Sidelink user equipment identification and positioning

Abstract

Techniques are provided for utilizing a sidelink discovery interface to determine a location of a user equipment (UE). An example method for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, determining measurements for the one or more reference signals, receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station, and obtaining a location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]

[0001] This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Greek Patent Application No. 20210100172, entitled "SIDELINK USER EQUIPMENT IDENTIFICATION POSITIONING," filed on March 18, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification. [Background technology]

[0002]

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), and fifth generation (5G) server (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Access (GSM) variations of TDMA, and the like.

[0003]

[0003] It is often desirable to know the location of a user equipment (UE), e.g., a cellular phone, and the terms "location" and "position" are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein. A location service (LCS) client may desire to know the location of the UE and may communicate with a location center to request the location of the UE. The location center and the UE may exchange messages accordingly to obtain a location estimate for the UE. The location center may return the location estimate to the LCS client, for example, for use in one or more applications.

[0004] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating a friend or family member, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices including satellite vehicles and terrestrial radio sources in the wireless network such as base stations and access points. Furthermore, the capabilities of the UE may differ and the positioning method may be based on the capabilities of the device. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] An example method for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, determining measurement values ​​for the one or more reference signals, receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station, and obtaining a location based at least in part on the measurement values ​​and the discovery signal.

[0006]

[0006] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first radio access technology may be a cellular communication network, and the second radio access technology may be a device-to-device communication interface. The cellular communication network may be a long term evolution network or a fifth generation new radio network, and the device-to-device communication interface may be a PC5 interface. The identification value may be a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the station, or an international mobile equipment identity value. The measurements may include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time. The measurements may include a beam identification value associated with at least one of the one or more reference signals, or a base station identification value. The identification value and the measurements associated with the station may be transmitted to a network server, whereby obtaining the location may include receiving the location from the network server. The identification value and the measurements associated with the station may be transmitted in a single message.The method may include receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via a second radio access technology, determining sidelink measurement values ​​for the one or more sidelink reference signals, and obtaining a location based at least in part on the sidelink measurement values. Assistance data may be received from a network server, and obtaining the location may be based at least in part on the measurements, the discovery signal, and the assistance data. The assistance data may include a location of the station and a range class associated with the station.

[0007]

[0007] An example method for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device via a second radio access technology, different from the first radio access technology, determining a station location for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values, and determining a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the station location.

[0008]

[0008] An implementation of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first radio access technology may be a cellular communication network, and the second radio access technology may be a device-to-device communication interface. The cellular communication network may be a long-term evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface may be a PC5 interface. The one or more neighbor identification values ​​may include a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the station, or an international mobile equipment identity value. The one or more reference signal measurements may include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round-trip signal propagation time. The one or more reference signal measurements may include a beam identification value associated with at least one of the signals transmitted via the first radio access technology, or a base station identification value. The one or more reference signal measurements and the one or more neighbor identification values ​​may be received in a single message. The method may include receiving one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via a second radio access technology and determining a location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements. Assistance data may be provided to the mobile device, whereby the assistance data includes location information for one or more neighboring stations.

[0009]

[0009] An example method for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station via a sidelink, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, and obtaining a location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0010]

[0010] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: Receiving assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, whereby obtaining a location is based at least in part on the assistance data; The assistance data may include a range class associated with the at least one neighboring station; The identification information may include a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, or an international mobile equipment identity value; The identification value may be a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station; Sending the identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station to a network server, whereby obtaining a location may include receiving a location from the network server; Obtaining one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighboring station, whereby the one or more sidelink measurements may include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time. Transmitting an identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network station over a sidelink, thereby obtaining a location, may include receiving the location from the network station over the sidelink. The at least one neighbor station may be a user equipment, and the discovery signal may be received over the sidelink. The sidelink may be a PC5 interface. The at least one neighbor station may be a base station, and the discovery signal may be received over a Uu interface.

[0011]

[0011] An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receive one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, determine measurements for the one or more reference signals, receive a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station, and obtain a location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0012] Implementations of such an apparatus may include one or more of the following features: The at least one processor may be further configured to transmit an identification value associated with the station and the measurements to a network server, whereby obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network server. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology, determine sidelink measurements for the one or more sidelink reference signals, and obtain the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurements.

[0013]

[0013] An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receive one or more reference signal measurements from a mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; receive one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device via a second radio access technology that is different from the first radio access technology; determine a station location for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values; and determine a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the station location.

[0014] Implementations of such an apparatus may include one or more of the following features: The at least one processor may be further configured to receive one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology, and determine a location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements.

[0015]

[0015] An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to receive a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, and obtain a location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0016]

[0016] Implementations of such an apparatus may include one or more of the following features: The at least one processor may be further configured to receive assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, where obtaining a location is based at least in part on the assistance data. The assistance data may include a range class associated with the at least one neighboring station. The identification information may include a sidelink sequence identification value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the at least one neighboring station. The identification value may be a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station. The at least one processor may be further configured to obtain one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighboring station, whereby the one or more sidelink measurements may include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time. The at least one processor may be further configured to transmit, via the sidelink, to the network station an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, whereby obtaining a location may include receiving, via the sidelink, from the network station a location. At least one of the neighboring stations may be a user equipment and the discovery signal is received via a sidelink, which may be a PC5 interface. At least one of the neighboring stations may be a base station and the discovery signal may be received via a Uu interface.

[0017]

[0017] An example apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes means for receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, means for determining measurement values ​​for the one or more reference signals, means for receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station, and means for obtaining a location based at least in part on the measurement values ​​and the discovery signal.

[0018]

[0018] An example apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes means for receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted via a first radio access technology, means for receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device via a second radio access technology that is different from the first radio access technology, means for determining a station location for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values, and means for determining a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the station location.

[0019]

[0019] An apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes means for receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, and means for obtaining a location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0020]

[0020] An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes code for receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first wireless access technology, code for determining measurements for the one or more reference signals, code for receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second wireless access technology different from the first wireless access technology, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station, and code for obtaining a location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0021]

[0021] An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes code for receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted via a first wireless access technology, code for receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device via a second wireless access technology, different from the first wireless access technology, code for determining a station location for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values, and code for determining a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the station location.

[0022]

[0022] An exemplary non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device according to the present disclosure includes code for receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, where the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station, and code for obtaining a location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0023]

[0023] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not described: The mobile device may utilize terrestrial or satellite navigation techniques to obtain a position estimate. The position calculation may provide ambiguous results. The mobile device may utilize a sidelink interface to detect neighboring stations. The neighboring stations may be at known locations. The mobile device may utilize a sidelink discovery process to obtain identification information for the neighboring stations. The identification information may be used to determine the location of the neighboring stations. For example, a network server may include a data structure including the locations of the neighboring stations and associated identifications for those stations. The mobile device may be configured to determine a coarse position based on the locations of the detected neighboring stations. The locations of the detected neighboring stations may be used to reduce ambiguity in a position estimate for the mobile device. The mobile device may be configured to obtain measurements on signals transmitted from the neighboring stations. The measurements may be used to reduce ambiguity in the position estimate. Other capabilities may be provided, and not all implementations according to this disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of the described capabilities. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system. [Diagram 2]

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. [Diagram 3]

[0026] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. [Figure 4]

[0027] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary server shown in FIG. [Diagram 5]

[0028] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example technique for determining a position of a mobile device using information obtained from multiple base stations. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example technique for determining a position of a mobile device using information obtained from multiple base stations. [Figure 7A]

[0029] FIG. 7A is a diagram of positioning errors associated with non-line-of-sight signal measurements. [Figure 7B]

[0030] FIG. 7B is a diagram of potential positioning errors associated with the enhanced cell identification positioning method. [Figure 8A]

[0031] FIG. 8A is a diagram of an example sidelink interface for discovery. [Figure 8B] FIG. 8B is a diagram of an example sidelink interface for discovery. [Figure 9A]

[0032] FIG. 9A is an example use case diagram for sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 9B] FIG. 9B is an example use case diagram for sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 9C]FIG. 9C is an example use case diagram for sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 10A]

[0033] FIG. 10A is an example message flow for simultaneous reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 10B]

[0034] FIG. 10B is an example message flow for sequential reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 10C]

[0035] FIG. 10C is an example message flow including device-to-device messaging for reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning. [Figure 11]

[0036] FIG. 11 is a block flow diagram of an exemplary method performed in a user equipment for determining position based on reference signals and sidelink user equipment identity information. [Figure 12]

[0037] FIG. 12 is a block flow diagram of an exemplary method performed in a location server for determining position based on sidelink user equipment identity information. [Figure 13]

[0038] FIG. 13 is a block flow diagram of an exemplary method performed in a user equipment for determining position based on sidelink user equipment identity information. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025]

[0039] Techniques for utilizing a sidelink discovery interface to determine a location of a user equipment (UE) are described herein. In general, sidelink communication includes an operating mode for enabling device-to-device communication between two or more UEs. Sidelink modes may be supported when the UE is in coverage of a network (e.g., communicating with a network base station) and when the UE is out of coverage area. In one example, the UE may be in coverage of a network and may utilize a reference signal transmitted by a network base station (e.g., a cell) to determine a position. Network-based positioning techniques, such as round trip time (RTT) measurements, time of arrival (ToA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), and cell identification methods, may be used to determine the position of the UE. In one example, the UE may utilize a sidelink discovery process to determine neighboring stations, whose locations may be used to reduce ambiguity in the network-based position estimate. For example, the UE may be configured to obtain identification information of neighboring stations via a sidelink discovery process and then provide the identification information to a location server. The location server may utilize the locations of the neighboring stations and other reference signal measurement information obtained by the UE to determine the location of the UE. The locations of the neighboring stations may also be used to determine a coarse position of the UE. For example, the location of the UE may be based on an intersection of sidelink coverage areas associated with multiple neighboring stations. These techniques and configurations are examples and other techniques and configurations may be used.

