding when to perform measurements of the RF signals (e.g., by sending a measurement configuration at arrow 550). According to some embodiments, the configuration sent at arrow 550 may be combined with the assistance data provided to the UE 105 at arrow 540.

[0061]

[0066] At block 555, the UE 105 measures RF signals reflected from one or more RISs for which the UE 105 received assistance data. Again, the type of measurements made may depend on the type of positioning (e.g., ToA-based, RTT-based, AoD-based, etc.), whether the UE 105 is within a near-field operating distance from the RIS from which the measured RF signal was reflected, and / or other factors. These measurements may then be provided in a report to the location server 160, as indicated by arrow 560.

[0062]

[0067] Finally, at block 565, location server 160 may determine a RIS-aided location of UE 105 based at least in part on the measurements received in the measurement report at arrow 560. Again, this determination may be further based on known locations for base stations and / or the RIS using positioning techniques such as multilateration or multiangulation. Location server 160 may further provide the RIS-aided UE location, for example, to a requesting entity (e.g., the entity making the location request at block 505).

[0063]

[0068] It may be noted that variations to the process shown in FIG. 5 may be made depending on the scenario. For example, if the location server 160 is unable to obtain sufficient UE position estimates at block 515 to determine whether the UE 105 is within a near-field operating distance from each of one or more RISs (e.g., the location server 160 does not have a previous UE position estimate taken within a threshold amount of time), the location server 160 may provide information about the one or more RISs to the UE 105 to enable the UE 105 to determine whether the UE is within a near-field operating distance from each of one or more RISs. According to some embodiments, for example, the location server may obtain a rough location of the UE 105 based on a previous position estimate (e.g., taken more than a threshold amount of time ago), an identification and known location of the serving base station of the UE 105, etc. Based on this rough location, the location server may identify nearby RISs (e.g., within a threshold distance, in the same cell served by the serving base station, etc.) and provide information about the RISs to enable the UE 105 to determine whether the UE is within a near-field operating distance from each of one or more RISs. Similar functionality is shown in FIG. 6, which illustrates the process for UE-based positioning.

[0064]

[0069] 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process for determining RIS operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a UE, similar to FIG. 5. However, here, the position determination is performed by the UE 105, and thus, the RIS-assisted position determination may be considered UE-based. As such, the process may begin at block 605, where the UE 105 receives a position request. Here, the position request received by the UE 105 may comprise a request from a user of the UE 105, a request from an application executed by the UE 105 (e.g., a web browser, a navigation application, a positioning application, etc.), and the like.

[0065]

[0070] The UE 105 may then initiate a positioning session with the location server 160, as indicated by arrow 610. According to some embodiments, the UE may provide some indication of capabilities or preferences, similar to the process of FIG.

[0066]

[0071] At block 615, the location server 160 obtains a UE position estimate that is used to identify a nearby RIS. Because the location server 160 has not made a near-field / far-field determination regarding the location of the UE 105 relative to the RIS, the location does not need to be as accurate as the location of block 515 of FIG. 5. That is, as discussed above, the location server 160 may obtain a rough estimate of the location of the UE 105 based on a previous position estimate (e.g., taken more than a threshold amount of time ago), the identity and known location of the serving base station of the UE 105, and so on. Optionally, as shown, the location server 160 may request the location of the UE 105 as indicated by arrow 620, and the UE 105 may provide a UE position estimate, which may involve determining the UE position as indicated by block 625. Because high accuracy may not be required at this point, the UE 105 may determine an accuracy level for the location estimate to provide to the location server. This accuracy level may be tailored, for example, to privacy settings or other preferences of the user of the UE 105.

[0067]

[0072] At block 630, the function comprises identifying a nearby RIS. Again, since the near-field / far-field determination is made by the UE 105 and not the location server 160, the function at block 630 may simply be to determine a RIS within a threshold distance of the UE's position estimate, the threshold distance being a distance that may allow the RIS to be used in far-field operations. Alternatively, as previously discussed, the RIS may be identified based on being located within or near a cell served by the serving base station of the UE 105.

