Positioning Peer Selection in Cooperative Sidelink Positioning

Abstract

In one aspect, a target user equipment UE receives discovery messages from peer UEs (1602). Each discovery message indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the peer UEs for participating in a sidelink positioning session. The target UE sends interest messages to the peer UEs indicating the target UE's intention to have the peer UEs participate in the sidelink positioning session (1604) and receives capability messages from the peer UEs indicating additional capabilities associated with each of the peer UEs (1606). The target UE sends selection messages to at least one peer UE that will participate in the sidelink positioning session based on the subset of capabilities associated with the at least one peer UE and the additional capabilities (1608). The selection message requests the at least one peer UE to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target UE.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of Greek Patent Application No. 20210100245, entitled "POSITIONING PEER SELECTION IN COOPERATIVE SIDELINK POSITIONING," filed on April 9, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification.

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

[0003]

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

[0004]

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

[0005]

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

[0006]

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for selecting a positioning peer is performed by a target user equipment. The method includes receiving one or more discovery messages. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages is received from a corresponding one of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. The method includes sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session. The method includes receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments. Each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The method includes sending a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer user equipments based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0007]

[0007] In a second aspect, a target user equipment includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more discovery messages. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages is received from a corresponding one of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities for participating in a sidelink positioning session associated with the corresponding peer user equipment. The at least one processor is configured to send an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments. Each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The at least one processor is configured to send a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment and additional capabilities for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0008]

[0008] In a third aspect, an apparatus includes means for receiving one or more discovery messages. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities for participating in a sidelink positioning session associated with the corresponding peer user equipment. The apparatus includes means for sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments. Each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The apparatus includes means for sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests the at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0009]

[0009] In a fourth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive one or more discovery messages. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages is received from a corresponding one of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities for participating in a sidelink positioning session associated with the corresponding peer user equipment. The instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to send an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session. The instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments. Each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to send a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0010]

[0010] In a fifth aspect, a method for selecting a positioning peer is performed by a target user equipment. The method includes transmitting a sidelink solicitation message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session. The sidelink solicitation message includes a subset of capabilities. The method includes receiving one or more discovery solicitation messages. Each discovery solicitation message of the one or more discovery solicitation messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery solicitation message of the one or more discovery solicitation messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities. The method includes sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating the additional capability. The method includes receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. The method includes sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0011]

[0011] In a sixth aspect, a target user equipment includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to transmit a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session. The sidelink request message includes the subset of capabilities. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more discovery request messages. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities. The at least one processor is configured to send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments. The second message indicates additional capabilities. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. The at least one processor is configured to send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0012]

[0012] In a seventh aspect, an apparatus includes means for transmitting a sidelink request message to one or more peer user equipments requesting them to participate in a sidelink positioning session. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more discovery request messages. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities. The apparatus includes means for sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating the additional capability. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. The apparatus includes means for sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests the at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0013] In an eighth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to send a sidelink request message to one or more peer user equipments requesting participation in a sidelink positioning session. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. The instructions are executable by the one or more processors to receive one or more discovery request messages. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities. The instructions are executable by the one or more processors to send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments. The second message indicates additional capabilities. The instructions are executable by the one or more processors to receive one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. The instructions are executable by the one or more processors to send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and an additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0014]

[0014] In a ninth aspect, a method for participating in a sidelink positioning session is performed by a peer user equipment. The method includes receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in at least one role. The method includes sending, by the peer user equipment, a message including capabilities associated with the peer user equipment. The capabilities indicate the at least one role. The method includes receiving, by the peer user equipment, a positioning message from a target user equipment. The positioning message requests the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. The method includes participating, by the peer user equipment, in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0015]

[0015] In a tenth aspect, a peer user equipment includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive an authorization message from a network entity of a serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role. The at least one processor is configured to send a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment. The capability indicates the at least one role. The at least one processor is configured to receive a positioning message from a target user equipment. The positioning message requests the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. The at least one processor is configured to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0016]

[0016] In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus includes means for receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell. The authorization message authorizes a peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role. The apparatus includes means for sending, by the peer user equipment, a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment. The capability indicates the at least one role. The apparatus includes means for receiving, by the peer user equipment, a positioning message from a target user equipment. The positioning message requests the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. The apparatus includes means for participating, by the peer user equipment, in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0017]

[0017] In a twelfth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive an authorization message from a network entity of a serving cell. The authorization message authorizes a peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role. The instructions are executable to send a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment. The capability indicates the at least one role. The instructions are executable to receive a positioning message from a target user equipment. The positioning message requests the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. The instructions are executable to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment.

[0018]

[0018] In a thirteenth aspect, a method for authorizing a peer user equipment is performed by a network entity. The method includes receiving an authorization request from the peer user equipment. The authorization request requests permission to participate in a positioning session. The authorization request comprises data associated with the peer user equipment. The method includes sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on determining, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment, that the peer user equipment is unable to perform a role in the positioning session. The method includes sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on determining, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment, that the peer user equipment is able to perform a role in the positioning session.

[0019]

[0019] In a fourteenth aspect, a network entity includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests authorization to participate in a positioning session. The authorization request includes data associated with the peer user equipment. The at least one processor is configured to send a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role in the positioning session. The at least one processor is configured to send a permission message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment can perform a role in the positioning session.

[0020]

[0020] In a fifteenth aspect, an apparatus includes means for receiving an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests authorization to participate in a positioning session. The authorization request comprises data associated with the peer user equipment. The apparatus includes means for sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on a determination based on the data associated with the peer user equipment that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role in the positioning session. The apparatus includes means for sending a permission message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on a determination based on the data associated with the peer user equipment that the peer user equipment can perform the role in the positioning session.

[0021]

[0021] In a sixteenth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests authorization to participate in a positioning session. The authorization request includes data associated with the peer user equipment. The instructions are executable to send a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role in the positioning session. The instructions are executable to send an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment can perform a role in the positioning session.

[0022]

[0022] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention.

[0023]

[0023] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided merely to illustrate the aspects, not to limit the aspects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1]

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0026] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4]

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system supporting unicast sidelink establishment, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A]

[0028] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5D] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]

[0029] 1 illustrates an example scenario in which a UE with a known location may be used to improve a location estimate of a target UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario in which the location of a target UE without cellular connectivity is determined with the assistance of multiple UEs with cellular connectivity, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates an example scenario in which a relay UE assists in positioning a remote UE, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9]

[0032] 1 is a diagram of an example slot structure without feedback resources, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 10]

[0033] 11A-11C illustrate example overlaps between resource pools and resource pools for positioning, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11]

[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system that reserves a resource pool for positioning, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system including a device-to-device (D2D) relay, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]

[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system in which peer user equipment (UE) announces availability to perform positioning, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0037] 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system in which a target UE requests peer UEs to perform positioning, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates an example diagram for establishing a connection, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0039] 1 illustrates an example process including receiving one or more discovery messages, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 17]

[0040] FIG. 13 illustrates an example process including transmitting a sidelink request message according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 18]

[0041] 4 illustrates an example process including receiving an authorization message according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 19]

[0042] 4 illustrates an example process including receiving an authorization request, according to an aspect of the disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025]

[0043] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0026]

[0044] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0027]

[0045] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0028]

[0046] Further, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Furthermore, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0029]

[0047] The terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" as used herein are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via the RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks, such as the Internet, and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0030]

[0048] Depending on the network in which it is deployed, a base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with the UE and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term Traffic Channel (TCH) as used herein may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0031]

[0049] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, if the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. If the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in cases where the base station employs beamforming). If the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, so that as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0032]

[0050] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0033]

[0051] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0034]

[0052] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations 102 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0035]

[0053] The base stations 102 collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 174 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP)) through the core network 174. The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 174 or may be external to the core network 174. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0036]

[0054] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within any portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0037]

[0055] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0038]

[0056] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions (also referred to as reverse link) from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) transmissions (also referred to as forward link) from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0039]

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0040]

[0058] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0041]

[0059] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also called centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Moreover, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Thus, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0042]

[0060] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). In transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0043]

[0061] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocated (QCL) relationships. In particular, a QCL relationship of a given type means that some parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam may be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial receive parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0044]

[0062] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0045]

[0063] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters for the second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0046]

[0064] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0047]

[0065] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW frequency band generally includes the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Thus, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" may generally be used interchangeably.