[0026]

[0040] 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a radio access network (RAN) 135, here a fifth generation (5G) Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN), and a 5G Core Network (5GC) 140. The UE 105 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracking device, a cellular phone, or other device. The 5G network may be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG Core Network (NGC). rd In the 5G Generation Partnership Project (5GPP), standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is underway. Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, for example, a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou, or some other local or regional SPS, such as an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a European Geostationary Satellite Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communications system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0027]

[0041] 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR Node Bs (gNBs) 110a, 110b, and a next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and are each configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and are each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may act as an initial point of contact for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) for creating, controlling, and deleting media sessions.

[0028]

[0042] FIG. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, each of which may be duplicated or omitted as desired. Specifically, while one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communications system 100. Similarly, the communications system 100 may include a greater (or lesser) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 illustrated), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communications system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Additionally, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0029]

[0043] 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (for 5G technology and / or one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure the directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate a location for the UE 105 at a location-capable device, such as the UE 105, gNBs 110a, 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurement quantities received at the UE 105 for such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and in various embodiments may each be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions.

[0030]

[0044] The UE 105 may be referred to as and / or comprise a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a secure user plane location (SUPL)-enabled terminal (SET), or by some other name. Additionally, the UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an asset tracker, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. As used herein, the term station may include a base station, a mobile station, or other device configured to communicate over a wireless or wired network. Typically, but not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using, for example, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 105 to communicate with an external client 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or, in some cases, via the GMLC 125) and / or may enable the external client 130 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0031]

[0045] The UE 105 may include multiple entities or may include a single entity, such as in a personal area network where a user may use audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors, and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of the location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and provides location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) for the UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., elevation, height or depth above ground, floor, 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 within a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in a city format) where the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location, for example, comprising a distance and a direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin in the known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in city terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then convert the local coordinates, if necessary, to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0032]

[0046] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported with any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmission / reception point (TRP), such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from a base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication occurs between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0033]

[0047] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communication access to the 5G C 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110a, but if the UE 105 moves to another location, another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may function as the serving gNB or as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0034]

[0048] 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that may transmit signals to assist in determining the position of the UE 105, but cannot receive signals from the UE 105 or signals from other UEs.

[0035]

[0049] The BSs (e.g., gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114) may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector in a cell of the BS may comprise a TRP, but the multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 may include a macro TRP, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, e.g., macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs, etc. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A Femto TRP or Home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (eg, a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by a terminal having an association with the femto cell (eg, a terminal for a user at home).

[0036]

[0050] As mentioned, while FIG. 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), which may comprise base stations comprising evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN plus EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140 of FIG. 1.

[0037]

[0051] The gNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNBs 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which communicates with the LMF 120 for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and, in some cases, data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, for example, through wireless communication. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Extended Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105, for example, received from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or to the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). A node / system that implements the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP).At least a portion of the positioning function (including derivation of the location of UE105) may be performed at the UE105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNB110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB114, and / or assistance data provided to the UE105, e.g., by the LMF120).

[0038]

[0052] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location request directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125, either directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return a location response (e.g., including a location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations, one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0039]

[0053] As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, with NRPPa messages being transferred between the gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and the LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also, or instead, communicate using a New Radio Positioning Protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based position methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNBs 110a, 110b or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114.

[0040]

[0054] In a UE-assisted position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a round trip signal propagation time (RTT), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNBs 114, and / or WLAN APs. The location measurements may also, or instead, include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0041]

[0055] In a UE-based position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to the location measurements for the UE-assisted position method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, or other base station or AP).

[0042]

[0056] In a network-based position method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (TOA) measurements for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0043]

[0057] The information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using the NRPPa may include location coordinates and timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages.

[0044]

[0058] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other position method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0045]

[0059] As mentioned, the communication system 100 is described in the context of 5G technology, however, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., used to support and interact with a mobile device, such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1) in the 5GC 150. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use an LPPa instead of an NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use an LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using a directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for a 5G network, with the difference that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may, in some cases, instead be applied to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0046]

[0060] As mentioned, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality may be implemented, at least in part, using directional SS beams sent by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) that are within range of a UE (e.g., UE 105 of FIG. 1) whose position is to be determined. The UE may, in some instances, use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.) to calculate the UE's position.

[0047]

[0061] 2, UE 200 is an example of UE 105 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position (motion) device 219. The processor 210, memory 211, the sensor(s) 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the position (motion) device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., camera 218, position (motion) device 219, and / or one or more of sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Processor 210 may comprise multiple processors, including general purpose / application processor 230, digital signal processor (DSP) 231, modem processor 232, video processor 233, and / or sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, sensor processor 234 may comprise a processor for, e.g., RF (radio frequency) sensing (wherein one or more cellular wireless signals are transmitted and reflection(s) are used to identify, map, and / or track objects), ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs).For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Distinguish Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of UE 200 for connectivity. Memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 210 to perform these functions. Although the description may refer to processor 210 performing certain functions, this includes other implementations, such as when processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to processor 210 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more of processors 230-234 performing that function. The description may refer to UE 200 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing that function. Processor 210 may include memory having stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is described more fully below.

[0048]

[0062] 2 is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Another example configuration includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensor(s) 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PMD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0049]

[0063] The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the general purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0050]

[0064] The UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 270, one or more magnetometers 271, and / or one or more environmental sensors 272. The IMU 270 may comprise one or more inertial sensors, for example, one or more accelerometers 273 (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes 274. The magnetometer(s) may provide measurements to determine an orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north) that may be used for any of a variety of purposes, for example, to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensor(s) 272 may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or general-purpose processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0051]

[0065] The sensor(s) 213 may be used in relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-aided location determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful in determining whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether certain useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 should be reported to the LMF 120. For example, based on information acquired / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report a relative displacement / distance (e.g., by dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-aided location determination enabled by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, a sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0052]

[0066] The IMU 270 may be configured to provide measurements on the direction of motion and / or the speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used in the relative location determination. For example, the one or more accelerometers 273 and / or one or more gyroscopes 274 of the IMU 270 may detect the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of the motion of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction and displacement of the motion may be integrated to track the location of the UE 200. For example, a reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometer(s) 273 and gyroscope(s) 274 obtained after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

[0053]

[0067] The magnetometer(s) 271 may determine magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) 271 may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. Also, or alternatively, the magnetometer(s) 271 may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) 271 may provide a means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0054]

[0068] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a transmitter 242 and a receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Devices), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Telecommunications System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The New Radio may use mmWave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies.The wired transceiver 250 may include a transmitter 252 and a receiver 254 configured for wired communication with, for example, the NG-RAN 135, for sending communications to and receiving communications from, for example, the gNB 110a. The transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0055]

[0069] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touch screen, and the like. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general purpose processor 230 in response to an action from the user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, such as, for example, speakers, microphones, digital-to-analog circuits, analog-to-digital circuits, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuits (including more than one of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally, or alternatively, user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touch screen of user interface 216.

[0056]

[0070] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signals 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the wireless signals 260 into wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signals 260, in whole or in part, to estimate the location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized with the SPS receiver 217 to process the acquired SPS signals, in whole or in part, and / or to calculate the estimated location of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals captured from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general purpose processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special purpose processors and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing the measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0057]

[0071] The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or video images. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Additionally or alternatively, a video processor 233 may condition, encode, compress, and / or manipulate signals representing the captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data, for example, for presentation on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 216.

[0058]

[0072] A position (motion) device (PMD) 219 may be configured to determine the position and possibly the motion of the UE 200. For example, the PMD 219 may be in communication with and / or include some or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PMD 219 may also, or alternatively, be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using terrestrial-based signals (e.g., at least some of the signals 248) for trilateration, to aid in the acquisition and use of the SPS signals 260, or both. The PMD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's position beacon)) to determine the location of the UE 200, and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PMD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense the orientation and / or motion of the UE 200 and provide an indication thereof that may be configured for use by the processor 210 (e.g., the general purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231) to determine the motion (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PMD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of the PMD 219 may be provided in various ways and / or configurations, for example, by the general purpose / application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 262, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0059]

[0073] 3, an example of a TRP 300 of a gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114 comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, the memory 311, the transceiver 315, and the SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (e.g., may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., the wireless interface and / or the SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The SPS receiver 317 may be configured to be capable of receiving and capturing an SPS signal 360 via an SPS antenna 362, similar to the SPS receiver 217. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform these functions when compiled and executed, for example. Although the description may refer to the processor 310 performing certain functions, this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware.The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more suitable components of the TRP 300 (and thus one of the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114) performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memory having stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is described more fully below.

[0060]

[0074] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a transmitter 342 and a receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Devices), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Telecommunications System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a transmitter 352 and a receiver 354 configured for wired communication with, for example, the network 140, for example, to send communications to and receive communications from the LMF 120.The transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0061]

[0075] 3 is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein describes the TRP 300 as configured to perform or performing several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0062]

[0076] 4, an example of the LMF 120 comprises a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to one another by a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless interface) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform those functions. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, which includes other implementations, such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 performing the function. The description may refer to the server 400 (or LMF 120) performing a function as a shorthand for one or more suitable components of the server 400 (e.g., LMF 120) performing the function.The processor 410 may include memory having stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411. The functionality of the processor 410 is described more fully below.

[0063]

[0077] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a transmitter 442 and a receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals 448. Thus, the transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Devices), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Telecommunications System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a transmitter 452 and a receiver 454 configured for wired communication with the NG-RAN 135, for example, to send communications to and receive communications from the TRP 300.The transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0064]

[0078] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also, or alternatively, although the description herein describes the server 400 as being configured to perform or performing certain functions, one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0065]

[0079] One or more of many different techniques may be used to determine a position estimate of an entity, such as the UE 105, 200. For example, known position determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Extended Cell Identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the range between two entities. This range, plus the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities, may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to multiple other entities (e.g., TRPs) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and other entities may be used to determine the relative range from the other entities, which may be used in combination with the known locations of the other entities to determine the location of the one entity. The angle of arrival and / or angle of departure may be used to help determine the location of the entities. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal, combined with the range between the devices (e.g., determined using the signal, the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices, may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction, such as due north. The angle of arrival or departure may be a zenith angle, directly upward from the entity (i.e., radially outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the receive time and transmit time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of signals at the UE from the base station or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the arrival times at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known locations of the sources and the known offsets in the transmit times from the sources, are used to determine the location of the receiving device. In one example, these and other position determination techniques may be supplemented by the Sidelink UE Identification (SL-UEID) technique described herein.