[0068]

[0073] The location server 160 then sends assistance data for the identified RISs to the UE 105, as shown at block 635. Here, the assistance data includes information that enables the UE 105 to determine whether the UE is within the near-field or far-field operating distance of each RIS. For example, the assistance data may include, for each RIS, an identifier (ID), a location, and / or a diameter or maximum dimension of the RIS. In some embodiments, the assistance data may further include a carrier wavelength that may be used by a base station to transmit an RF signal for positioning of the UE 105. This information may enable the UE 105 to determine a Fraunhofer distance for each RIS. Alternatively, the location server 160 may determine a Fraunhofer distance for each RIS and include the Fraunhofer distance in the assistance data to the UE. In either case, the UE may use the assistance data to determine whether the UE is within the near-field or far-field operating distance of each RIS. By providing this information to the UE 105 and enabling the UE 105 to make the near-field / far-field determination, the process shown in Figure 6 can enable the UE 105 to preserve the privacy of the UE's location, since the location server 160 would only be able to obtain a rough location approximation for the UE position estimate (at block 615).

[0069]

[0074] Once the near-field / far-field determination is made at block 640, the UE 105 may then report which RISs are near-field and which are far-field, as indicated by arrow 645. At block 650, the location server 160 may then coordinate RF signal measurements / transmissions in a manner similar to the process previously described with respect to block 545 in FIG. 5. That is, based on the UE capabilities and optional preferences, the location server 160 may coordinate RF signal transmissions and measurements using the RISs according to the UE 105 capabilities and preferences. This process may include the location server 160 sending a measurement configuration to the UE 105, as indicated by arrow 655. Alternatively, according to some embodiments, the UE 105 may report near-field / far-field status for a subset of the RISs based on the UE capabilities / preferences. For example, if the UE 105 is unable to form near-field measurements, the UE 105 may report only those RISs for which the UE is at a far-field operating distance and exclude those RISs for which the UE is at a near-field operating distance.

[0070]

[0075] At block 660, the function comprises the UE 105 measuring RF signals reflected from one or more RISs per configuration provided by the location server 160. The function of this block may be similar to the function of block 555 of FIG. 5 previously described. However, rather than reporting measurement data back to the location server 160, the process of FIG. 6 comprises the UE 105 determining a RIS-assisted UE location, as shown in block 665. According to some embodiments, the UE 105 may then provide the RIS-assisted UE location to the location server 160 (e.g., from a lower functional layer of the UE 105 that makes the determination at block 665), a user of the UE 105, an application executed by the UE 105, or the like.

[0071]

[0076] Figure 7 is a flow diagram of a method 700 for determining a RIS operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, according to one embodiment. Means for performing the functions illustrated in one or more of the blocks illustrated in Figure 7 may be implemented by hardware and / or software components of a mobile device (e.g., UE 105) or a computer system (e.g., location server 160). Example components of a mobile device are illustrated in Figure 8 and example components of a computer system are illustrated in Figure 9, which are described in more detail below.

[0072]

[0077] At block 710, the function comprises determining, for one or more RISs, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on the determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and the relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS. As illustrated in the processes shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, this determination can be performed by the UE or a location server, depending, for example, on whether the positioning of the UE is UE-based or UE-assisted. As described in more detail below, the function at block 710 may vary depending on the device performing the function. Means for performing the function at block 710 may comprise, for example, a bus 805, a processing unit 810, a digital signal processor (DSP) 820, a wireless communication interface 830, a memory 860, and / or other components of a mobile device as shown in FIG. 8, or a bus 905, a processing unit 910, a communication subsystem 930, a working memory 935, and / or other components of a computer system as shown in FIG. 9.