[0048]

[0066] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell" and the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., nothing UE-specific may be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0049]

[0067] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0050]

[0068] In the example of FIG. 1, one or more Earth-orbiting Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Space Vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites) may be used as independent sources of location information for any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity). The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers specially designed to receive SPS signals 124 to derive geolocation information from the SVs 112. An SPS generally includes a system of transmitters arranged to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine the location of the receiver on or above the Earth based at least in part on signals (e.g., SPS signals 124) received from a transmitter (e.g., SVs 112). Such transmitters generally transmit signals marked with a repetitive pseudorandom noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although generally located in the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104.

[0051]

[0069] Use of the SPS signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, an SPS as used herein may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and SPS signals 124 may include SPS signals, SPS-like signals, and / or other signals related to such one or more SPSs.

[0052]

[0070] In particular, leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of NR, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to support Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles and pedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is for vehicles to be able to sense the environment around them and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicular communications would enable safety, mobility, and environmental improvements that current technologies cannot provide. When fully implemented, the technology is expected to reduce unimpaired vehicle crashes by 80%.

[0053]

[0071] Still referring to FIG. 1 , the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple V-UEs 160 that may communicate with the base station 102 over the communication link 120 (e.g., using the Uu interface). The V-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other over wireless sidelink 162, with a roadside access point 164 (also referred to as a “roadside unit”) over wireless sidelink 166, or with the UE 104 over wireless sidelink 168. The wireless sidelink (or simply “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, V2V communications, V2X communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the groups of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such groups may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each V-UE 160 transmits to every other V-UE 160 in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications occur between the V-UEs 160 without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0054]

[0072] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may operate over a wireless communications medium of interest that may be shared with other vehicular and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. The "medium" may be comprised of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communications resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0055]

[0073] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. The first generation of cV2X is standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also enables device-to-device communication. In the United States and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in licensed ITS bands in the sub-6 GHz. In other countries, other bands may be allocated. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the sub-6 GHz licensed ITS frequency band. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0056]

[0074] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a unidirectional or bidirectional short- to medium-range wireless communication protocol that uses the wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) protocol, also known as IEEE 802.11p, for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band of 5.9 GHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875-5.905 MHz). Other bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on a safety channel, which in the United States is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated to safety purposes. The remainder of the DSRC band (total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road rules, toll collection, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the 5.9 GHz licensed ITS frequency band.

[0057]

[0075] Alternatively, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands are reserved for some communication systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended their operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi". Exemplary systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0058]

[0076] Communications between V-UEs 160 are referred to as V2V communications, communications between V-UEs 160 and one or more roadside access points 164 are referred to as V2I communications, and communications between V-UEs 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where UEs 104 are P-UEs) are referred to as V2P communications. V2V communications between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information regarding the position, speed, acceleration, orientation, and other vehicle data of V-UEs 160. V2I information received at V-UEs 160 from one or more roadside access points 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. V2P communications between V-UEs 160 and UEs 104 may include, for example, information regarding the position, speed, acceleration, and orientation of V-UEs 160, and the position, speed (e.g., if UEs 104 are carried by a user on a bicycle), and orientation of UEs 104.

[0059]

[0077] It should be noted that while FIG. 1 illustrates only two of the UEs as V-UEs (V-UE 160), any of the illustrated UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. Additionally, while only V-UE 160 and a single UE 104 are illustrated as being connected via sidelink, any of the UEs illustrated in FIG. 1 may be capable of sidelink communication, whether V-UE or P-UE, etc. Additionally, while only UE 182 has been described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including V-UE 160, may be capable of beamforming. If V-UE 160 is capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other V-UEs 160), toward roadside access point 164, toward other UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UE 160 may utilize beamforming over sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0060]

[0078] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, etc. As another example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be sidelinks, such as those described above with respect to the sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0061]

[0079] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be considered functionally as a control plane function (C-plane) 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function (U-plane) 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, a ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNBs 224 and the gNBs 222. Either the gNBs 222 or the ng-eNBs 224 (or both) may communicate with the UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). In one aspect, two or more UEs 204 may communicate with each other via a wireless sidelink 242, which may correspond to the wireless sidelink 162 in FIG. 1.

[0062]

[0080] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Additionally, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network or, alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0063]

[0081] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. The 5GC 260 (which may correspond to the 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the NG-RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. The base stations of the NG-RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface. Either (or both) of the gNBs 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with a UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). In one aspect, two or more UEs 204 may communicate with each other via a sidelink 242, which may correspond to the sidelink 162 in FIG. 1.

[0064]

[0082] The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the LMF 270 acting as the location server 230, transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0065]

[0083] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "termination markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as the SLP 272.

[0066]

[0084] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0067]

[0085] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may be connected to the LMF 270 via a core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, except that the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 via a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) via a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0068]

[0086] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components as those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0069]

[0087] The UE 302 and base station 304 each include at least one wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0070]

[0088] The UE 302 and base station 304 also each, in at least some cases, include at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communications (NFC), etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a specified RAT. In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, Zigbee and / or Z-Wave transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0071]

[0089] A transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may in some implementations comprise an integrated device (e.g., implemented as a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit of a single communication device), in some implementations comprise separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices, or in other implementations may be implemented in other manners. In one aspect, the transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas, such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), that enable each device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas, such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), that enable each device to only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless communications device of the UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also comprise a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0072]

[0090] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide a means for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and actions from other systems as appropriate, and perform the calculations necessary to determine the positions of the UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithms.

[0073]

[0091] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0074]

[0092] In one aspect, the at least one WWAN transceiver 310 and / or the at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320 may form a (wireless) communication interface of the UE 302. Similarly, the at least one WWAN transceiver 350, the at least one short-range wireless transceiver 360, and / or the at least one network interface 380 may form a (wireless) communication interface of the base station 304. Similarly, the at least one network interface 390 may form a (wireless) communication interface of the network entity 306. The various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360) and wired transceivers (e.g., network interfaces 380 and 390) may be generally characterized as at least one transceiver or, alternatively, as at least one communication interface. Thus, whether a particular transceiver or communication interface relates to a wired or wireless transceiver or communication interface, respectively, may be inferred from the type of communication being performed (e.g., backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via at least one wired transceiver).

[0075]

[0093] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include at least one processor 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functionality related to wireless positioning and to provide other processing functions. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may thus provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, at least one general-purpose processor, multi-core processor, central processing unit (CPU), ASIC, digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), other programmable logic device or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0076]

[0094] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). The memory components 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be part of the at least one WWAN transceiver 310, the memory component 340, the at least one processor 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of a positioning component 388, which may be part of at least one WWAN transceiver 350, a memory component 386, at least one processor 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of a positioning component 398, which may be part of at least one network interface 390, a memory component 396, at least one processor 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0077]

[0095] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the at least one processor 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the at least one WWAN transceiver 310, the at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0078]

[0096] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or a means for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0079]

[0097] Referring more particularly to the at least one processor 384, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the at least one processor 384. The at least one processor 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The at least one processor 384 may provide RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of higher layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0080]

[0098] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0081]

[0099] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to at least one processor 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams addressed to the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are addressed to the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to at least one processor 332 that implements Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0082]

[0100] In the uplink, the at least one processor 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The at least one processor 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0083]

[0101] Similar to the functions described with respect to downlink transmission by the base station 304, the at least one processor 332 provides RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0084]

[0102] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0085]

[0103] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to at least one processor 384.

[0086]

[0104] In the uplink, the at least one processor 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the at least one processor 384 may be provided to the core network. The at least one processor 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0087]

[0105] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A-3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein, however, it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functionality in different designs.

[0088]

[0106] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB functionality and location server functionality integrated in the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0089]

[0107] The components of Figures 3A-3C may be implemented in a variety of ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A-3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0090]

[0108] 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 400 supporting wireless unicast sidelink establishment according to aspects of the disclosure. In some examples, the wireless communication system 400 may implement aspects of the wireless communication systems 100, 200, and 250. The wireless communication system 400 may include a first UE 402 and a second UE 404, which may be examples of any of the UEs described herein. As specific examples, the UEs 402 and 404 may correspond to the V-UE 160 in FIG. 1, the UE 190 and UE 104 in FIG. 1 connected via the D2D P2P link 192, or the UE 204 in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.