[0066]

[0080] Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary wireless communication system 500 is illustrated. In the example of FIG. 5, a UE 504, which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, is attempting to determine an estimate of its position or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third party application, etc.) in determining an estimate of its position. The UE 504 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3, which may correspond to any combination of the base stations described herein, using RF signals and a standardized protocol for modulation of the RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 500 (e.g., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 504 may determine or assist in determining its position in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 504 may specify its position using a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate system, although the features disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining position using a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while Figure 5 illustrates one UE 504 and three base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3, it will be understood that there may be more UEs 504 and more or fewer base stations.

[0067]

[0081] To support position estimation, base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 may be configured to broadcast positioning reference signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.) to UEs within their coverage areas to allow UEs 504 to measure characteristics of such reference signals. For example, the Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning method is a multilateration method in which UEs 504 measure time differences, known as reference signal time differences (RSTD), between particular reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by different pairs of network nodes (e.g., base stations, base station antennas, etc.) and either report these time differences to a location server such as server 400 (e.g., LMF 120) or calculate a location estimate itself from these time differences.

[0068]

[0082] In general, RSTD is measured between a reference network node (e.g., base station 502-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and one or more neighbor network nodes (e.g., base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. 5). The reference network node remains the same for all RSTDs measured by the UE 504 for any single positioning use of OTDOA and will typically correspond to the serving cell for the UE 504 or another nearby cell that has good signal strength at the UE 504. In one aspect, if the measured network node is a cell supported by a base station, the neighbor network node is typically a cell supported by a different base station than the base station for the reference cell and may have good or poor signal strength at the UE 504. The location calculation may be based on the measured time difference (e.g., RSTD) and knowledge of the network node locations and relative transmission timing (e.g., regarding whether the network nodes are precisely synchronized or whether each network node transmits with some known time difference relative to the other network nodes).

[0069]

[0083] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) may provide the UE 504 with OTDOA assistance data for a reference network node (e.g., base station 502-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and neighbor network nodes to the reference network node (e.g., base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. 5). For example, the assistance data may provide a center channel frequency for each network node, various reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity of positioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier (ID), reference signal bandwidth), network node global ID, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA. The OTDOA assistance data may indicate the serving cell for the UE 504 as the reference network node.

[0070]

[0084] In some cases, the OTDOA assistance data may also include an "expected RSTD" parameter, which provides the UE 504 with information about the RSTD value that the UE 504 is expected to measure at its current location between the reference network node and each neighbor network node, along with the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD, along with the associated uncertainty, may define a search window for the UE 504 in which the UE 504 is expected to measure the RSTD value. The OTDOA assistance information may also include a reference signal configuration information parameter, which enables the UE 504 to determine when reference signal positioning occasions occur for signals received from various neighbor network nodes relative to a reference signal positioning occasion for the reference network node, and to determine reference signal sequences transmitted from various network nodes to measure the time of arrival (ToA) or RSTD of the signal.

[0071]

[0085] In one aspect, a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) may send the assistance data to the UE 504, but alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the network nodes (e.g., base stations 502) themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). Alternatively, the UE 504 may detect neighbor network nodes itself without using assistance data.

[0072]

[0086] The UE 504 may measure and (optionally) report the RSTD between reference signals received from pairs of network nodes (e.g., based in part on assistance data, if provided). Using the RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, and the known position(s) of the transmit antenna for the reference and neighboring network nodes, the network (e.g., server 400, LMF 120, base station 502) or UE 504 may estimate the position of the UE 504. More specifically, the RSTD for neighbor network node "k" relative to reference network node "Ref" may be given as (ToAk-ToARef), where the ToA values ​​may be measured modulo one subframe duration (1 ms) to remove the effects of measuring different subframes at different times. In the example of FIG. 5, the measured time differences between the reference cell of base station 502-1 and the cells of neighboring base stations 502-2 and 502-3 are represented as τ2-τ1 and τ3-τ1, where τ1, τ2, and τ3 represent the ToA of the reference signal from the transmit antenna(s) of base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3, respectively. The UE 504 may then convert the ToA measurements for different network nodes into RSTD measurements and (optionally) send them to the location server 400 / LMF 120. Using (i) the RSTD measurements, (ii) the known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, (iii) the known position(s) of the physical transmit antenna(s) for the reference network node and neighboring network nodes, and / or (iv) directional reference signal characteristics such as the direction of transmission, the position of the UE 504 may be determined (either by the UE 504 or the location server 400 / LMF 120).

[0073]

[0087] 5, when the UE 504 uses OTDOA measurement time differences to obtain a location estimate, necessary additional data (e.g., network node locations and relative transmission timing) may be provided to the UE 504 by a location server (e.g., location server 400, LMF 120). In some implementations, a location estimate for the UE 504 may be obtained (e.g., by the UE 504 itself or by the location server 400 / LMF 120) from the OTDOA measurement time differences and from other measurements made by the UE 504 (e.g., measurements of signal timing from a Global Positioning System (GPS) or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites). In these implementations, known as hybrid positioning, the OTDOA measurements may contribute to obtaining a location estimate for the UE 504, but may not completely determine the location estimate.

[0074]

[0088] Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA) is a positioning method similar to OTDOA, but based on uplink reference signals (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Uplink Positioning Reference Signal (UL PRS)) transmitted by the UE (e.g., UE 504). Additionally, transmit and / or receive beamforming at the base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 and / or UE 504 may enable wideband bandwidth at the cell edge to enhance accuracy. Beam refinements may also leverage channel reciprocity procedures in 5G NR.

[0075]

[0089] In NR, there is no requirement for precise timing synchronization across the network. Instead, it is sufficient to have coarse time synchronization across the gNB (e.g., within the cyclic prefix (CP) duration of an OFDM symbol). Round-trip time (RTT)-based methods generally require coarse timing synchronization and are therefore practical positioning methods in NR.

[0076]

[0090] Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary wireless communication system 600 is illustrated. In the example of FIG. 6, a UE 604 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate an estimate of its position or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third party application, etc.) in calculating an estimate of its position. The UE 604 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein) using RF signals and a standardized protocol for modulation of the RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 600 (i.e., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 604 may determine or assist in determining its position in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 604 may specify its position using a two-dimensional coordinate system, although the features disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining position using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while Figure 6 illustrates one UE 604 and three base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, it will be understood that there may be more UEs 604 and more base stations.

[0077]

[0091] To support position estimation, base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UEs 604 within their coverage areas to allow the UEs 604 to measure characteristics of such reference RF signals. For example, the UE 604 may measure the ToAs of particular reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by at least three different base stations and report these ToAs (and additional information) back to a serving base station (e.g., base station 602-2) or another positioning entity (e.g., location server 400, LMF 120) using an RTT positioning method.

[0078]

[0092] In one aspect, the UE 604 is described as measuring a reference RF signal from the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, however, the UE 604 may measure a reference RF signal from one of the multiple cells supported by the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3. When the UE 604 measures a reference RF signal transmitted by a cell supported by the base station 602-2, at least two other reference RF signals measured by the UE 604 to perform the RTT procedure are from cells supported by base stations 602-1, 602-3 different from the first base station 602-2 and may have good or poor signal strength at the UE 604.

[0079]

[0093] To determine the position (x,y) of the UE 604, the entity that determines the position of the UE 604 needs to know the locations of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3, which are expressed as (x,y) in the reference coordinate system. k ,y k), where k=1, 2, 3 in the example of FIG. 6. When one of the base stations 602-2 (e.g., the serving base station) or the UE 604 determines the position of the UE 604, the locations of the involved base stations 602-1, 602-3 may be provided to the serving base station 602-2 or the UE 604 by a location server (e.g., location server 400, LMF 120) that has knowledge of the network geometry. Alternatively, the location server may determine the position of the UE 604 using the known network geometry.

[0080]

[0094] Either the UE 604 or each of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 can measure the distance (d k , where k=1, 2, 3). In one aspect, determining the RTT 610-1, 610-2, 610-3 of signals exchanged between the UE 604 and any base station 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 is performed, and the distance (d k ) RTT techniques may measure the time between sending a signaling message (e.g., a reference RF signal) and receiving a response. These methods may utilize calibration to remove any processing and hardware delays. In some environments, it may be assumed that the processing delays for the UE 604 and the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 are the same. However, such an assumption may not be correct in practice.

[0081]

[0095] Once each distance d k Once x,y is determined, the UE 604, base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, or a location server (e.g., location server 400, LMF 120) may determine the position (x,y) of the UE 604 by using various known geometric techniques, such as, for example, trilateration. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that the position of the UE 604 is ideally at the common intersection of three semicircles, each of which has a radius d k and center(x k ,yk ), where k=1,2,3.

[0082]

[0096] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of linear directions (which may be, for example, in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or possibly angles of arrival (AoA) or departure (AoD), which define a range of directions (e.g., for the UE 604 from the location of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3). The intersection of the two directions at or near a point (x,y) may provide another estimate of the location of the UE 604.

[0083]

[0097] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE 604) may be referred to by other names, such as a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A position estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other linguistic description of the location. A position estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or may be defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and / or possibly altitude). A position estimate may include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume that is expected to contain the location with some specified or default confidence level).