[0073]

[0078] At block 715, the function comprises performing a positioning session for the mobile device, where (i) the positioning session includes measurements made by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one of the one or more RISs, and (ii) the measurements taken by the mobile device are based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of each of the at least one of the one or more RISs. The manner in which the positioning session is performed at block 715 may depend on whether the function of block 715 is performed by the mobile device or by a location server. In the case of a location server, performing the positioning session may comprise coordinating RF signal measurements / transmissions, as shown in block 545 of FIG. 5 and block 650 of FIG. 6. In the case of a mobile device, performing the positioning session may comprise taking measurements of RF signals reflected from at least one RIS, as shown in block 555 of FIG. 5 and block 660 of FIG. 6. The type of measurement taken by the mobile device may be a near-field measurement or a far-field measurement depending on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of at least one of the one or more RISs. Thus, the measurement taken by the mobile device is based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of at least one of the one or more RISs. The means for performing the functions in block 715 may comprise, for example, a bus 805, a processing unit 810, a digital signal processor (DSP) 820, a wireless communication interface 830, a memory 860, and / or other components of a mobile device as shown in FIG. 8, or a bus 905, a processing unit 910, a communication subsystem 930, a working memory 935, and / or other components of a computer system as shown in FIG. 9.

[0074]

[0079] At block 720, the function comprises determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on measurements taken by the mobile device of RF signals reflected from at least one of the one or more RISs. As previously mentioned, the types of measurements taken may comprise ToA, power delay profile, etc., and may depend on the type of positioning (e.g., TDOA-based, RTT-based, or AoD-based positioning). Moreover, the UE's ability to make these measurements on RF signals reflected from the RIS may depend on whether the UE is within a near-field or far-field operating distance of the RIS and whether the UE is capable of making near-field and / or far-field measurements. Means for performing the function at block 720 may comprise, for example, a bus 805, a processing unit 810, a DSP 820, a wireless communication interface 830, a memory 860, and / or other components of a mobile device as shown in FIG. 8, or a bus 905, a processing unit 910, a communication subsystem 930, a working memory 935, and / or other components of a computer system as shown in FIG. 9.

[0075]

[0080] At block 730, the function comprises providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device. For embodiments in which method 700 is implemented by a mobile device, providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device may comprise providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device or to an application executed by the mobile device. For embodiments in which method 700 is implemented by a location server, method 700 may further comprise receiving a request from a requesting entity for a location of the mobile device, and providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device may comprise providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to the requesting entity. Means for performing the function at block 730 may comprise, for example, a bus 805, a processing unit 810, a DSP 820, a wireless communication interface 830, a memory 860, and / or other components of a mobile device as shown in FIG. 8, or a bus 905, a processing unit 910, a communication subsystem 930, a working memory 935, and / or other components of a computer system as shown in FIG. 9.

[0076]

[0081] As mentioned, alternative embodiments of method 700 may include additional features, which may depend on whether method 700 is performed by a mobile device or by a computer system in communication with the mobile device that functions as a location server. For example, for an embodiment in which method 700 is performed by a computer system in communication with the mobile device, determining the RIS-assisted position may comprise receiving at the computer system measurements taken by the mobile device. As shown in block 515 of FIG. 5, for example, in such an embodiment, method 700 may further comprise obtaining an initial position estimate of the mobile device, the initial position estimate being received from the mobile device or determined from a previous position determination of the mobile device. As shown in block 530 of FIG. 5, method 700 may further comprise identifying one or more RISs by the computer system, and identifying the one or more RISs comprises determining that the one or more RISs are within a threshold distance of the initial position estimate of the mobile device. Additionally or alternatively, as shown in block 535 of Figure 5, method 700 may further comprise, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining, by the computer system, a relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS based on the initial position estimate of the mobile device and a location of the respective RIS, and determining, by the computer system, whether the mobile device is within the near-field operating distance of the respective RIS based at least in part on the near-field operating distance of the respective RIS and the determined relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS. Some embodiments of method 700 may further comprise receiving, by the computer system, an indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements for RIS-assisted position determination of the mobile device, and sending the assistance data from the computer system to the mobile device.The assistance data may comprise information regarding at least one RIS of the one or more RIS, where the at least one RIS may be determined based at least in part on an indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements. According to some embodiments, for each RIS of the at least one RIS, the assistance data may comprise an ID of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, an indication indicating whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the respective RIS, or any combination thereof. Finally, according to some embodiments, the method 700 may further comprise receiving, by the computer system, an indication indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements, where the at least one RIS is further determined based at least in part on the preference.