[0091]

[0109] In the example of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may attempt to establish a unicast connection over a sidelink with the UE 404, which may be a V2X sidelink between the UE 402 and the UE 404. As a particular example, the established sidelink connection may correspond to the sidelink 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1 or the sidelink 242 in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. The sidelink connection may be established in an omnidirectional frequency range (e.g., FR1) and / or an mmW frequency range (e.g., FR2). In some cases, the UE 402 may be referred to as an initiating UE that initiates a sidelink connection procedure, and the UE 404 may be referred to as a target UE that is targeted for the sidelink connection procedure by the initiating UE.

[0092]

[0110] To establish a unicast connection, Access Stratum (AS) (functional layer in the UMTS and LTE protocol stack between the RAN and the UE, responsible for transporting data over wireless links and managing radio resources, and part of Layer 2) parameters may be configured and negotiated between the UE 402 and the UE 404. For example, transmit and receive capability matching may be negotiated between the UE 402 and the UE 404. Each UE may have different capabilities (e.g., transmit and receive, 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), transmit diversity, carrier aggregation (CA), supported communication frequency band(s), etc.). In some cases, different services may be supported at higher layers of the corresponding protocol stacks for the UE 402 and the UE 404. Furthermore, a security association may be established between the UE 402 and the UE 404 for the unicast connection. Unicast traffic may benefit from security protection (e.g., integrity protection) at the link level. Security requirements may differ for different wireless communication systems. For example, a V2X system and a Uu system may have different security requirements (e.g., Uu security does not include confidentiality protection). Additionally, IP configurations (e.g., IP version, addresses, etc.) may be negotiated for a unicast connection between UE 402 and UE 404.

[0093]

[0111] In some cases, the UE 404 may create a service announcement (e.g., a service capability message) to be transmitted over a cellular network (e.g., cV2X) to assist in sidelink connection establishment. Conventionally, the UE 402 may identify and locate candidates for sidelink communication based on a broadcasted basic service message (BSM) decrypted by a nearby UE (e.g., the UE 404). The BSM may include location information, security and identification information, and vehicle information (e.g., speed, operation, size, etc.) for the corresponding UE. However, for a different wireless communication system (e.g., D2D or V2X communication), a discovery channel may not be configured so that the UE 402 can detect the BSM(s). Thus, the service announcement (e.g., discovery signal) transmitted by the UE 404 and other nearby UEs is a higher layer signal and may be broadcast (e.g., in an NR sidelink broadcast). In some cases, the UE 404 may include one or more parameters about itself in the service announcement, including connection parameters and / or capabilities it possesses. The UE 402 may then monitor and receive the broadcasted service announcements to identify potential UEs for a corresponding sidelink connection. In some cases, the UE 402 may identify potential UEs based on the capabilities that each UE indicates in their respective service announcements.

[0094]

[0112] The service announcement may include information to assist the UE 402 (e.g., or any initiating UE) to identify the UE (UE 404 in the example of FIG. 4) that sends the service announcement. For example, the service announcement may include channel information if a direct communication request may be sent. In some cases, the channel information may be RAT-specific (e.g., specific to LTE or NR) and may include a resource pool in which the UE 402 sends the communication request. Furthermore, the service announcement may include a specific destination address (e.g., Layer 2 destination address) for the UE if the destination address is different from the current address (e.g., the address of the streaming provider or the UE sending the service announcement). The service announcement may also include a network or transport layer for the UE 402 to send the communication request. For example, the network layer (also referred to as "Layer 4" or "L3") or the transport layer (also referred to as "Layer 4" or "L4") may indicate a port number of the application for the UE sending the service announcement. In some cases, IP addressing may not be required if the signaling (e.g., PC5 signaling) directly carries a protocol (e.g., Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP)) or provides a locally generated random protocol. Additionally, the service announcement may include some type of protocol for credential establishment and QoS related parameters.

[0095]

[0113] After identifying a potential sidelink connection target (UE 404 in the example of FIG. 4), the initiating UE (UE 402 in the example of FIG. 4) may send a connection request 415 to the identified target UE 404. In some cases, the connection request 415 may be a first RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupRequest" message) sent by the UE 402 to request a unicast connection with the UE 404. For example, the unicast connection may utilize a PC5 interface for the sidelink and the connection request 415 may be an RRC Connection Setup Request message. Furthermore, the UE 402 may use the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to transport the connection request 415.

[0096]

[0114] After receiving the connection request 415, the UE 404 may determine whether to accept or reject the connection request 415. The UE 404 may base this decision on transmit / receive capabilities, an ability to accommodate a unicast connection over the sidelink, a particular service indicated for the unicast connection, content to be transmitted over the unicast connection, or a combination thereof. For example, if the UE 402 desires to use a first RAT to transmit or receive data, but the UE 404 does not support the first RAT, the UE 404 may reject the connection request 415. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 404 may reject the connection request 415 based on an inability to accommodate a unicast connection over the sidelink due to limited radio resources, scheduling issues, etc. Thus, the UE 404 may send an indication of whether the request is accepted or rejected in the connection response 420. Similar to the UE 402 and the connection request 415, the UE 404 may use the sidelink signaling radio bearer 410 to transport the connection response 420. Further, the connection response 420 may be a second RRC message (eg, an “RRCDirectConnectionResponse” message) sent by the UE 404 in response to the connection request 415.

[0097]

[0115] In some cases, the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 and the sidelink signaling radio bearer 410 may be the same sidelink signaling radio bearer or may be separate sidelink signaling radio bearers. Thus, a radio link control (RLC) layer acknowledged mode (AM) may be used for the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. UEs that support unicast connections may listen on logical channels associated with the sidelink signaling radio bearers. In some cases, the AS layer (i.e., Layer 2) may pass information directly through RRC signaling (e.g., control plane) instead of the V2X layer (e.g., data plane).

[0098]

[0116] If the connection response 420 indicates that the UE 404 accepted the connection request 415, the UE 402 may send a connection establishment 425 message on the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to indicate that the unicast connection setup is complete. In some cases, the connection establishment 425 may be a third RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupComplete" message). Each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection establishment 425 may use basic capabilities to enable each UE to be able to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g., an RRC message) when being transported from one UE to the other UE.

[0099]

[0117] Additionally, an identifier may be used for each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection establishment 425. For example, the identifier may indicate which UE 402 / 304 is sending which message and / or which UE 402 / 304 the message is intended for. In a physical (PHY) layer channel, the RRC signaling and subsequent data transmission may use the same identifier (e.g., Layer 2 ID). However, in a logical channel, the identifier may be separate for the RRC signaling and for the data transmission. For example, on a logical channel, the RRC signaling and the data transmission may be treated differently and have different acknowledgement (ACK) feedback messaging. In some cases, for RRC messaging, a physical layer ACK may be used to ensure that the corresponding message is properly transmitted and received.

[0100]

[0118] For a unicast connection, one or more information elements may be included in the connection request 415 and / or connection response 420 for the UE 402 and / or UE 404, respectively, to enable negotiation of corresponding AS layer parameters. For example, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters in a corresponding unicast connection setup message to set up a PDCP context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the PDCP context may indicate whether PDCP duplication is utilized for the unicast connection. Furthermore, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include RLC parameters when establishing the unicast connection to set up an RLC context for the unicast connection. For example, the RLC context may indicate whether AM is used (e.g., t-reordering is used) or unacknowledged mode (UM) is used for the RLC layer of the unicast communication.

[0101]

[0119] Further, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include MAC parameters to set a medium access control (MAC) context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the MAC context may enable a resource selection algorithm, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback scheme (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK) feedback), parameters for a HARQ feedback scheme, carrier aggregation, or a combination thereof, for the unicast connection. Further, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include PHY layer parameters when establishing a unicast connection to set a PHY layer context for the unicast connection. For example, the PHY layer context may indicate a transmission format (unless a transmission profile is included for each UE 402 / 304) and a radio resource configuration (e.g., bandwidth portion (BWP), numerology, etc.) for the unicast connection. These information elements may be supported for different frequency range configurations (e.g., FR1 and FR2).

[0102]

[0120] In some cases, security contexts may also be set for unicast connections (e.g., after a connection establishment 425 message is sent). Before a security association (e.g., security context) is established between the UE 402 and the UE 404, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may not be protected. After a security association is established, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may be protected. Thus, the security context may enable unicast connections as well as secure data transmission over the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. Furthermore, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by a higher layer control protocol operating after the RRC signaling is established (e.g., the unicast connection is established). As mentioned above, the UE 404 may base its decision on whether to accept or reject the connection request 415 on the particular service indicated for the unicast connection and / or content to be transmitted over the unicast connection (e.g., higher layer information). The particular service and / or content may also be indicated by a higher layer control protocol operating after the RRC signaling is established.