[0084]

[0098] 7A, a diagram 700 of positioning errors associated with non-line-of-sight signal measurements is shown. The diagram 700 includes a UE 702, which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, and multiple base stations 704, 706, 708, which may correspond to any combination of base stations described herein. As described above, the UE 702, or a network entity such as the LMF 120, may utilize reference signals transmitted from the base stations 704, 706, 708 to determine a current location. The signal, distance, and position estimates in the diagram 700 are examples and are provided to illustrate the potential impact of measurements based on non-line-of-sight signal paths. In one example, a multilateration technique may be used to process measurements associated with a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) transmitted from a first base station 704 via a first line-of-sight (LOS) path 704a, a DL PRS transmitted from a second base station 706 via a second LOS path 706a, and a DL PRS transmitted from a third base station 708 via a third LOS path 708a. The first location estimate P1 may be the result of a multilateration calculation, which is an accurate estimate of the current location of the UE 702. However, in some positioning sessions, environmental factors such as the presence of buildings or other obstacles that may attenuate or reflect signals transmitted from the base stations may cause the target UE to receive signals via multiple paths. For example, the UE 702 may receive a DL PRS from the first station 704 via a first non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path 704b based on the location of the building or other obstacle. Because the first NLOS path 704b is longer than the first LOS path 704a, the first calculated NLOS distance 704c is further away from the first base station 704 than the LOS distance. Similarly, a second calculated NLOS distance 706c based on a second NLOS signal 706b from a second base station 706 and a third calculated NLOS distance 708c based on a second NLOS signal 708b from a third base station 708 will be farther away from their respective base stations compared to their respective LOS distances.In some cases, the target UE may not be able to distinguish between LOS and NLOS paths, and the corresponding position estimates may vary. Thus, the use of various combinations of LOS and NLOS paths in the positioning calculation may result in ambiguity in the position estimates. For example, other position estimates such as P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 illustrated in diagram 700 may be the result of a positioning session based on NLOS paths. Position estimates P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 are examples to illustrate the potential impact of NLOS signal paths. The positioning session may provide a smaller or larger number of position estimates. Other operations such as channel estimation and outlier removal may also be used to manage the resulting position estimates.

[0085]

[0099] Referring to FIG. 7B, a diagram 750 of potential positioning errors associated with an enhanced cell identification (E-CID) positioning method is shown. The diagram 750 includes a UE 752, which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, and a base station 754, which may correspond to any combination of base stations described herein. The base station 754 may be configured to utilize beamforming to transmit a reference signal, such as beam 754a. The beam 754a may be a directional PRS with a known beam width and boresight angle from the base station 754. In one example, the UE 752 may be configured to determine an angle of departure (AoD) of the beam 754a based on the beam identification information, and thus use the AoD as a line of position in the positioning calculation. The accuracy of the line of position is dependent on receiving the beam via a LOS path. That is, a beam received via a NLOS path may not correspond to the AoD of the beam from the base station. Thus, the resulting position estimate based on the NLOS beam identification value may lead to ambiguities similar to those described in FIG. 7A. Additionally, a single beam, such as beam 754a, may be combined with ranging methods (e.g., RTT, RSSI, ToA, etc.) to define a location area 756 based on the beam width and range estimate of beam 754a. The size of the location area 756 may lead to positioning ambiguity as the area may grow based on the beam width and ability to measure and control distance from the base station. The sidelink UEID techniques described herein may be used to reduce ambiguity in the resulting position estimates described in Figures 7A and 7B, as well as to reduce location uncertainty associated with other positioning techniques.

[0086]

[0100] 8A and 8B, diagrams of example sidelink interfaces for discovery are shown. The example network 800 includes a base station 806, which may correspond to any combination of base stations described herein, and a first UE 802 and a second UE 804, which may correspond to UEs described herein. The network 800 may be based on a V2X communication scheme, an Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), or other network that enables communication between UEs and base stations, as well as UE-to-UE (i.e., device-to-device (D2D) communication). For example, a V2X network utilizes two or more radio access technologies, including a Uu radio interface, which is a radio interface supporting communication from UEs to base stations, and a PC5 sidelink interface, which is a radio interface supporting communication from UEs to UEs. Other radio access technologies (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, UWB, etc.) may be used to support communication from UEs to infrastructure and / or UE to UE.

[0087]

[0101] In general, the sidelink discovery procedure is utilized by a UE to find other nearby UE(s) directly using a radio access technology such as PC5. The sidelink discovery process may occur regardless of whether one or more of the participating UEs are within or outside the network coverage area (e.g., the coverage area of ​​the base station 806). Either the first UE 802 or the second UE 804 may be configured to initiate and / or respond in the sidelink discovery process. FIG. 8B is an example protocol stack based on the LTE V2X schema. Other discovery protocol stacks may also be used. In one example, the protocol stack for discovery may include only a MAC layer and a PHY layer. An upper layer interface, such as a proximity service (ProSe) protocol, may be used when the MAC sublayer receives the discovery message. In one example, the MAC layer may be configured to determine radio resources to be used to announce receipt of discovery messages from higher layers, and to generate a MAC protocol data unit (PDU) containing the discovery message and send the MAC PDU without a MAC header to the physical layer for transmission on a predetermined radio resource (see 3GPP TS 36.321). In one example, the UE may participate in the announcement and monitoring of discovery messages in both the RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED states, whereby the UE may be configured to announce and monitor discovery messages. In one example, the UE may be configured to utilize multiple different ranges. The ranges may be based on class values, and the UE may be configured based on available transmit power, battery power, or other application and / or operational constraints. Range class information may be included in assistance data provided by network resources, such as a base station or a location server (e.g., the LMF 120). The discovery process allows the UE to obtain UE IDs from nearby neighbors that are within range of each other.In one example, a UE may be configured to change range class to increase or decrease the number of nearby neighbors, e.g., range class may be decreased in dense operating areas where multiple UEs are operating in close proximity to each other.

[0088]

[0102] In addition to the sidelink discovery procedure, the UE 802, 804 may be configured to utilize other sidelink physical layer channels and signals to send and receive reference and data signals. For example, the UE 802, 804 may be configured to utilize the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), the Sidelink Shared Channel (SL-SCH), the Sidelink Broadcast Channel (SL-BCH), and other sidelink synchronization signals. Other resource pools may be used to define the subframes and resource blocks available for sidelink transmission and / or reception. In one example, the UE 802, 804 may be configured to obtain signal measurements such as signal strength, timing, and angle-related information from the sidelink signals. The available bandwidth for sidelink signals may increase with higher frequencies and new radio technologies, which may enable improved measurement capabilities with a potential increase in power consumption.

[0089]

[0103] 9A, 9B, and 9C, example use cases for sidelink user equipment identification (SL-UEID) positioning are shown. The use cases are examples and not limitations. A first example use case 900 of FIG. 9A includes a first UE 902, a second UE 904, and a third UE 906 configured for sidelink communication. The UEs 902, 904, 906 may correspond to UEs described herein. The first UE 902 is configured to utilize sidelink communication in a first range 902a, the second UE 904 is configured to utilize sidelink communication in a second range 904a, and the third UE 906 is configured to utilize sidelink communication in a third range 906a. The number, locations, and ranges of UEs are examples and not limitations, as other UEs and other ranges may be used. In one example, the ranges 902a, 904a, 906a may be in the range of 10 m to 100 m. Other range values ​​may also be used based on the capabilities of the UE. The locations of the UEs 902, 904, 906 are known. For example, the UEs 902, 904, 906 may be fixed reference stations, may participate in a precise point positioning system or other satellite positioning systems, may have locations established by terrestrial positioning techniques, or may be a combination therein. Other positioning techniques may be used to establish the locations of the UEs 902, 904, 906. In one example, a location server such as the LMF 120 may be configured to maintain the locations in a data structure. The corresponding ranges 902a, 904a, 906a may also be known by the LMF 120 based on the corresponding range classes utilized by the respective UEs 902, 904, 906, or based on other information maintained in the data structure.

[0090]

[0104] During operation, a position for a fourth UE (not shown in FIG. 9A) is being calculated to be one of three possible positions, such as a first position P1, a second position P2, and a third position P3. The variation of positions P1, P2, P3 may be based on the influence of NLOS signals as described in FIG. 7A. Other environmental and computational limitations may also produce different position estimates. The fourth UE may utilize a sidelink discovery procedure 910 to detect the identities of nearby neighbors and then utilize the identities to reduce ambiguity in the position estimate. In the discovery phase, the UE identity (UE ID) may include a sidelink sequence ID (e.g., SL-SSS sequence ID) or other detectable information to identify the UE. After the discovery phase, the UE ID may be other permanent or temporary identification information, such as a Cell Global Identifier (eCGI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI), Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI), or other Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) and higher level identification fields. In one example, the fourth UE may provide neighbor identification information to a location server, such as the LMF 120, and the location server may be configured to utilize the UE ID to determine the position of the fourth UE. For example, if the fourth UE detects both the first UE 902 and the third UE 906 via the sidelink discovery procedure 910, the first position P1 may be used as the position of the fourth UE. If the fourth UE detects only the second UE 904 via the sidelink discovery procedure 910, the second position P2 may be used as the position of the fourth UE. Similarly, if the fourth UE detects the third UE 906, the third position P3 may be used.In one example, the fourth UE may be further configured to perform signal measurements (e.g., RTT, RSSI, AoA, etc.) over the sidelink and provide the measurements to the location server.

[0091]

[0105] In a second example use case 920 illustrated in FIG. 9B, position estimates for multiple UEs may be used to reduce ambiguity of a corresponding UE position estimate. For example, position estimates associated with two or more UEs may be used along with the presence of sidelink communication between the UEs to select a position estimate. The second use case 920 includes a first UE associated with a first position estimate 922a and a second position estimate 922b, and a second UE associated with a third position estimate 924a and a fourth position estimate 924b. The position estimates 922a-b, 924a-b may be based on satellite and / or terrestrial navigation techniques, such as RTT, RSSI, RSRP, ToA, AoD, OTDOA, etc., as previously described. The first UE and the second UE utilize a sidelink communication link 926 to discover each other and potentially perform sidelink measurement operations based on the sidelink communication link 926. Either the first UE or the second UE may report UEID information obtained during the sidelink discovery process to a location server, and the location server may be configured to utilize the position estimate and the SL-UEID information to select a corresponding position estimate for the UE. For example, the presence of the sidelink communication link 926 may be used to select a second position estimate 922a for the first UE and a third position estimate 924a for the second UE, since other combinations would be beyond the operating range of the sidelink communication link 926.