[0077]

[0082] For embodiments in which method 700 is performed by a mobile device, different functions may be implemented. For example, according to some embodiments, the mobile device may determine a relative distance between the mobile device and at least one RIS based at least in part on an RF signal transmitted by the mobile device and reflected from the at least one RIS. Additionally or alternatively, method 700 may comprise receiving assistance data from a computer system, the assistance data comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, an ID of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, a diameter or maximum dimension of the respective RIS, a carrier wavelength, or a Fraunhofer distance of the RIS, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments of method 700 may further comprise, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on the assistance data. In such embodiments, the mobile device may determine a relative distance between the mobile device and at least one RIS based at least in part on an initial position estimate of the mobile device, which may be determined using a GNSS receiver of the mobile device, an IMU of the mobile device, or a wireless network-based positioning technique that does not use one or more RIS, or any combination thereof. Finally, according to some embodiments, the method 700 may further comprise sending an indication from the mobile device to the computer system indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements.

[0078]

[0083] FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a mobile device 800 that may be utilized as the UE 105 or mobile device described above herein (e.g., in conjunction with FIGS. 1-7). For example, the mobile device 800 may perform one or more of the functions of the methods illustrated in FIG. 7. It should be noted that FIG. 8 is intended only to provide a generalized view of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the functions of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be performed by one or more of the hardware and / or software components illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0079]

[0084] The mobile device 800 is shown with hardware elements that may be electrically coupled (or in other communication, as appropriate) via a bus 805. The hardware elements may include a processing unit 810, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or means. As shown in FIG. 8, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 820 depending on the desired functionality. Location determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processing unit 810 and / or the wireless communication interface 830 (discussed below). The mobile device 800 may also include one or more input devices 870, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc., and one or more output devices 815, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0080]

[0085] The mobile device 800 may also include a wireless communication interface 830, which may comprise, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, a WAN device, and / or various cellular devices), etc., that may enable the mobile device 800 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 830 may enable data and signaling to be communicated (e.g., transmitted and received) with base stations / TRPs of a network (including, for example, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs), access points, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices (such as UEs / mobile devices) communicatively coupled to the base stations / TRPs, as described herein. The communication may occur via one or more wireless communication antennas 832 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 834. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 832 may comprise multiple individual antennas, an antenna array, or any combination thereof.

[0081]

[0086] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 830 may comprise separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers, for communicating with base stations / TRPs (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers such as wireless devices and access points. The mobile device 800 may communicate with various data networks, which may comprise various network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, etc. The CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000, WCDMA, etc. CDMA2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. The TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. The OFDMA network may employ LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G NR, etc. 5G NR, LTE, LTE Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. CDMA2000 is described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project X3" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. The wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and the wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0082]

[0087] The mobile device 800 may further include sensors 840. The sensors 840 may comprise, without limitation, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain positional measurements and / or other information.

[0083]

[0088] An embodiment of the mobile device 800 may also include a GNSS receiver 880 capable of receiving signals 884 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 882 (which may be similar to antenna 832). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be utilized to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 880 may extract a position of the mobile device 800 using conventional techniques from GNSS satellites 110 of a GNSS system, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), etc. Moreover, the GNSS receiver 880 may be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, Wide Area Augmentation Systems (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation Systems (MSAS), and Geo-Augmented Navigation Systems (GAGAN).