[0103]

[0121] After the unicast connection is established, the UE 402 and the UE 404 may communicate using a unicast connection over the sidelink 430, where sidelink data 435 is transmitted between the two UEs 402 and 404. The sidelink 430 may correspond to the sidelink 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1 and / or the sidelink 242 in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. In some cases, the sidelink data 435 may include RRC messages transmitted between the two UEs 402 and 404. To maintain this unicast connection over the sidelink 430, the UE 402 and / or the UE 404 may transmit keep-alive messages (e.g., “RRC Direct Link Alive” message, fourth RRC message, etc.). In some cases, the keep-alive messages may be triggered periodically or on-demand (e.g., event-triggered). Thus, the triggering and transmission of the keep-alive messages may be invoked by the UE 402 or by both the UE 402 and the UE 404. Additionally or alternatively, a MAC control element (MAC-CE) (e.g., defined over the sidelink 430) may be used to monitor the status of the unicast connection on the sidelink 430 and maintain that connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., the UE 402 travels far enough away from the UE 404), either the UE 402 and / or the UE 404 may initiate a release procedure to drop the unicast connection over the sidelink 430. Thus, subsequent RRC messages may not be transmitted between the UE 402 and the UE 404 over the unicast connection.

[0104]

[0122] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 5A is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5B is a diagram 530 illustrating an example of channels in a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5C is a diagram 550 illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5D is a diagram 580 illustrating an example of channels in an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0105]

[0123] LTE, and in some cases, NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.8 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0106]

[0124] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. At each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, slot duration is 0.0625 ms, symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 800 with a 4K FFT size.

[0107]

[0125] In the example of Figures 5A-5D, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 5A-5D, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0108]

[0126] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more (also called physical RB (PRB)) time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of Figures 5A-5D, in the case of a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 84 REs. In the case of an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0109]

[0127] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS), which may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 5A shows example locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled "R").

[0110]

[0128] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of a PRS is called a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and may span "N" consecutive symbols (such as one or more) within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0111]

[0129] The transmission of PRS resources in a given PRB has a particular comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. In particular, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbols of the PRB. For example, for Com 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of Com 2, Com 4, Com 6, and Com 12 are supported for DL-PRS. FIG. 5A shows an example PRS resource configuration for Com 6 (spanning six symbols). That is, the location of the shaded RE (labeled "R") indicates the Com 6 PRS resource configuration.

[0112]

[0130] Currently, DL-PRS resources may span 2, 4, 6 or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot with a fully frequency-domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources may be configured in any upper layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol of a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. Below are the frequency offsets between symbols for comb sizes 2, 4, 6 and 12 across 2, 4, 6 and 12 symbols. Com2 with 2 symbols: {0,1}, Com2 with 4 symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Com2 with 6 symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1}, Com2 with 12 symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}, Com4 with 4 symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 12 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com6 with 6 symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5}, Com6 with 12 symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5,03,1,4,2,5}, and Com12 with 12 symbols: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0113]

[0131] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} slots, with μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} slots.

[0114]

[0132] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not have any implication as to whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0115]

[0133] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be called a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply an "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0116]

[0134] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply called a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs with the same values ​​for some parameters. In particular, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported for the PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" ("ARFCN" stands for "Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number"), which is an identifier / code that specifies the pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers are defined, and up to two PRS resource sets may be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0117]

[0135] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat like that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), except that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, and frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. When a UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session, it may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0118]

[0136] FIG. 5B shows an example of various channels in a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. In general, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, which means that a UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of an SSB, which may or may not include the SSB.

[0119]

[0137] Referring to FIG. 5B, the primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DL-RS mentioned above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The PDSCH carries user data and broadcast system information that is not transmitted through the PBCH, such as the system information block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0120]

[0138] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE containing one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle containing one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is limited to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This allows UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0121]

[0139] In the example of FIG. 5B, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it could be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a unique region (i.e., the CORESET) in the frequency domain. Thus, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in FIG. 5B are shown as smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, it does not have to be contiguous. Additionally, the CORESET may span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0122]

[0140] The DCI in the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent), called uplink grant and downlink grant, respectively, and a description about the downlink data to be transmitted to the UE. More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for the downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and the uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for downlink scheduling, for uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH may be transported by one, two, four, eight, or sixteen CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0123]

[0141] As shown in FIG. 5C, some of the REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). The UE may further transmit an SRS, for example, in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. In the example of FIG. 5C, the illustrated SRS is comb 2 spanning one symbol. The SRS may be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0124]

[0142] Currently, an SRS resource can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot with comb sizes of Com 2, Com 4, or Com 8. Below are the frequency offsets between symbols for the currently supported SRS comb patterns: Com2 with 1 symbol: {0}, Com2 with 2 symbols: {0,1}, Com2 with 4 symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Com4 with 4 symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 8 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 12 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com8 with 4 symbols: {0,4,2,6}, Com8 with 8 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}, and Com8 with 12 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0125]

[0143] A set of resource elements used for transmission of an SRS may be referred to as an "SRS resource" and identified by a parameter "SRS-ResourceId." The set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and may span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0126]

[0144] Generally, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or a neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. The term "SRS" as used herein may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS-for-communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS-for-positioning".

[0127]

[0145] Several extensions over the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (also called "UL-PRS"), such as new staggered patterns in SRS resources (except single symbol / comb 2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. Furthermore, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" should be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active BWP and one SRS resource may span across multiple component carriers. Also, SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, there may be frequency hopping, no repetition factor, single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Also, there may be open loop power control and no closed loop power control, and Com8 (i.e., SRS transmitted in every 8th subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA through the same transmit beam. All of these are features added to the current SRS framework, which are configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through the MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI).

[0128]

[0146] FIG. 5D illustrates an example of various channels in an uplink slot of a frame according to an aspect of the disclosure. A random access channel (RACH), also referred to as a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be in one or more slots in a frame based on a PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs in a slot. The PRACH enables a UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may be further used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0129]

[0147] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to the specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is required between types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS", uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS, PTRS for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS", and sidelink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "SL-PRS". Furthermore, for signals that may be transmitted in the uplink, downlink, and sidelink directions (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, etc.), the signals may be prepended with "UL," "DL," or "SL," respectively, to distinguish the directions. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be differentiated as "SL-DMRS."

[0130]

[0148] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from a pair of base stations, called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives an identifier (ID) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE.

[0131]

[0149] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmission beams to determine an angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0132]

[0150] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on an uplink reference signal (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0133]

[0151] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include Extended Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multi-Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also called "Multi-Cell RTT"). In the RTT procedure, an initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a responder (UE or base station), and the responder transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, called the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, called the transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference. The propagation time (also called "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder may be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations to enable its location to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the known locations of the base stations. The RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0134]

[0152] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identities, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base station(s).

[0135]

[0153] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity of the positioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcasted overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes on its own without using the assistance data.

[0136]

[0154] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 32 μs when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1. In other cases, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 8 μs when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2.

[0137]

[0155] A location estimate may be called by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to cover with some specified or default confidence level).

[0138]

[0156] In addition to downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods, NR supports various sidelink positioning techniques. For example, a sidelink round-trip time (SL-RTT) positioning procedure is introduced for use between UEs, and the SL-RTT positioning procedure is similar to the RTT positioning procedure between a base station and a UE. In the SL-RTT positioning procedure, an initiator UE (e.g., a target UE to be located) transmits a sidelink reference signal (e.g., SL-PRS) on sidelink resources allocated by the initiator UE's serving base station or negotiated with another sidelink-capable UE. Upon receiving the sidelink reference signal, a responder UE (e.g., another sidelink-capable UE) transmits a response sidelink reference signal (e.g., SL-PRS) that includes a measurement of the difference between the reception time of the sidelink reference signal and the transmission time of the response sidelink reference signal (referred to as the responder's receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement).

[0139]

[0157] Upon receiving the reply sidelink reference signal, the initiator UE (or other positioning entity) can calculate the RTT between the initiator UE and the responder UE based on the received Rx-Tx time difference measurement and a measurement of the difference between the transmission time of the first sidelink reference signal and the reception time of the reply sidelink reference signal (referred to as the initiator UE's transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference measurement). The initiator UE (or other positioning entity) uses the RTT and the speed of light to estimate the distance between the initiator UE and the responder UE. If one or both of the initiator and responder UEs are capable of beamforming, the angle between the UEs can also be determined, which may further refine the relative location of the initiator UE with respect to the responder UE. Furthermore, if the responder UE provides its geographical location in the responding sidelink reference signal, the initiator UE (or other positioning entity) may be able to determine the absolute geographical location of the initiator UE as opposed to the relative location of the initiator UE with respect to the responder UE.