[0092]

[0106] In a third example use case 940, locations for one or more UEs are known and a coarse position estimate for the target UE may be determined based on a sidelink discovery procedure with one or more of the UEs. In one example, the target UE may utilize a single location of a neighbor UE as a coarse location. For example, the target UE may utilize the location of a first UE 942 as a coarse location. In another example, the coarse position for the target UE may be based on multiple neighbor UEs. For example, the locations of the first UE 942, the second UE 944, and the third UE 946 may be known by a network server, such as the LMF 120, or other network entity (e.g., the target UE). The target UE (not shown in FIG. 9C) may participate in a sidelink discovery procedure to determine a respective UE ID (e.g., IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID, eCGI, SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.) for each of the UEs 942, 944, 946. The network server may utilize the UE ID and location information to determine an intersection of respective sidelink range areas for each of the UEs 942, 944, 946 to determine a coarse position estimate for the target UE. In an example use case 940, the coarse position estimate for the target UE may be at a first position P1, which is located within the intersection of sidelink range areas for each of the UEs 942, 944, 946 that the target UE discovered via a sidelink discovery procedure. In one example, the target UE may be configured to make sidelink measurements with the UEs 942, 944, 946 and refine the coarse position estimate based on the measurements.

[0093]

[0107] 10A, an example message flow 1000 for simultaneous reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning is shown. The example message flow 1000 includes a target UE 1002, a first neighbor UE 1004, and a second neighbor UE 1006. The UEs 1002, 1004, 1006 may correspond to UEs described herein. The number and configuration of neighbor UEs is exemplary as additional neighbor UEs having various configurations and capabilities may also be used. The message flow includes a base station, such as a gNB 1008, which may correspond to a base station described herein, and a network server, such as an LMF 1010. The LMF 1010 may correspond to a server described herein. In one example, the LMF 1010 may be configured to send a measurement request message 1012 to the target UE 1002 to request that the target UE 1002 obtain position measurements and sidelink UE ID information for nearby neighbors. The measurement request message 1012 may be in response to a client request (e.g., location service) and may include assistance data configured to enable the target UE 1002 to obtain positioning measurements. In one example, the measurement request and assistance data may be included in separate messages. The measurement request message 1012 and / or assistance data may indicate positioning reference signals that the target UE 1002 may measure via a first radio access technology (e.g., LTE, 5G NR) in addition to a request to obtain a UE ID and / or measurements via a second radio access technology (e.g., sidelink). The LMF 1010 may utilize a network protocol such as LPP / LPPa to communicate with the target UE 1002. Other protocols such as RRC over the gNB 1008 may also be used. In one example, the measurement request message 1012 is provided to the target UE 1002 via one or more NAS LPP messages.

[0094]

[0108] The gNB 1008 and other base stations in the network may transmit DL PRSs, such as Uu PRS 1014. The Uu PRS 1014 may be an omni-directional or directional PRS (e.g., based on beamforming) and may be based on PRS resources and PRS resource sets in a positioning frequency layer associated with the communication network. At stage 1016, the target UE 1002 is configured to obtain measurements based on the Uu PRS 1014 transmitted by the gNB 1008 and other Uu PRSs transmitted by other base stations (not shown in FIG. 10A). The measurements may include ToA, RSTD, AoA, RSSI, TDoA, OTDOA, E-CID, RSRP, RSRQ, etc. In one example, the target UE 1002 may be configured to transmit UL PRSs to one or more base stations to measure RTT. The target UE 1002 may be configured to perform a sidelink discovery procedure 1018 to obtain UE IDs for nearby neighbor UEs, such as a first neighbor UE 1004 and a second neighbor UE 1006. The sidelink discovery procedure 1018 may be based on a PC5 interface, or other D2D interface. In the discovery phase of sidelink communication, the UE IDs may correspond to an IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID, or other detectable information (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.) to identify the neighbor UE 1004, 1006 to the LMF 1010. The sidelink communication may utilize available interfaces and signals, such as PSCCH, PSSCH, PSBCH, SL-CSIRS, PSFCH, SCI, SL-SSB, etc. In one example, the target UE 1002 may be configured to obtain signal measurements via sidelink communication with the neighbor UEs 1004, 1006. For example, sidelink signal measurements may include RSRP, RSRQ, timestamp related measurements (e.g., ToA, RTT), as well as angle related measurements (AoA, AoD).In one example, the measurement request message 1012 provided by the LMF 1010, or other assistance data, may provide an indication of nearby neighbor UEs to the target UE 1002, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to search for the indicated neighbor UEs. The LMF 1010 may also be configured to provide location information for the nearby neighbor UEs, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to calculate a location based on the Uu PRS measurements and known locations of nearby UEs.

[0095]

[0109] The target UE 1002 may provide one or more Uu PRS and SL-UEID report messages 1020 to the LMF 1010. The report message 1020 may include the Uu PRS measurements obtained in stage 1016 and the UE ID obtained via the sidelink discovery procedure 1018. In one example, the report may also include the sidelink measurements obtained by the target UE 1002. The report message 1020 may utilize NAS LPP or other protocols to provide measurement information to the LMF 1010 or to another network entity configured to calculate a position based on the measurements obtained by the target UE 1002. At stage 1022, the LMF 1010 may be configured to determine the location of the target UE 1002 based on the Uu PRS measurements and the SL-UE ID provided in the one or more report messages 1020. 9A-9C, the LMF 1010 may utilize the known locations of neighbor UEs 1004, 1006 to reduce position ambiguity associated with Uu PRS measurements. The LMF 1010 may provide the calculated location estimates to the target UE 1002 or other client devices and / or applications as needed.

[0096]

[0110] 10B, an example message flow 1050 for sequential reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning is shown. The example message flow 1050 may include the target UE 1002, neighbor UEs 1004, 1006, gNB 1008, and LMF 1010 as described in FIG. 10A. The LMF 1010 may provide one or more measurement request messages 1052 to the target UE 1002 to initiate a positioning session. For example, the one or more measurement request messages 1052 may include Uu PRS information to enable the target UE 1002 to measure one or more Uu PRSs 1054 transmitted by the gNB 1008 and other stations. At stage 1058, the target UE 1002 may be configured to obtain measurements based at least in part on the Uu PRS transmissions (e.g., ToA, RSTD, OTDOA, RTT, AoA, AoD, RSRP, etc.) and provide the measurements to the LMF 1010 via one or more Uu PRS report messages 1060. Communication between the LMF 1010 and the target UE 1002 may utilize a network protocol such as NAS LPP / LPPa. The LMF 1010 may then send one or more SL-UEID request messages 1062 to instruct the target UE 1002 to perform a sidelink discovery procedure. For example, the LMF 1010 may be configured to resolve position ambiguities associated with the measurements obtained at stage 1058 based on location information associated with neighboring UEs such as the first neighbor UE 1004 and the second neighbor UE 1006. In one example, the LMF 1010 may be configured to provide one or more SL-UEID Assistance Data messages 1066 to enable the target UE 1002 to communicate with neighboring UEs and, optionally, derive a position based on the SL measurements. For example, the SL-UEID Assistance Data message 1066 may include location information for the neighboring UEs and other parameters, such as range class information, to enable the target UE 1002 to determine the range to one or more neighboring UEs.

[0097]

[0111] The target UE 1002 may be configured to perform a sidelink discovery procedure 1068 to obtain UEIDs for nearby neighbor UEs, such as a first neighbor UE 1004 and a second neighbor UE 1006. The sidelink discovery procedure 1068 may be based on one or more D2D interfaces, such as a PC5 interface. The discovered SL-UEIDs may correspond to an IMEI, an SL-SSS sequence ID, or other detectable information (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.) to identify the neighbor UEs 1004, 1006 to the LMF 1010. The sidelink communications may utilize available interfaces and signals, such as PSCCH, PSSCH, PSBCH, SL-CSIRS, PSFCH, SCI, SL-SSB, etc. In one example, the one or more SL-UEID request messages 1062 may instruct the target UE 1002 to obtain signal measurements via sidelink communications with the neighbor UEs 1004, 1006. For example, the sidelink signal measurements may include RSRP, RSRQ, timestamp related measurements (e.g., ToA, RTT), and angle related measurements (AoA, AoD) based on sidelink exchanges between the target UE 1002 and the respective neighbor UEs 1004, 1006. The target UE 1002 may provide one or more SL-UEID report messages 1070 to the LMF 1010. The report messages 1070 may include the UEID obtained via the sidelink discovery procedure 1068 and, optionally, the sidelink measurements obtained by the target UE 1002. The report messages 1070 may utilize the NAS LPP or other protocols to provide the UEID and measurement information to the LMF 1010 or to another network entity configured to calculate a position based on the measurements obtained by the target UE 1002. At stage 1072, the LMF 1010 may be configured to determine the location of the target UE 1002 based on values ​​included in one or more Uu PRS report messages 1060 and values ​​in one or more SL-UEID report messages 1070, as described in Figures 9A to 9C.In one example, at stage 1074, the target UE 1002 may be configured to calculate a location based on the Uu PRS measurements obtained at stage 1058, the UEIDS obtained via the sidelink discovery procedure 1068, and the assistance data received from the LMF 1010. The target UE 1002 may also be configured to utilize any sidelink signal measurements obtained via neighboring UEs in the location calculation.