[0084]

[0089] It may be noted that although the GNSS receiver 880 is shown as a separate component in FIG. 8, the embodiments are not so limited. The term “GNSS receiver” as used herein may comprise hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). In some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may thus comprise a measurement engine executed (as software) by one or more processing units, such as the processing unit 810, the DSP 820, and / or a processing unit (e.g., in a modem) within the wireless communication interface 830. The GNSS receiver may also include a positioning engine, which in some cases may use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the position of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processing units, such as the processing unit 810 or the DSP 820.

[0085]

[0090] The mobile device 800 may further include and / or be in communication with memory 860. Memory 860 may include local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices, such as, but not limited to, random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0086]

[0091] The memory 860 of the mobile device 800 may also comprise software elements (not shown in FIG. 8 ) including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code such as one or more application programs that may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or that may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in the memory 860 executable by the mobile device 800 (and / or the processing unit 810 or DSP 820 within the mobile device 800). In one aspect, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0087]

[0092] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system 900 that may be used in whole or in part to provide the functionality of one or more network components (e.g., location server 160 of FIGS. 1 and 3-6, or LMF of FIG. 2) described in the embodiments herein. For example, computer system 900 may perform one or more of the functions of the method illustrated in FIG. 7. It should be noted that FIG. 9 is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, and any or all of these components may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 9 thus broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separated or more relatively integrated manner. In addition, it may be noted that the components illustrated by FIG. 9 may be localized in a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be disposed in different geographic locations.

[0088]

[0093] A computer system 900 is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled (or in other suitable communication) via a bus 905. The hardware elements may include a processing unit 910, which may comprise, but is not limited to, one or more general purpose processors, one or more special purpose processors (digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, etc.), and / or other processing structures that may be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. The computer system 900 may also comprise one or more input devices 915, which may comprise, but is not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, etc., and one or more output devices 920, which may comprise, but is not limited to, a display device, printer, etc.

[0089]

[0094] Computer system 900 may further include (and / or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 925, which may comprise, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage and / or solid-state storage devices, such as, but not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc. Such data stores may include databases and / or other data structures used to store and manage messages and / or other information to be sent to one or more devices via the hub, as described herein.

[0090]

[0095] The computer system 900 may also include a communication subsystem 930, which may comprise wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 933, as well as wired technologies (Ethernet, coaxial communication, Universal Serial Bus (USB), etc.). The wireless communication interface 933 may comprise one or more wireless transceivers that may transmit and receive wireless signals 955 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 950. Thus, the communication subsystem 930 may comprise a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset, etc., that may enable the computer system 900 to communicate over any or all of the communication networks described herein to any device on the respective network, including UEs / mobile devices, base stations and / or other TRPs, and / or any other electronic device described herein. Thus, the communication subsystem 930 may be used to receive and transmit data as described in the embodiments herein.

[0091]

[0096] In many embodiments, the computer system 900 further comprises a working memory 935, which may comprise a RAM or ROM device, as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 935 may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments, as described herein, and / or may comprise other code, such as an operating system 940, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more applications 945, which may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions executable by a computer (and / or a processing unit within a computer), in one aspect, where such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the methods described.

[0092]

[0097] A set of these instructions and / or code may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as storage device 925 described above. In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 900. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., a removable medium such as an optical disk) and / or may be provided in an installation package such that the storage medium may be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer with the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that is executable by computer system 900 and / or may take the form of source code and / or installable code that takes the form of executable code when compiled and / or installed on computer system 900 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installation programs, compression / decompression utilities, etc.).

[0093]

[0098] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made according to particular requirements. For example, customized hardware may be used and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connection to other computing devices, such as network I / O devices, may be employed.

[0094]

[0099] With respect to the accompanying figures, components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable media" and "computer-readable media" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processing unit and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or transport such instructions / code. In many implementations, the computer-readable media 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. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with a pattern of holes, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), flash EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0095]

[0100] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Various aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Various components of the diagrams provided herein may be implemented in hardware and / or software. Also, because technology evolves, many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scope of the disclosure to those particular examples.