[0140]

[0158] There are various scenarios of interest and use cases for sidelink positioning techniques, as shown and described below with reference to Figures 6-8. Figure 6 illustrates an example scenario 600 in which a UE with a known location may be used to improve a location estimate of a target UE 604, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of Figure 6, the target UE 604 is performing a multi-cell RTT positioning procedure with three base stations 602, specifically, a first RTT positioning procedure (labeled "RTT1") with a first base station 602-1 (labeled "gNB1"), a second RTT positioning procedure (labeled "RTT2") with a second base station 602-2 (labeled "gNB2"), and a third RTT positioning procedure (labeled "RTT3") with a third base station 602-3 (labeled "gNB3"). As mentioned above, the air interface between a UE (e.g., target UE 604) and a base station (e.g., base station 602) is referred to as a "Uu" interface. Thus, in the context of sidelink positioning, a positioning procedure between a UE and a base station may be referred to as a Uu positioning procedure. Thus, for example, the multi-RTT positioning procedure shown in FIG. 6 may be referred to as a Uu multi-RTT positioning procedure.

[0141]

[0159] In the example of Figure 6, the target UE 604 may also perform a SL-RTT positioning procedure (labeled "SL-RTT") with an assisting UE 606 that has a known location (e.g., via GPS, cellular positioning techniques, etc.). Because the assisting UE 606 has a known location, the assisting UE 606 may act as an additional anchor point for a multi-RTT positioning procedure between the target UE 604 and the base station 602. That is, the assisting UE 606 may provide an additional RTT estimate for the known geographic location, thereby improving the final location estimate.

[0142]

[0160] It should be noted that while FIG. 6 shows three base stations 602 and one assisting UE 606, there may be more or fewer base stations 602 and more assisting UEs 606.

[0143]

[0161] 7 illustrates an example scenario 700 in which a location of a target UE 704 without cellular connectivity is determined with the assistance of multiple UEs with cellular connectivity, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7, the target UE 704 is conducting an SL-RTT positioning procedure with each of three assisting UEs 706, specifically, a first SL-RTT positioning procedure with a first assisting UE 706-1 (labeled "RTT1"), a second SL-RTT positioning procedure with a second assisting UE 706-2 (labeled "RTT2"), and a third SL-RTT positioning procedure with a third assisting UE 706-3 (labeled "RTT3"). Each of the assisting UEs 706 is connected to one or more base stations 702 (labeled "gNB") and may have a known location. Based on the determined RTT between the target UE 704 and the assisting UE 706 and the known location of the assisting UE 706, the location of the target UE 704 may be estimated using known RTT techniques.

[0144]

[0162] 8 illustrates an example scenario 800 in which a relay UE 806 assists in positioning of a remote UE, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 8, the remote UE 804 is not able to transmit UL-PRS to the base station 802 (e.g., due to the remote UE's transmit power being too low to be heard by the base station 802). In this case, the relay 806 with a known location can participate in positioning estimation of the remote UE 804.

[0145]

[0163] Sidelink communication takes place in transmission or reception of a resource pool. In the frequency domain, the smallest resource allocation unit is a subchannel (e.g., a collection of consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain). In the time domain, resource allocation is in units of one slot interval. However, some slots are not available for sidelink and some slots contain feedback resources. Furthermore, the sidelink may be (pre-)configured to occupy fewer than 14 symbols of a slot.

[0146]

[0164] Sidelink resources are configured at the RRC layer, which may be pre-configured (e.g., preloaded on the UE) or by configuration (e.g., from a serving base station).

[0147]

[0165] FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 of an example slot structure without feedback resources, according to an aspect of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 9, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is an OFDM symbol, and 14 symbols constitute a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is a subchannel. Currently, the (pre)configured subchannel size can be selected from a set of {10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} PRBs.

[0148]

[0166] For a sidelink slot, the first symbol is a repetition of the previous symbol and is used for automatic gain control (AGC) setting. This is illustrated in Figure 9 by vertical and horizontal hashing. As illustrated in Figure 9, for the sidelink, the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) are transmitted in the same slot. Similar to the PDCCH, the PSCCH carries control information regarding the sidelink resource allocation and a description of the sidelink data to be transmitted to the UE. Also similar to the PDSCH, the PSSCH carries the user date for the UE. In the example of Figure 9, the PSCCH occupies only half the bandwidth of the subchannel and three symbols. Finally, there is a gap symbol after the PSSCH.

[0149]

[0167] Another aspect of positioning is the configuration of a resource pool for positioning (RP-P), which may be used for downlink and / or sidelink positioning purposes. The 12 symbols between the first symbol (for AGC) and the last symbol (gap) form a resource pool for transmission and / or reception. RP-Ps may be configured in the resource pool specifically for positioning purposes. Each RP-P includes an offset, a periodicity, a number of consecutive symbols in a slot (e.g., only one symbol), and / or a bandwidth within a component carrier (or a bandwidth across multiple component carriers). Furthermore, each RP-P may be associated with a zone, or a distance from a reference location.

[0150]

[0168] A base station (or UE) can assign one or more resource configurations from an RP-P to another UE. Additionally or alternatively, a UE (e.g., a relay or remote UE) can request one or more RP-P configurations, and in the request the UE can include one or more of: (1) its location information (or zone ID), (2) periodicity, (3) bandwidth, (4) offset, (5) number of symbols, and (6) whether a configuration with "low interference" is required (which may be determined through an assigned QoS or priority).

[0151]

[0169] The base station or UE may configure / assign rate matching resources or RP-Ps to the sidelink UE for rate matching and / or muting, such that when there is a collision between the assigned resources and another resource pool containing data (PSSCH) and / or control (PSCCH), the sidelink UE is expected to rate match, mute, and / or puncture data, DMRS, and / or CSI-RS in the conflicting resources. This will enable orthogonalization between positioning and data transmission for increased coverage of the PRS signals.

[0152]

[0170] FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example overlap between a resource pool and a resource pool for positioning, according to an aspect of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 10, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is an OFDM symbol, and 14 symbols make up a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is a subchannel.

[0153]

[0171] In the example of FIG. 10, the entire slot (except the first and last symbols) may be a resource pool for transmission and / or reception. That is, any of the symbols other than the first and last ones may be allocated for transmission and / or reception. However, the RP-P for sidelink transmission / reception is allocated in the last four pre-gap symbols of the slot. Therefore, non-sidelink data such as user data, CSI-RS, and control information are transmitted only in the first eight post-AGC symbols and not in the last four pre-gap symbols to prevent collision with the configured RP-P. Non-sidelink data that would otherwise be transmitted in the last four pre-gap symbols may be punctured or muted, or non-sidelink data that would normally span more than eight post-AGC symbols may be rate-matched to fit into the eight post-AGC symbols.

[0154]

[0172] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system for reserving a resource pool for positioning (RP-P) according to aspects of the present disclosure. Two or more UEs (relay UEs or target UEs), such as UEs 104(1)-104(6), are configured with one or more resource pools that can be used for positioning. When a target UE (e.g., UEs 104(1), 104(2)) transmits within the configured RP-P, the target UE (or associated relay UE) sends a reservation request 1202 in a broadcast manner (e.g., broadcast / groupcast PSCCH, or PSCCH and PSSCH). The reservation request 1202 is an indication that the target UE (e.g., UE 104(1) or UE 104(2)), or one of the target UEs associated with the relay, plans to transmit a SL-PRS within the RP-P. The reservation request 1202 may be intended for the entire resource pool, or in some aspects, the reservation request 1202 may be intended for a subset of the time / frequency resources of the reserved resource pool. Either the relay UE, the target UE, or both receiving the reservation request 1202 will avoid rate matching, puncturing, and / or scheduling within the reserved resource pool.