[0098]

[0112] 10C, an example message flow 1080 including device-to-device messaging for reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning is shown. The example message flow 1050 may include the target UE 1002, neighbor UEs 1004, 1006, gNB 1008, and LMF 1010 as described in FIG. 10A. The number and configuration of neighbor UEs is exemplary as additional neighbor UEs having various configurations and capabilities may also be used. In one example, the LMF 1010 may be configured to send a measurement request message 1082 to the gNB 1008 to request the target UE 1002 to obtain position measurements and / or sidelink UE ID information for nearby neighbors. The measurement request message 1082 may include assistance data configured to enable the target UE 1002 to obtain positioning measurements. In one example, the LMF 1010 may be configured to provide the assistance data and the measurement request message 1082 directly to the target UE 1002 via LPP. In one example, the assistance data and measurement request message 1082 may be routed through a serving gNB (e.g., gNB 1008) and / or one or more neighboring UEs (e.g., neighbor UE 1004), such as when the target UE 1002 is out of coverage area and an in-coverage neighbor UE (e.g., neighbor UE 1004) is relaying data communication between the network and the target UE 1002. In one example, the measurement request and assistance data may be obtained by the gNB 1008 in separate messages and / or using different techniques. In one example, the gNB 1008 may be configured to receive the measurement request via a Uu interface and a sidelink interface (e.g., PC5). The measurement request message 1082 and / or assistance data may indicate positioning reference signals that the target UE 1002 may measure via a first radio access technology (e.g., LTE, 5G NR) in addition to a request to obtain a UE ID and / or measurements via a second radio access technology (e.g., sidelink). The LMF1010 may utilize a network protocol such as NRPP to communicate with the gNB1008.In one example, the gNB 1008 may provide a measurement request message and / or assistance data message 1082a to a neighboring UE, such as the first neighbor UE 1004. Other protocols, such as RRC, may also be used. The first neighbor UE 1004 may be configured to provide a measurement request message and / or assistance data message 1082b to the target UE 1002 over a sidelink channel (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH, etc.). In one example, the gNB 1008 may be a serving cell for the target UE 1002 and may provide the measurement request message and / or assistance data message 1082a directly to the target UE 1002 (i.e., without relaying through a neighboring UE).

[0099]

[0113] The gNB 1008 and other base stations in the network may transmit DL PRSs, such as Uu PRS 1084. The Uu PRS 1084 may be an omnidirectional or directional PRS (e.g., based on beamforming) and may be based on PRS resources and PRS resource sets in a positioning frequency layer associated with the communication network. At stage 1086, the target UE 1002 is configured to obtain measurements based on the Uu PRS 1084 transmitted by the gNB 1008 and other Uu PRSs transmitted by other base stations (not shown in FIG. 10C). The measurements may include ToA, RSTD, AoA, RSSI, TDoA, OTDOA, E-CID, RSRP, RSRQ, etc. In one example, the target UE 1002 may be configured to transmit UL PRSs to one or more base stations to measure RTT. The target UE 1002 may be configured to perform a sidelink discovery procedure 1088 to obtain UE IDs for nearby neighbor UEs, such as a first neighbor UE 1004 and a second neighbor UE 1006. The sidelink discovery procedure 1088 may be based on a PC5 interface, or other D2D interface. In the discovery phase of sidelink communication, the UE IDs may correspond to an IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID, or other detectable information (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.) to identify the neighbor UE 1004, 1006 to the LMF 1010. The sidelink communication may utilize available interfaces and signals, such as PSCCH, PSSCH, PSBCH, SL-CSIRS, PSFCH, SCI, SL-SSB, etc. In one example, the target UE 1002 may be configured to obtain signal measurements via sidelink communication with the neighbor UEs 1004, 1006. For example, sidelink signal measurements may include RSRP, RSRQ, time-related measurements (e.g., ToA, RTT), as well as angle-related measurements (AoA, AoD).In one example, a measurement request message and / or assistance data message 1082a, 1082b provided by the gNB 1008 or the first neighbor UE 1004 may provide an indication of nearby neighbor UEs to the target UE 1002, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to search for the indicated neighbor UEs. The assistance data may include identification and location information for the nearby neighbor UEs, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to calculate a location based on the Uu PRS measurements and known locations of the neighboring UEs.

[0100]

[0114] The target UE 1002 may provide one or more Uu PRS and SL-UEID report messages 1090 to the first neighbor UE 1004 via sidelink and / or to the gNB 1008 via LPP, RRC, or other protocols. The report message 1090 may include the Uu PRS measurements obtained at stage 1086 and the UE ID obtained via the sidelink discovery procedure 1088. In one example, the report may also include the sidelink measurements obtained by the target UE 1002. In one example, the first neighbor UE 1004 may send a Uu PRS and SL-UEID report message 1090a to the gNB 1008 or the LMF 1010. The gNB 1008 may be configured to send a Uu PRS and SL-UEID report message 1090b to the LMF 1010. At stage 1092, the LMF 1010 may be configured to determine the location of the target UE 1002 based on the Uu PRS measurements and the SL-UEID provided in one or more reporting messages 1090a, 1090b.

[0101]

[0115] While the message flow 1080 utilizes D2D sidelink messaging to implement simultaneous reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning, the message flow 1080 may be modified to utilize D2D sidelink messaging to implement sequential reference signal and sidelink user equipment identification positioning. In one example, the SL-UEID may be used in an extension of a conventional ECID reporting protocol. For example, the conventional ECID procedure required reporting a serving cell because the conventional procedure does not cover sidelink capabilities and UEs that may be outside the coverage area of ​​the station. The method provided herein improves and extends the conventional ECID procedure by allowing the reporting of a serving cell to be optional when the target UE 1002 is out of coverage from the base station but is connected with a neighbor UE 1004 via a D2D sidelink. The neighbor UE 1004 may be configured to relay to the target UE 1002 via a D2D sidelink.

[0102]

[0116] With reference to FIG. 11 and further with reference to FIGS. 1-10C, a method 1100 performed in a user equipment for determining a position based on a sidelink user equipment identity includes the stages shown. However, the method 1100 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1100 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, reordering, combining, performing in parallel, and / or by splitting a single stage into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may be performed before the stages shown in FIG. 11 and / or one or more stages may be performed after the stages shown in FIG. 11. For example, the discovery signal received at stage 1106 may be received before one or more reference signals at stage 1102.

[0103]

[0117] At stage 1102, the method includes receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology. The general purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for receiving the one or more reference signals. A UE 200, such as the target UE 1002, may be configured to receive a DL PRS from one or more base stations, such as the gNB 1008, via a first radio access technology, such as LTE, 5G NR, or other wireless wide area network technology. The DL PRS may be associated with a PRS resource, a PRS resource set, and a corresponding network frequency layer. The first radio access technology may be associated with one or more frequency bands, such as FR1 (410-7125 MHz), FR2 (24,250-52,600 MHz), sub-6 GHz, millimeter wave (mmW), etc., and may utilize standardized parameters, such as bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, modulation scheme, duplex mode, and multiple access scheme. Other reference signals may also be used to position the UE. For example, the reference signal may be one or more frames, such as a fine timing frame (FTM), exchanged in an RTT positioning session.

[0104]

[0118] At stage 1104, the method includes determining measurements for one or more reference signals. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for determining the measurements. In one example, the one or more reference signals may correspond to DL PRS transmitted by one or more base stations, and the UE 200 may be configured to obtain measurements on received beams. For example, the measurements may be RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, ToA, RSTD, AoA, ECID obtained from one or more received DL PRS. In one example, the UE 200 may be configured to perform RTT exchanges with one or more base stations, and the measurements may be based on time differences.

[0105]

[0119] At stage 1106, the method includes receiving a discovery signal from the station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the station. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for receiving the discovery signal. The second radio access technology may be a sidelink D2D communication interface, such as a PC5 interface. In an example, the first radio access technology may be a cellular communication network (e.g., LTE, 5G NR, etc.), and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface (e.g., PC5 or other sidelink interface). The UE 200 may be configured to perform a sidelink discovery procedure to obtain a UE ID from a neighboring station. The neighboring station may be another UE, a base station, or another wireless node configured to communicate via the second radio access technology. In a V2X network, the neighboring station may be a roadside unit (RSU). The protocol stack for discovery may include only the MAC and PHY layers and / or one or more higher layer interfaces such as proximity-based services (e.g., ProSe protocol). The MAC layer may be configured to determine radio resources to be used to announce receipt of a discovery message from the higher layers and to generate a MAC PDU containing the discovery message and send the MAC PDU without a MAC header to the physical layer for transmission in a given radio resource (see 3GPP TS 36.321). The identification value associated with the station may be a UE ID such as a sidelink sequence ID (e.g., IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID) or other detectable information for identifying the station (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.).

[0106]

[0120] At stage 1108, the method includes acquiring a location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for acquiring a location. In one example, the UE 200 may provide the measurements determined at stage 1104 and the identification value received at stage 1106 to a network entity such as the LMF 120. For example, the UE 200 may be configured to provide the measurements and the identification value to the LMF 120 via one or more LPP / LPPa protocol-based messages. The LMF 120 may calculate a location of the UE 200 based on the received messages, and the UE 200 may acquire the location from the LMF 120. In one example, the LMF 120 may provide one or more assistance data messages to the UE 200 configured to enable the UE 200 to locally calculate a location. For example, the assistance data may include station location information, range class information, beam identification and parameters (e.g., angles, power settings, offsets, etc.), as well as other parameters that may be used in the location calculation. In one example, the method 1100 may include receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted by a neighboring UE via a second radio access technology, determining sidelink measurements such as RSRP, RSRQ, RTT, etc. for the one or more sidelink reference signals, and obtaining a location based on the sidelink measurements in combination with the measurements determined at stage 1104.

[0107]

[0121] With reference to FIG. 12 and with further reference to FIGS. 1-10C, a method 1200 performed in a location server for determining a position based on sidelink user equipment identity information includes the stages shown. However, the method 1200 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1200 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, reordering, combining, performing in parallel, and / or by splitting a single stage into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may be performed before the stages shown in FIG. 12 and / or one or more stages may be performed after the stages shown in FIG. 12. For example, the one or more neighbor identity values ​​received in stage 1204 may be received before or simultaneously with the one or more reference signal measurements in stage 1202.

[0108]

[0122] At stage 1202, the method includes receiving one or more reference signal measurements from a mobile device, the one or more measurements being based on a signal transmitted via a first radio access technology. A server 400 including a processor 410 and a transceiver 415 may be a means for receiving one or more reference signal measurements. In an example, a network server such as the LMF 120 may receive the reference signal measurements obtained by the UE via a network connection. For example, the UE 200 may provide the measurements via one or more Uu PRS and SL-UEID report messages 1020 and / or one or more Uu PRS report messages 1060. The messages may be provided via a network protocol configured to convey information elements from the UE to the network server, such as the LPP / LPPa protocol. Other messaging may also be used. The reference signal measurements may include RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, ToA, RSTD, RTT, AoA, E-CID, and other values ​​based on one or more received reference signals measured by the UE. The first radio access technology may be based on a communication system, such as LTE, 5G NR, or other wireless wide area network technology, and one or more frequency bands, such as FR1 (410-7125 MHz), FR2 (24,250-52,600 MHz), sub-6 GHz, and millimeter wave (mmW). Other operating parameters, such as bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, modulation scheme, duplex mode, and multiple access scheme, may be used to define the radio access technology.