[0096]

[0101] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise indicated, and as is clear from the above discussion, it should be appreciated that throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "calculating," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "associating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to acts or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of this specification, therefore, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are commonly represented as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0097]

[0102] The terms "and" and "or" as used herein may include a variety of meanings that are also expected to depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. In general, "or," when used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, used herein in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, used herein in an exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe any combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term "at least one of," when used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0098]

[0103] Although several embodiments have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may only be components of a larger system, where other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Also, some steps may be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0099]

[0104] In view of this description, embodiments may include various combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0100] Clause 1. A method for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining, for one or more RIS, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, where the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; and providing a determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0101] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the method is performed by a computer system in communication with the mobile device, and conducting the positioning session comprises receiving at the computer system measurements taken by the mobile device.

[0102] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, further comprising obtaining an initial position estimate for the mobile device, the initial position estimate being received from the mobile device or determined from a previous position determination of the mobile device.

[0103] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, further comprising identifying, by the computer system, one or more RIS, wherein identifying the one or more RIS comprises determining that the one or more RIS are within a threshold distance of an initial position estimate of the mobile device.

[0104] Clause 5. The method of clause 3 or 4, further comprising: for each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining, by the computer system, a relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS based on an initial position estimate of the mobile device and a location of the respective RIS; and determining, by the computer system, whether the mobile device is within the near field operating distance of the respective RIS based at least in part on the near field operating distance of the respective RIS and the determined relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS.

[0105] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 3-5, further comprising receiving, by the computer system, an indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements for RIS-assisted position determination of the mobile device, and sending assistance data from the computer system to the mobile device, the assistance data comprising information regarding at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the at least one RIS being determined at least in part based on the indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements.

[0106] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein, for each RIS of the at least one RIS, the assistance data comprises an identifier (ID) of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, an indication of whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the respective RIS, or any combination thereof.

[0107] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, further comprising receiving, by the computer system, an indication of a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements, wherein the at least one RIS is further determined based at least in part on the preference.

[0108] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 7 or 8, further comprising receiving a request from a requesting entity for a location of the mobile device, and wherein providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device comprises providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to the requesting entity.

[0109] Clause 10. The method of clause 1 implemented by a mobile device.

[0110] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the mobile device determines a relative distance between the mobile device and the at least one RIS based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the mobile device and reflected from the at least one RIS.

[0111] Clause 12. The method of clause 10 or 11, further comprising receiving assistance data from the computer system, the assistance data comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, an identifier (ID) of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, a diameter or maximum dimension of the respective RIS, a carrier wavelength, or a Fraunhofer distance of the RIS, or any combination thereof.

[0112] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 10-12, further comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0113] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 10-13, wherein the mobile device determines a relative distance between the mobile device and at least one RIS based at least in part on an initial position estimate of the mobile device, the initial position estimate of the mobile device being determined using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver of the mobile device, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) of the mobile device, or a wireless network-based positioning technique that does not use the one or more RISs, or any combination thereof.

[0114] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising sending an indication from the mobile device to the computer system indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements.

[0115] Clause 16. The method of clause 10, wherein providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device comprises providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device or to an application executed by the mobile device.

[0116] Clause 17. A device for determining a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, comprising: a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the one or more processing units configured to: determine, for one or more RIS, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; perform a positioning session for the mobile device, where the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; determine a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; and provide the determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0117] Clause 18. The device of clause 17, comprising a computer system in communication with the mobile device, the one or more processing units being configured to receive, via the transceiver, measurements taken by the mobile device in order to conduct a positioning session.

[0118] Clause 19. The device of clause 18, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to obtain an initial position estimate for the mobile device, either receiving the initial position estimate from the mobile device or determining the initial position estimate from a previous position determination of the mobile device.

[0119] Clause 20. The device of clause 19, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to identify one or more RIS, and wherein, for identifying the one or more RIS, the one or more processing units are configured to determine that the one or more RIS are within a threshold distance of an initial position estimate of the mobile device.