[0155]

[0173] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system including a device-to-device (D2D) relay according to an aspect of the disclosure. For example, the D2D relay can use a layer 3 (L3) forwarding function. A target UE 1204 can communicate with multiple remote UEs 1206. For example, as shown in FIG. 12B, at least one remote UE 1206 may be in a serving cell 1208 and at least one remote UE 1206 may be outside the serving cell 1208. The serving cell 1208 can be associated with an eNB 1210. A ProSe UE-to-Network Relay can be in coverage. A target UE can be in coverage (e.g., service continuity) or out of coverage. The selection of the relay can be based on SD-RSRP (e.g., RSRP of a relay discovery message) and higher layer criteria. The eNB 1210 can provide transmission and reception resources. The eNB 1210 may provide (or enforce) minimum and maximum thresholds for the quality (e.g., RSRP) of the cellular link 1212 to the D2D relay UE. The eNB 1210 may provide (or enforce) a maximum threshold for the cellular link quality (e.g., RSRP) that the target UE 1204 must meet before the target UE can send a relay discovery request message. The eNB 1210 may provide (or enforce) a threshold for the quality of the D2D link 1214 for reselection.

[0156]

[0174] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 1300 for announcing availability for peer user equipment (UE) to perform positioning, according to an aspect of the disclosure. The system 1300 includes a target UE 104(T) and one or more peer UEs 104(1)-104(N) (N>0) (collectively, peer UEs 104). Each of the UEs 104 may have an identifier 1302 that uniquely identifies each UE. For example, in FIG. 13, the target UE 104(T) has an identifier 1302(T), the peer UE 104(1) has an identifier 1302(1), and the peer UE 104(N) has an identifier 1302(N). The system 1300 illustrates how peer UEs 104 can self-identify (e.g., announce) their ability to participate in a peer positioning session using a positioning reference signal (PRS) and how a target UE 104 (T) can select at least a portion of the peer UEs 104 to participate in the peer positioning session.

[0157]

[0175] Each peer UE 104 may have an associated capability 1304 that includes one or more roles 1306. The capabilities 1304 may include, for example, a maximum duration that each peer UE 104 may participate in a peer positioning session, a response time indicating how quickly each peer UE 104 may provide a positioning measurement, a frequency parameter indicating how often each peer UE 104 may transmit a position reference signal during a peer positioning session, a technology parameter indicating one or more types of positioning technology that each peer UE 104 may perform during a peer positioning session, a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer UE 104 is authorized to perform, a mobility state indicating an amount of movement that each peer UE 104 is experiencing, or any combination thereof. The roles 1306 may include, for example, an anchor UE, a measurement aggregator, a positioning engine, a sidelink relay provider, a transmitter of a PRS, or any combination thereof.

[0158]

[0176] A network entity (e.g., a base station) 1350 may authorize the role 1306 that each peer UE 104 may perform in a peer positioning session. For example, each peer UE 104 may send an authorization request 1308 to the network entity 1350. The authorization request 1308 may include data 1309 associated with the peer UE 104 that sent the authorization request 1308, such as one or more measurements related to the signal strength of the peer UE 104, the memory capacity (e.g., random access memory (RAM) capacity) of the peer UE 104, the processing capability (e.g., processor type, number of cores, clock speed, etc.) of the peer UE 104, a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer UE 104 is experiencing, or any combination thereof. Based on the data 1309, the network entity 1350 can determine which roles 1306 the peer UE 104 can perform and can send an authorization response 1310 (e.g., to the peer UE 104 that sent the authorization request 1308) authorizing the peer UE 1304 to perform zero or more roles 1306 during the peer positioning session.

[0159]

[0177] One or more of the peer UEs 104 may self-identify their capability to participate in a peer positioning session by broadcasting an announcement message 1312. The peer UEs 104 may broadcast the announcement message 1312 periodically (e.g., at regular time intervals). In some aspects, the announcement message 1312 may be a sidelink (SL) discovery message with a flag 1314. The flag 1314 indicates that the peer UE 104 can be used as a positioning peer, an SL relay, or both. The peer UE 104 may include in the announcement message 1312 positioning-related quality of service (QoS) information indicating at least a subset of the capabilities 1304, indicating the type of positioning services the peer UE 104 can provide, such as the duration the peer UE 104 can remain in a peer positioning session as a positioning peer, which positioning techniques the peer UE 104 can perform, whether the peer UE 104 can transmit SL-PRS, receive SL-PRS, or both, which SL positioning capabilities the peer UE 104 has, whether the peer UE 104 can participate in a peer positioning session as a measurement aggregator, a positioning engine, transmit SL-PRS, or any combination thereof. The announcement message 1312 may include an identifier 1302 associated with the peer UE 104 broadcasting the announcement message 1312.

[0160]

[0178] In some aspects, the target UE 104(T) may respond to the announcement message 1312 with an interest message 1316 sent to an individual one of the peer UEs 104, indicating that the target UE 104(T) is interested in having the individual peer UE 104 participate in a peer positioning session. An individual peer UE 104 can respond to the interest message 1316 by sending an additional capability 1318 indicating additional capabilities (or additional details regarding capabilities) and additional configurations that the peer UE 104 can support.

[0161]

[0179] The target UE 104(T) may store the identifier 1302 associated with each peer UE 104 that sent the announcement message 1312 along with a quality 1320 associated with each peer UE 104 that sent the announcement message 1312. The quality 1320 may include, for example, the capabilities 1304 and the additional capabilities 1318. Additionally, the quality 1320 may include measurements performed by the target UE 104(T) on the announcement message 1312. For example, the measurements may include signal strength, time of arrival (ToA), and other measurements of the signal used to transmit the announcement message 1312. The target UE 104(T) may use the quality 1320 and criteria 1322 to select a peer UE 104 to perform one or more roles during a peer positioning session. The criteria 1322 may include various criteria that the target UE 104(T) uses to rank and select peer UEs 104 to participate in the peer positioning session. The target UE 104(T) may determine whether each peer UE 104 can provide a particular positioning service. The target UE 104(T) may determine the quality of knowledge of the location of each peer UE 104 (e.g., to determine whether to use the peer UE 104 as an anchor UE). The target UE 104(T) may determine how quickly a candidate peer UE 104 can send back measurements or positioning estimates (e.g., the target UE 104(T) determines whether the peer UE 104 meets a response time criterion). The target UE 104(T) may determine the sidelink radio quality of the peer UE 104 (e.g., the target UE 104(T) determines whether the peer UE 104 meets a channel quality criterion). The target UE 104(T) may determine whether a channel strength (e.g., RSRP) measurement is greater than a channel strength threshold. The target UE 104(T) may determine a signal quality metric based on the measured ToAs using the announcement message 1312.For example, after the target UE 104(T) sends a message (e.g., interest message 1316), the candidate peer UE 104 can determine the ToA and whether many multipaths exist and derive a quality metric. The candidate peer UE 104 uses additional capabilities 1318 to send the quality metric back to the target UE 104(T). The target UE 104(T) can use multiple metrics, such as both signal strength (e.g., RSRP) and ToA quality, when selecting a peer UE 104 to participate in a peer positioning session. If the candidate peer UE 104 is moving fast on a vehicular basis, the target UE 104(T) may not select the fast-moving candidate peer UE 104 (e.g., the target UE 104(T) determines whether the peer UE 104 meets a mobility state criterion).

[0162]

[0180] For example, the target UE 104(T) can use the quality 1320 and the criteria 1322 to select a first peer UE 104 to act as an anchor UE, a second peer UE 104 to act as a measurement aggregator, a third peer UE to act as a positioning engine, a fourth peer UE to act as a sidelink relay provider, a fifth peer UE 104 to act as a transmitter of a PRS, etc.

[0163]

[0181] After selecting the peer UEs 104 to perform one or more roles in the peer positioning session, the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 to the selected peer UEs 104 requesting the selected peer UEs 104 to participate in the PRS peer positioning session with the target UE 104(T). The setup message 1324 may specify the role that each selected peer UE 104 should perform in the peer positioning session. The target UE 104(T) and the selected peer UE 104 transmit a positioning reference signal 1326 during the peer positioning session.

[0164]

[0182] When one of the peer UEs 104 is selected to perform a role in the peer positioning session that includes forwarding measurements to the network 1328, e.g., the peer UE 104 acts as a relay for positioning purposes, and is selected to participate in the peer positioning session, the selected peer UE 104 has been pre-authorized to participate in the peer positioning session and the channel quality (e.g., as measured by Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)) to the serving cell 1330 is better than a signal quality threshold. In some aspects, the signal quality threshold may be specific to the peer positioning session (as opposed to, e.g., an RSRP threshold that may be used generally in a relay selection process). In some aspects, the minimum signal quality threshold may be used by the peer UE 104 to self-determine that the peer UE 104 can participate in the peer positioning session.