[0109]

[0123] At stage 1204, the method includes receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, the one or more neighbor identification values ​​being based on a signal received by the mobile device via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology. The processor 410 and the transceiver 415 may be means for receiving the one or more neighbor identification values. In one example, the UE 200 may be configured to obtain the neighbor identification value via a sidelink discovery process. Sidelink communication is an example of a second radio access technology. In one example, the neighbor identification value may be a UE ID, such as a sidelink sequence ID (e.g., IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID) or other detectable information for identifying a station (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.). The UE 200 may provide the neighbor identification value to the LMF 120 via one or more Uu PRS and SL-UEID report messages 1020 and / or one or more SL-UEID report messages 1070. Other messages may also be used to receive the one or more neighbor identification values. In one example, the UE 200 may be configured to obtain measurements such as RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, and RTT based at least in part on sidelink signals received from neighboring UEs. The measurements may be included in one or more Uu PRS and SL-UEID report messages 1020 and / or one or more SL-UEID report messages 1070.

[0110]

[0124] At stage 1206, the method includes determining a location of the station for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values. The processor 410 and the transceiver 415 may be a means for determining a location of the station. In an example, one or more network entities, such as the LMF 120 and / or the AMF 115, may be configured to maintain locations of UEs and other wireless nodes in the communication system 100. The neighbor identification values ​​received at stage 1204 may be used to obtain a location of the corresponding UE from the one or more network entities.

[0111]

[0125] At stage 1208, the method includes determining a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station. The processor 410 may be a means for determining a location of the mobile device. In an example, the LMF 120 may be configured to determine a location of the mobile device based on the Uu PRS measurements and the SL-UEID provided in the one or more reporting messages received at stages 1202 and 1204. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9C, the LMF 120 may utilize known locations of neighboring UEs determined at stage 1206 and a multilateration technique to obtain one or more position estimates for the mobile device to reduce position ambiguity associated with the one or more position estimates. In an example, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide the calculated location estimates to the mobile device or other client devices and / or applications as needed.

[0112]

[0126] With reference to Fig. 13 and further with reference to Figs. 1-10C, a method 1300 performed in a user equipment for determining a position based on a sidelink user equipment identity includes the stages shown. However, the method 1300 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1300 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, reordering, combining, or performing stages in parallel, and / or by splitting a single stage into multiple stages. For example, receiving assistance data in stage 1302 is optional, since the user equipment may include the assistance data in a local memory.

[0113]

[0127] At stage 1302, the method optionally includes receiving assistance data including location information and station identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for receiving the assistance data. A UE 200, such as the target UE 1002, may be configured to receive the assistance data from a network station, such as the LMF 1010, the gNB 1008, a neighboring UE (i.e., via a sidelink), or another wireless node in the network (e.g., an RSU in a V2X use case). In one example, the assistance data may include an indication of nearby neighbor UEs to the target UE 1002, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to search for the indicated neighbor UEs. The assistance data may also include location information for the nearby neighbor UEs, and the target UE 1002 may be configured to calculate a location based on known locations of the nearby UEs.

[0114]

[0128] At stage 1304, the method includes receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring user equipment, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the neighboring user equipment. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for receiving the discovery signal. In one example, the discovery signal may be received from the neighbor UE via a sidelink D2D communication interface, such as a PC5 interface. In one example, the neighboring user equipment may be a base station, and the discovery signal may be received from the base station (e.g., gNB) via a Uu interface. The target UE 1002 may be configured to perform a sidelink discovery procedure to obtain a UE ID from the neighboring user equipment. The neighboring user equipment may be other wireless nodes configured to communicate via a second radio access technology. In a V2X network, the neighboring user equipment may be a roadside unit (RSU). The protocol stack for discovery may include only a MAC layer and a PHY layer, and / or one or more higher layer interfaces, such as a proximity-based service (e.g., ProSe protocol). The MAC layer may be configured to determine the radio resources to be used to announce receipt of a discovery message from a higher layer, and to generate a MAC PDU containing the discovery message and send the MAC PDU without a MAC header to the physical layer for transmission on a predetermined radio resource (see 3GPP TS 36.321). The identification value associated with the station may be a UE ID, such as a sidelink sequence ID (e.g., IMEI, SL-SSS sequence ID) or other detectable information for identifying the station (e.g., SIM, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, etc.).

[0115]

[0129] At stage 1306, the method includes acquiring a location based at least in part on the discovery signal. The general-purpose processor 230 and the transceiver 215 may be means for acquiring a location. In one example, the target UE 1002 may receive or previously store assistance data associated with one or more neighboring stations. For example, the assistance data may include station identification and location information, range class information, beam identification and parameters (e.g., angles, power settings, offsets, etc.), as well as other parameters that may be used in the location calculation. The location may be based on determining a location of a single neighboring UE (i.e., the location of the neighboring UE may be used as a location for the target UE 1002). In one example, the location may be based on an intersection of coverage areas associated with multiple neighboring UEs. In one example, the method 1300 may include receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted by the neighboring UE via a second radio access technology, determining sidelink measurements such as RSRP, RSRQ, RTT, etc. for the one or more sidelink reference signals, and acquiring a location based on the sidelink measurements.

[0116]

[0130] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, depending on the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. Features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various positions, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations. For example, one or more functions described above as being performed in the LMF 120, or one or more portions thereof, may be performed outside the LMF 120, such as by the TRP 300.

[0117]

[0131] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, a "processor" can include one processor or multiple processors. As used herein, the terms "comprise," "comprising," "include," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0118]

[0132] As used in this specification, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0119]

[0133] Also, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items (possibly preceded by "at least one of" or by "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive list, such as a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C," or a list of "A or B or C" meaning A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item may be configured to perform the function with respect to A, or may be configured to perform the function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform the function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select whether to measure A and B, or to choose to measure both). Similarly, recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether to measure A and B, or to choose to measure both).As another example, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform at least one of performing function X or performing function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to perform at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select whether to measure X and Y, or to select to measure both). Substantial variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or certain elements may be implemented in hardware, software executed by the processor (including portable software such as applets, etc.), or both. Furthermore, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be used.

[0120]

[0134] The systems and devices described above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components, as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to a particular configuration may be combined in various other configurations. Different features and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and thus many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0121]

[0135] A wireless communication system is one in which communications are conveyed wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or sound waves propagating through atmospheric space, rather than through wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network is configured such that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly, although not all communications are transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device is exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that the device is a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0122]

[0136] Specific details have been given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the example configurations (including the implementation). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the foregoing description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0123]

[0137] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as a signal). In many implementations, the processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0124]

[0138] A statement that a value exceeds (i.e., is more than or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold, at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (i.e., is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold, at the resolution of the computing system.

[0125]

[0139] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0126]

[0140] Clause 1. A method for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; determining measurements for the one or more reference signals; receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the station; and obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0127]

[0141] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first radio access technology is a cellular communication network and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface.

[0128]

[0142] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the cellular communication network is a long term evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface is a PC5 interface.

[0129]

[0143] Clause 4. The method of clause 1, wherein the identity value is a sidelink sequence identity value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the station.

[0130]

[0144] Clause 5. The method of clause 1, wherein the measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0131]

[0145] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein the measurement value includes a beam identification value or a base station identification value associated with at least one of the one or more reference signals.

[0132]

[0146] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, further comprising transmitting the identification value and the measurement value associated with the station to a network server, wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network server.

[0133]

[0147] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the identification value and the measurement value associated with the station are transmitted in a single message.

[0134]

[0148] Clause 9. The method of clause 1, further comprising receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology, determining sidelink measurement values ​​for the one or more sidelink reference signals, and obtaining the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurement values.

[0135]

[0149] Clause 10. The method of clause 1, further comprising receiving assistance data from a network server, and wherein obtaining the location is based at least in part on the measurements, the discovery signal, and the assistance data.

[0136]

[0150] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the assistance data includes a location of the station and a range class associated with the station.

[0137]

[0151] Clause 12. A method for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, wherein the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted over a first radio access technology; receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, wherein the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; determining a location of a station for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values; and determining the location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station.

[0138]

[0152] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the first radio access technology is a cellular communication network and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface.

[0139]

[0153] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the cellular communication network is a Long Term Evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface is a PC5 interface.

[0140]

[0154] Clause 15. The method of clause 12, wherein the one or more neighbor identity values ​​comprise a sidelink sequence identity value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the station.

[0141]

[0155] Clause 16. The method of clause 12, wherein the one or more reference signal measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0142]

[0156] Clause 17. The method of clause 12, wherein the one or more reference signal measurements include a beam identification value or a base station identification value associated with at least one of the signals transmitted via the first radio access technology.

[0143]

[0157] Clause 18. The method of clause 12, wherein the one or more reference signal measurements and the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are received in a single message.

[0144]

[0158] Clause 19. The method of clause 12, further comprising receiving one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology, and determining the location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements.

[0145]

[0159] Clause 20. The method of clause 12, further comprising providing assistance data to the mobile device, wherein the assistance data includes location information for one or more neighboring stations.

[0146]

[0160] Clause 21. A method for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, wherein the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station; and obtaining the location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0147]

[0161] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, further comprising receiving assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, wherein obtaining the location is based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0148]

[0162] Clause 23. The method of clause 22, wherein the assistance data includes a range class associated with the at least one neighboring station.

[0149]

[0163] Clause 24. The method of clause 22, wherein the identification information comprises a sidelink sequence identification value, a subscription concealment identifier, a subscription persistent identifier, or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the at least one neighbor station.