[0120] Clause 21. The device of clause 19 or 20, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to: determine, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, a relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS based on an initial position estimate of the mobile device and a location of the respective RIS; and determine whether the mobile device is within the near field operating distance of the respective RIS based at least in part on the near field operating distance of the respective RIS and the determined relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS.

[0121] Clause 22. The device of any of clauses 19-21, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to receive, via the transceiver, an indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements for RIS-assisted position determination of the mobile device, and to send assistance data from the computer system to the mobile device via the transceiver, wherein the assistance data comprises information regarding at least one RIS of the one or more RISs, the at least one RIS being determined at least in part based on the indication indicating whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements.

[0122] Clause 23. The device of clause 22, wherein, for each RIS of the at least one RIS, the assistance data comprises an identifier (ID) of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, an indication of whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the respective RIS, or any combination thereof.

[0123] Clause 24. The device of clause 23, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to receive, via the transceiver, an indication indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements, and wherein the at least one RIS is further determined based at least in part on the preference.

[0124] Clause 25. The device of either clause 23 or 24, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to receive a request from a requesting entity for a location of the mobile device, and wherein the one or more processing units are configured to provide the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to the requesting entity, to provide the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device.

[0125] Clause 26. A device according to clause 17 comprising a mobile device.

[0126] Clause 27. The device of clause 26, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine a relative distance between the mobile device and the at least one RIS based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the mobile device and reflected from the at least one RIS.

[0127] Clause 28. The device of clause 26 or 27, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to receive assistance data from the computer system via the transceiver, the assistance data comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, an identifier (ID) of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, a diameter or maximum dimension of the respective RIS, a carrier wavelength, or a Fraunhofer distance of the RIS, or any combination thereof.

[0128] Clause 29. The device of any of clauses 26-28, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0129] Clause 30. The device of any of clauses 26-29, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine a relative distance between the mobile device and at least one RIS based at least in part on an initial position estimate of the mobile device, and wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine the initial position estimate of the mobile device using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver of the mobile device, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) of the mobile device, or a wireless network-based positioning technique that does not use the one or more RISs, or any combination thereof.

[0130] Clause 31. The device of clause 30, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to send an indication to the computer system via the transceiver indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements.

[0131] Clause 32. The device of clause 26, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to provide the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device or to an application executed by the mobile device, in order to provide the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device.

[0132] Clause 33. A device for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for determining, for one or more RIS, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; means for conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, where the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; means for determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; and means for providing the determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

[0133] Clause 34. The device of clause 33, comprising a computer system in communication with the mobile device, and wherein the means for conducting a positioning session comprises means for receiving at the computer system measurements taken by the mobile device.

[0134] Clause 35. The device of clause 34, further comprising means for obtaining an initial position estimate for the mobile device, the initial position estimate being received from the mobile device or determined from a previous position determination of the mobile device.

[0135] Clause 36. The device of clause 35, further comprising means for identifying one or more RIS by the computer system, wherein the means for identifying one or more RIS comprises means for determining that the one or more RIS are within a threshold distance of an initial position estimate of the mobile device.

[0136] Clause 37. The device of clause 35 or 36, further comprising: for each RIS of the one or more RIS, means for determining a relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS based on an initial position estimate of the mobile device and a location of the respective RIS; and means for determining whether the mobile device is within the near field operating distance of the respective RIS based at least in part on the near field operating distance of the respective RIS and the determined relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS.

[0137] Clause 38. Any device of clauses 35 to 37 comprising a mobile device.

[0138] Clause 39. The device of clause 38, further comprising means for receiving assistance data from the computer system, the assistance data comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, an identifier (ID) of the respective RIS, a location of the respective RIS, a diameter or maximum dimension of the respective RIS, a carrier wavelength, or a Fraunhofer distance of the RIS, or any combination thereof.

[0139] Clause 40. The device of clause 39, further comprising means for determining a relative distance between the mobile device and at least one RIS based at least in part on an initial position estimate of the mobile device, wherein the initial position estimate of the mobile device is determined using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver of the mobile device, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) of the mobile device, or a wireless network-based positioning technique that does not use one or more RISs, or any combination thereof.