[0165]

[0183] In some aspects, messaging between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 can include four messages, while in other aspects, messaging between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 can include two messages. For example, when using four messages, the peer UE 104 sends an announcement message 1312 (e.g., "discovery message A"), the target UE 104(T) sends an interest message 1316 (e.g., "discovery response A"), the peer UE 104 sends additional capabilities 1318 (e.g., "discovery message B"), and the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 (e.g., "discovery response B") to complete the SL positioning setup. When using two messages, the peer UE 104 sends an announcement message 1312 (e.g., "discovery message A"), and the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 (e.g., "discovery response A"). Four messages may be used, for example, when the target UE 104(T) has criteria for participants in a peer positioning session, which criteria are used to analyze additional capabilities 1318. Two messages may be used, for example, when the target UE 104(T) has fewer criteria for participants in a peer positioning session, or to set up a peer positioning session more quickly (e.g., compared to using four messages).

[0166]

[0184] Thus, a peer UE may periodically broadcast an announcement message to self-identify its ability to participate in a peer positioning session. The announcement message may be an SL discovery message with one or more flags indicating various capabilities of the peer UE to participate in a peer positioning session. For example, the flags may indicate that the peer UE can be used as a positioning peer, as a SL relay, or both. The announcement message may include positioning-related QoS information, the type of positioning service the peer UE can provide as a positioning peer UE, the duration during which the peer UE can be a positioning peer UE, which positioning methods the peer UE can perform (e.g., whether the peer UE can transmit SL-PRS, receive SL-PRS, or both), which SL positioning capabilities the peer UE has, whether the peer UE can act as a measurement aggregator (e.g., to collect measurements and forward the measurements to the network), whether the peer UE can act as a positioning engine (e.g., to collect measurements and process the measurements to determine positioning), or any combination thereof.

[0167]

[0185] Technical advantages include the target UE being able to identify and select peer UEs to participate in a peer positioning session that does not use network elements to determine the target UE's location. Thus, another technical advantage is that a target UE that does not have access to the network can use peer UEs to obtain accurate positioning information. At least one of the peer UEs has access to the network and can relay information to and from the network. A further technical advantage is that the target UE can use the four-message technique when it has a specific criterion and the two-message technique when it wants to quickly set up a peer positioning session.

[0168]

[0186] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 1400 in which a target user equipment (UE) sends a request message requesting peer UEs to perform positioning, according to an aspect of the disclosure. The system 1400 includes a target UE 104(T) and peer UEs 104(1)-104(N) (N>0) (collectively peer UEs 104). The system 1400 illustrates how the target UE 104(T) can request the peer UEs 104 to participate in a peer positioning session using a PRS. The peer UEs 104 can respond to the request message by indicating an ability to participate in the peer positioning session. The target UE 104(T) can select at least a portion of the peer UEs 104 that respond to the request message.

[0169]

[0187] To discover peer UEs 104 that can participate in a peer positioning session, the target UE 104(T) sends a solicitation message 1402. For example, the solicitation message 1402 may be a SL discovery solicitation message having a field 1404 that provides details related to the peer positioning session. The target UE 104(T) can broadcast or unicast the solicitation message 1402. In the case of a unicast, a response 1406 from the peer UE 104 can include an identifier 1302 associated with the responding peer UE 104. The field 1404 may include, for example, the duration for which the target UE 104(T) requests the peer UE to act as a positioning peer, how often the positioning peer will send the positioning reference signal 1326, which frequency band to use when sending the positioning reference signal 1326, the bandwidth to use, the particular positioning method to use, whether the target UE 104(T) is requesting a positioning peer UE that can perform positioning calculations, a quality metric related to how well the peer UE knows its own location to enable the target UE 104(T) to determine the peer UE's ability to perform the anchor role during a peer positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0170]

[0188] The request message 1402 may indicate that the target UE 104(T) is requesting a peer UE to perform sidelink (SL) cooperative positioning (e.g., participate in a peer positioning session). The field 1404 may indicate a set of capabilities associated with which positioning methods the target UE 104(T) is interested in performing, one or more quality of service (QoS) metrics that the target UE 104(T) is requesting, a minimum positioning capability that the target UE 104(T) is requesting, or any combination thereof. For example, the QoS metrics may include a quality metric related to a time of arrival (TOA) (e.g., of the request message 1402), a signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP)), or both.

[0171]

[0189] In response to receiving the request message 1402 (e.g., SL positioning peer discovery request message), one or more of the peer UEs 104 may send a response 1406 including a subset 1407 of the capabilities 1304 of each responding peer UE 104. In some aspects, after receiving the response 1406, the target UE 104(T) may send a detail message 1414 to each of the responding peer UEs 104. The detail message 1414 may include details (e.g., capabilities, configuration, positioning techniques, etc.) related to the peer positioning session that the target UE 104(T) is setting up. In response, each peer UE 104 that has the capability to meet the details provided in the detail message 1414 may send a confirmation 1410 indicating that the individual peer UE 104 is interested in and can participate in the peer positioning session by transmitting a positioning reference signal 1326.

[0172]

[0190] In some aspects, the target UE 104(T) can send a detailed message 1414 to select one of the peer UEs 104. For example, the target UE 104(T) can use the quality 1320 (e.g., associated with the responding peer UE 104) and the criteria 1322 to select an individual one of the peer UEs 104. By way of illustration, the target UE 104(T) can use the quality 1320 and the criteria 1322 to select a first peer UE 104 to act as an anchor UE, a second peer UE 104 to act as a measurement aggregator, a third peer UE to act as a positioning engine, a fourth UE to act as a sidelink relay provider, a fifth peer UE 104 to act as a transmitter of a PRS, etc. The target UE 104 (T) may indicate in the detail message 1308 which peer UEs 104 have been selected to participate in the peer positioning session, what role each peer UE 104 must perform during the peer positioning session, the positioning method to use during the peer positioning session, the duration of the peer positioning session, the start time of the peer positioning session, the frequency with which to transmit a positioning reference signal 1326, other details related to the peer positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0173]

[0191] In some aspects, messaging between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 can include four messages, while in other aspects, messaging between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 can include two messages. For example, when using four messages, the target UE 104(T) sends a request message 1402 (e.g., "Request Message A"), the peer UE 104 sends a response message 1406 (e.g., "Request Response A"), the target UE 104(T) sends a detail message 1414 (e.g., "Request Message B"), and the peer UE 104 sends a confirmation message 1410 (e.g., "Request Response B") to complete the SL positioning setup. When using two messages, the target UE 104(T) sends the request message 1402 (e.g., "Request Message A"), and the peer UE 104 sends a response message 1406 (e.g., "Request Response A"). The four messages may be used, for example, when the target UE 104(T) has criteria for participants in a peer positioning session, which criteria are used to analyze the capabilities 1304. The two messages may be used, for example, when the target UE 104(T) has fewer criteria for participants in a peer positioning session, or to set up a peer positioning session more quickly.

[0174]

[0192] Technical advantages include the ability of the target UE to solicit and select peer UEs to participate in a peer positioning session that does not use network elements to determine the target UE's location. Thus, another technical advantage is that a target UE that does not have access to the network can use peer UEs to obtain accurate positioning information. At least one of the peer UEs has access to the network and can relay information to and from the network. A further technical advantage is that the target UE can use the four-message technique when it has specific criteria and the two-message technique when it wants to quickly set up a peer positioning session.

[0175]

[0193] 15 illustrates an example diagram 1500 for performing selection according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process diagram 1500 includes a relay UE 1502 (e.g., a target UE such as the target UE 104(T) of FIGS. 13 and 14), an evolved Node B (eNB) 1504, a mobility management entity (MME) 1506, and a packet / serving gateway (P / SGW) 1508.

[0176]

[0194] At 1510, the relay UE 1502 attaches to the network and is authorized and provisioned (e.g., by the eNB 1504, the MME 1506, or both) to perform network relay operations. At 1512, the relay UE 1502 establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection by sending a request 1514 to the eNB 1504, receiving a response 1516 from the eNB 1504, and establishing an RRC at 1518.

[0177]

[0195] A remote UE 1520 (e.g., a target UE such as the target UE 104(T) in FIGS. 13 and 14 ) sends a request 1522 to the relay UE 1502 to act as a relay for the remote UE 1520 because the relay UE 1502 is connected to the network via the eNB 1504 but the remote UE 1520 is not. The remote UE 1520 receives a response 1524 from the relay UE 1502. If the response 1524 indicates that the relay UE 1502 agrees to the request to act as a relay for the remote UE 1520, then a direct connection is established 1526 between the remote UE 1520 and the relay UE 1502.