[0150]

[0164] Clause 25. The method of clause 21, wherein the identification value is a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station.

[0151]

[0165] Clause 26. The method of clause 21, further comprising transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network server, wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network server.

[0152]

[0166] Clause 27. The method of clause 21, further comprising obtaining one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighbor station, wherein the one or more sidelink measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0153]

[0167] Clause 28. The method of clause 21, further comprising transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network station via a side link, wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network station via the side link.

[0154]

[0168] Clause 29. The method of clause 21, wherein the at least one neighbor station is a user equipment and the discovery signal is received via a sidelink.

[0155]

[0169] Clause 30. The method of clause 29, wherein the side link is a PC5 interface.

[0156]

[0170] Clause 31. The method of clause 21, wherein the at least one neighboring station is a base station and the discovery signal is received over a Uu interface.

[0157]

[0171] Clause 32. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receive one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; determine measurements for the one or more reference signals; receive a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the station; and obtain the location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0158]

[0172] Clause 33. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the first radio access technology is a cellular communication network and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface.

[0159]

[0173] Clause 34. The apparatus described in clause 33, wherein the cellular communication network is a Long Term Evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface is a PC5 interface.

[0160]

[0174] Clause 35. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the identification value is a sidelink sequence identification value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the station.

[0161]

[0175] Clause 36. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0162]

[0176] Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the measurements include a beam identification value or a base station identification value associated with at least one of the one or more reference signals.

[0163]

[0177] Clause 38. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the identification value and the measurement value associated with the station to a network server, wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network server.

[0164]

[0178] Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology; determine sidelink measurements for the one or more sidelink reference signals; and obtain the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurements.

[0165]

[0179] Clause 40. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receive one or more reference signal measurements from a mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted over a first radio access technology; receive one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; determine a location of a station for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values; and determine a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station.

[0166]

[0180] Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the first radio access technology is a cellular communication network and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface.

[0167]

[0181] Clause 42. The apparatus described in clause 41, wherein the cellular communication network is a Long Term Evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface is a PC5 interface.

[0168]

[0182] Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the one or more neighbor identity values ​​include a sidelink sequence identity value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the station.

[0169]

[0183] Clause 44. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the one or more reference signal measurements include one of reference signal received power, reference signal received quality, received signal strength indication, time of arrival, and round trip signal propagation time.

[0170]

[0184] Clause 45. The apparatus of Clause 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology, and determine the location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements.

[0171]

[0185] Clause 46. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receive a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, wherein the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station; and obtain a location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0172]

[0186] Clause 47. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, and wherein obtaining the location is based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0173]

[0187] Clause 48. The apparatus of clause 47, wherein the assistance data includes a range class associated with the at least one neighbor station.

[0174]

[0188] Clause 49. The apparatus of clause 47, wherein the identification information includes a sidelink sequence identification value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the at least one neighbor station.

[0175]

[0189] Clause 50. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the identification value is a sidelink sequence identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station.

[0176]

[0190] Clause 51. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighbor station, wherein the one or more sidelink measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0177]

[0191] Clause 52. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network station over a side link, and wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network station over the side link.

[0178]

[0192] Clause 53. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the at least one neighbor station is user equipment and the discovery signal is received via a sidelink.

[0179]

[0193] Clause 54. The apparatus of clause 53, wherein the sidelink is a PC5 interface.

[0180]

[0194] Clause 55. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the at least one neighboring station is a base station and the discovery signal is received over a Uu interface.

[0181]

[0195] Clause 56. An apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: means for receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; means for determining measurements for the one or more reference signals; means for receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the station; and means for obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0182]

[0196] Clause 57. The apparatus of clause 56, further comprising means for transmitting the identification value and the measurement value associated with the station to a network server, wherein the means for obtaining the location includes means for receiving the location from the network server.

[0183]

[0197] Clause 58. The apparatus of clause 56, further comprising: means for receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology; means for determining sidelink measurements for the one or more sidelink reference signals; and means for obtaining the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurements.

[0184]

[0198] Clause 59. The apparatus of clause 56, further comprising: means for receiving assistance data from a network server; and means for obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements, the discovery signal, and the assistance data.

[0185]

[0199] Clause 60. An apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: means for receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted over a first radio access technology; means for receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; means for determining a location of a station for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values; and means for determining the location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station.

[0186]

[0200] Clause 61. The apparatus of clause 60, further comprising: means for receiving one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology; and means for determining the location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements.

[0187]

[0201] Clause 62. The apparatus of clause 60, further comprising means for providing assistance data to the mobile device, wherein the assistance data includes location information for one or more neighboring stations.

[0188]

[0202] Clause 63. An apparatus for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: means for receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, wherein the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station; and means for obtaining the location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0189]

[0203] Clause 64. The apparatus of clause 63, further comprising means for receiving assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, wherein the location is obtained based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0190]

[0204] Clause 65. The apparatus of clause 63, further comprising means for transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station to a network server, wherein the means for obtaining the location includes means for receiving the location from the network server.

[0191]

[0205] Clause 66. The apparatus of clause 63, further comprising means for obtaining one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighbor station, wherein the one or more sidelink measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0192]

[0206] Clause 67. The apparatus of clause 63, further comprising means for transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network station via a side link, wherein the means for acquiring the location includes means for receiving the location from the network station via the side link.

[0193]

[0207] Article 68. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first wireless access technology; code for determining measurements for the one or more reference signals; code for receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second wireless access technology different from the first wireless access technology, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the station; and code for obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal.

[0194]

[0208] Clause 69. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 68, further comprising code for transmitting the identification value and the measurement value associated with the station to a network server, wherein the code for obtaining the location includes code for receiving the location from the network server.

[0195]

[0209] Clause 70. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 68, further comprising: code for receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology; code for determining sidelink measurements for the one or more sidelink reference signals; and code for obtaining the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurements.

[0196]

[0210] Clause 71. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 68, further comprising: code for receiving assistance data from a network server; and code for obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements, the discovery signal, and the assistance data.

[0197]

[0211] 72. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on signals transmitted over a first radio access technology; code for receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; code for determining a location of a station for at least one of the one or more neighbor identification values; and code for determining the location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station.

[0198]

[0212] Clause 73. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 72, further comprising: code for receiving one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology; and code for determining the location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements.

[0199]

[0213] Clause 74. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 72, further comprising code for providing assistance data to the mobile device, wherein the assistance data includes location information for one or more neighboring stations.

[0200]

[0214] Clause 75. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a mobile device, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving a discovery signal from at least one neighboring station, the discovery signal including an identification value associated with the at least one neighboring station; and code for obtaining the location based at least in part on the discovery signal.

[0201]

[0215] Clause 76. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 75, further comprising code for receiving assistance data including location information and identification information associated with one or more neighboring stations, wherein the code for obtaining the location is based at least in part on the assistance data.

[0202]

[0216] Clause 77. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 75, further comprising code for transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network server, wherein the code for obtaining the location includes code for receiving the location from the network server.

[0203]

[0217] Clause 78. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 75, further comprising code for obtaining one or more sidelink measurements based on one or more sidelink messages transmitted from the at least one neighbor station, wherein the one or more sidelink measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

[0204]

[0218] Clause 79. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 75, further comprising code for transmitting the identification value associated with the at least one neighbor station to a network station via a side link, wherein the code for obtaining the location includes code for receiving the location from the network station via the side link.

Claims

1. A method performed in a user equipment (UE) for determining the location of the UE, comprising: receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; determining measurements for the one or more reference signals; receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, wherein the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station; obtaining the location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal; and A method for providing the above.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first radio access technology is a cellular communication network and the second radio access technology is a device-to-device communication interface, and optionally, the cellular communication network is a Long Term Evolution network or a fifth generation new wireless network, and the device-to-device communication interface is a PC5 interface.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identity value is a sidelink sequence identity value or an international mobile equipment identity value associated with the station.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements include one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, a time of arrival, and a round trip signal propagation time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements include a beam identification value or a base station identification value associated with at least one of the one or more reference signals.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the identification value and the measurement values ​​associated with the station to a network server, wherein obtaining the location includes receiving the location from the network server, and optionally the identification value and the measurement values ​​associated with the station are transmitted in a single message.

7. receiving one or more sidelink reference signals transmitted via the second radio access technology; and determining sidelink measurements for the one or more sidelink reference signals; and obtaining the location based at least in part on the sidelink measurements; and The method of claim 1 further comprising:

8. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving assistance data from a network server, wherein obtaining the location is based at least in part on the measurements, the discovery signal, and the assistance data, optionally including a location of the station and a range class associated with the station.

9. 1. A method performed in a location server for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising: receiving one or more reference signal measurements from the mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on a signal transmitted over a first radio access technology; receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; determining a location of a station with respect to at least one of said one or more neighbor identification values; determining the location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station; A method for providing the above.

10. receiving one or more sidelink measurements based on signals received by the mobile device via the second radio access technology; and determining the location based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurements; and The method of claim 9 further comprising:

11. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing assistance data to the mobile device, wherein the assistance data includes location information for one or more neighboring stations.

12. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory, At least one transceiver; a communication device communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; receiving one or more reference signals transmitted via a first radio access technology; determining measurements for the one or more reference signals; receiving a discovery signal from a station via a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, wherein the discovery signal includes an identification value associated with the station; obtaining a location based at least in part on the measurements and the discovery signal; and At least one processor configured to: A UE comprising:

13. The UE of claim 12, further configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 2 to 8.

14. A location server comprising: Memory, At least one transceiver; a communication device communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; receiving one or more reference signal measurements from a mobile device, where the one or more reference signal measurements are based on a signal transmitted over a first radio access technology; receiving one or more neighbor identification values ​​from the mobile device, where the one or more neighbor identification values ​​are based on signals received by the mobile device over a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; determining a location of a station with respect to at least one of said one or more neighbor identification values; determining a location of the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more reference signal measurements and the location of the station; At least one processor configured to: A location server comprising:

15. A location server as described in claim 14, further configured to perform a method as described in any one of claims 10 to 11.

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