[0140] Clause 41. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, the instructions comprising: code for determining, for one or more RIS, whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on a determined near-field operating distance of the RIS and a relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; code for conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, where the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS, the measurements taken by the mobile device being based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a respective near-field operating distance of the at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; code for determining a RIS-assisted position of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; and code for providing the determined RIS-assisted position of the mobile device.

Claims

1. 1. A method for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, comprising: For one or more RISs, the determined near-field operating distance of the RIS; and the relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; determining whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, wherein: the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; the measurements taken by the mobile device are based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of each of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. determining a RIS-assisted location of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device; and A method for providing the above.

2. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a computer system in communication with the mobile device, and wherein conducting the positioning session comprises receiving at the computer system the measurements taken by the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising obtaining an initial position estimate for the mobile device, the initial position estimate being received from the mobile device or determined from a previous position fix for the mobile device.

4. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising identifying, by the computer system, the one or more RISs, wherein identifying the one or more RISs comprises determining that the one or more RISs are within a threshold distance of the initial position estimate of the mobile device.

5. For each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining, by a computer system, the relative distance between the mobile device and each of the RISs based on the initial position estimate of the mobile device and the location of each of the RISs; determining, by a computer system, whether the mobile device is within the near-field operating distance of the respective RIS based at least in part on the near-field operating distance of the respective RIS and the determined relative distance between the mobile device and the respective RIS; The method of claim 3 further comprising:

6. receiving, by the computer system, an indication of whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements for the RIS-assisted position determination of the mobile device; Sending assistance data from the computer system to the mobile device; Further equipped with the assistance data comprises information regarding the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs; the at least one RIS is determined based at least in part on the indication of whether the mobile device is capable of taking near-field RF signal measurements. The method according to claim 5.

7. For each RIS of the at least one RIS, the assistance data comprises: an identifier (ID) for each said RIS; the location of each said RIS; an indication of whether the mobile device is within the near-field operating distance of the respective RIS; or Any combination of these, The method of claim 6 comprising:

8. receiving, by the computer system, an indication of a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements; The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one RIS is further determined based at least in part on the preferences.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a request for a location of the mobile device from a requesting entity. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device comprises providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device to the requesting entity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mobile device determines the relative distance between the mobile device and the at least one RIS based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the mobile device and reflected from the at least one RIS.

12. and receiving assistance data from a computer system, the assistance data comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS: an identifier (ID) for each said RIS; the location of each said RIS; the diameter or maximum dimension of each of said RIS; Carrier wavelength, or the Fraunhofer distance of the RIS, or Any combination of these, and preferably further comprising, for each RIS of the one or more RIS, determining the near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on the assistance data.

13. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending an indication from the mobile device to a computer system indicating a preference of the mobile device for taking near-field RF signal measurements.

14. 1. A device for determining a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, comprising: A transceiver; Memory, one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; wherein the one or more processing units are For one or more RISs, the determined near-field operating distance of the RIS; and the relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; and determining whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, wherein: the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; the measurements taken by the mobile device are based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of each of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. determining a RIS-assisted location of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device; and A device configured to:

15. 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for determining a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operation for RIS-assisted position determination of a mobile device in a wireless communication system, the instructions comprising: For one or more RISs, the determined near-field operating distance of the RIS; and the relative distance between the mobile device and the RIS; and code for determining whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of the RIS based at least in part on code for conducting a positioning session for the mobile device, the positioning session includes measurements taken by the mobile device of radio frequency (RF) signals reflected from at least one RIS of the one or more RIS; the measurements taken by the mobile device are based at least in part on whether the mobile device is within a near-field operating distance of each of the at least one RIS of the one or more RISs. code for determining a RIS-assisted location of the mobile device based on the measurements taken by the mobile device; code for providing the determined RIS-assisted location of the mobile device; 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

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