[0178]

[0196] Using the direct connection 1527 between the remote UE 1520 and the relay UE 1502, the remote UE 1520 can communicate with the P / SGW 1508 using the MME 1506 as an intermediary via message 1528 and message 1530. The remote UE 1520 can receive a response from the P / SGW 1508 using the MME 1506 as an intermediary via message 1532 and message 1534. Thus, the remote UE 1520 can communicate with the eNB 1504, the MME 1506, and the P / SGW 1508 via messages 1540, 1542.

[0179]

[0197] A target UE (e.g., remote UE 1520) identifies the presence of at least one suitable relay UE (e.g., relay UE 1502) in its vicinity to request relay service. To enable the identification, (1) the relay UE 1502 may announce its presence by periodically sending an SL discovery message, or (2) the remote UE 1520 may send an SL discovery request message in the hope that a nearby relay UE 1502 will respond. During relay discovery, the remote UE 1520 obtains the UE identifier of the relay UE 1502 (e.g., identifier 1302(T) of target UE 104(T) in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14) to be used for SL transmission and reception of relayed traffic.

[0180]

[0198] In the flow diagrams of Figures 16, 17, 18, and 19, each block represents one or more operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the blocks represent computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform the described operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, modules, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The order in which the blocks are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and the described operations can be combined in any number, order, and / or in parallel to implement a process. For purposes of explanation, processes 1600, 1700, 1800, and 1900 are described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 above, although other models, frameworks, systems, and environments can be used to implement these processes.

[0181]

[0199] 16 illustrates an example process 1600 that includes receiving one or more discovery messages according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1600 may be performed by a UE, such as the target UE 104(T) of FIG.

[0182]

[0200] At 1602, the target UE receives one or more discovery messages. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages is received from a corresponding one of the one or more peer UEs. Each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer UE for participating in a sidelink positioning session. For example, in FIG. 13, the target UE 104(T) may receive an announcement message 1312 including a subset of capabilities 1304 associated with an individual one of the peer UEs 104 to provide positioning assistance to the target UE 104(T). In an aspect, 1602 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0183]

[0201] At 1604, the target UE sends an interest message to at least one of the one or more peer UEs. The interest message indicates that the target UE intends to have the one or more peer UEs participate in a sideline positioning session. For example, in FIG. 13, the target UE 104(T) may send an interest message 1316 to at least one of the peer UEs 104(1)-104(N). In an aspect, 1604 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0184]

[0202] At 1606, the target UE receives one or more capability messages from one or more peer UEs. Each capability message indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer UE for participating in a sidelink positioning session (e.g., further details associated with a subset of capabilities, the subset of capabilities plus additional capabilities, or both). For example, in FIG. 13, the target UE 104(T) receives additional capabilities 1318 from the peer UE 104, where the additional capabilities 1318(1) includes further details, additional capabilities, or both related to the capabilities 1304(1) of the peer UE 104(1), and the additional capabilities 1318(N) includes further details, additional capabilities, or both related to the capabilities 1304(N) of the peer UE 104(N). In an aspect, 1606 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0185]

[0203] At 1608, the target UE sends a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer UEs based on the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities (associated with the at least one peer UE) to participate in the sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests the at least one peer UE to participate in the positioning session with the target UE. For example, in FIG. 13, the target UE 104(T) may use the criteria 1322 to select a peer UE 104 based on the respective qualities 1320 and send a setup message 1324 to the selected peer UE 104. In an aspect, 1608 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0186]

[0204] Thus, the target UE may receive one or more messages. Each message of the one or more messages may be received from a corresponding peer UE of the one or more peer UEs. Each message of the one or more messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the positioning session. The target UE may request additional details regarding the subset of capabilities, the additional capabilities, or both, and receive an additional capabilities message from the peer UE. The target UE may send a selection message to at least one peer UE of the one or more peer UEs based on the subset of capabilities, the additional capabilities, or both, associated with the at least one peer UE to provide positioning assistance. The selection message may request the at least one peer UE to participate in the positioning session with the target UE. Each message of the one or more messages may be a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating whether the corresponding peer UE is authorized to participate in the positioning session. At least one message of the one or more messages may indicate that the corresponding peer UE is authorized to perform a sidelink relay function. The target UE may broadcast a sidelink request message requesting the one or more peer UEs to participate in the positioning session.The capabilities associated with the at least one peer UE may indicate a maximum duration for which the at least one peer user equipment can participate in a peer positioning session, a frequency at which the at least one peer user equipment can transmit a position reference signal, one or more types of positioning techniques that the at least one peer user equipment can perform, whether the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations, whether the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data, a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of the at least one peer user equipment (e.g., one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more messages), a mobility state indicating whether the at least one peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement, a response time indicating how quickly the at least one peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements, a role parameter indicating at least one role that the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to perform, or any combination thereof. For example, aggregating the positioning data may include aggregating positioning data corresponding to positioning measurements from other devices, or capabilities of other devices, or statistics related to usage / request of positioning measurements and reference signals from other devices. The target UE may broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target UE, at least one peer UE, or both will participate in the positioning session. In some aspects, the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0187]

[0205] As can be appreciated, technical advantages of the process 1600 include the target UE being able to select peer UEs to participate in a peer positioning session without using a network element to determine the location of the target UE. Thus, the target UE can obtain accurate positioning information using the peer UEs. In some aspects, the target UE can receive an announcement message from the peer UE that self-identifies the capability of each peer UE to participate in the peer positioning session. In other aspects, after the target UE sends a request message to the UE to participate in the peer positioning session, the target UE can receive a response message from the peer UE indicating the capability of each peer UE to participate in the peer positioning session.

[0188]

[0206] 17 illustrates an example process 1700 that includes transmitting a sidelink request message in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1700 may be performed by a UE, such as the target UE 104(T) of FIG.

[0189]

[0207] At 1702, the target UE sends a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer UEs to participate in a sidelink positioning session. The request message includes a subset of capabilities (e.g., what the target UE is looking for in the peer UEs). For example, in FIG. 14, the target UE 104(T) may send a request message 1402 requesting one or more peer UEs 104 to participate in a sidelink positioning session. In an aspect, 1702 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0190]

[0208] At 1704, the UE receives one or more discovery request messages. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages is received from a corresponding one of the one or more peer UEs. Each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer UE includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities. For example, in FIG. 14, the target UE 104(T) can receive the response 1406 (e.g., discovery request message) including at least a subset of the capabilities 1304 associated with the respective one of the peer UEs 104 to provide positioning assistance to the target UE 104(T). In an aspect, 1704 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0191]

[0209] At 1706, the target UE sends a second message to at least one of the one or more peer UEs. The interest message indicates additional capabilities that the target user equipment is requesting to participate in the sidelink positioning session. For example, in FIG. 14, the target UE 104(T) may send a detailed message 1414 to at least one of the peer UEs 104(1)-104(N). The detailed message 1414 indicates additional capabilities that the target user equipment is requesting to participate in the sidelink positioning session. In an aspect, 1706 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0192]

[0210] At 1708, the target UE receives one or more confirmation messages from the one or more peer UEs. For example, in FIG. 14, the target UE 104(T) receives a confirmation 1410 from the peer UE 104 that includes the additional capabilities 1318. The additional capabilities 1318(1) include further details, additional capabilities, or both related to the capabilities 1304(1) of the peer UE 104(1), and the additional capabilities 1318(N) include further details, additional capabilities, or both related to the capabilities 1304(N) of the peer UE 104(N). In an aspect, 1708 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0193]

[0211] At 1710, the UE sends a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer UEs based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. The selection message requests the at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. For example, in FIG. 14, the target UE 104(T) may use the criteria 1322 to select a peer UE 104 based on the respective qualities 1320 and send a setup message 1324 to the selected peer UE 104. In an aspect, 1710 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0194]

[0212] Thus, the target UE may request the peer UE to participate in a sidelink positioning session. In response, the target UE may receive response messages from the peer UEs interested in participating. Each response message of the one or more response messages may be received from a corresponding peer UE of the one or more peer UEs. Each response message indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. The target UE may request additional details regarding the subset of capabilities, additional capabilities, or both and receive an additional capabilities message from the peer UE. The target UE may send a selection message to at least one peer UE of the one or more peer UEs based on the subset of capabilities, additional capabilities, or both associated with the at least one peer UE to provide positioning assistance. The selection message may request the at least one peer UE to participate in a positioning session with the target UE. Each message of the one or more messages may be a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating whether the corresponding peer UE is authorized to participate in the positioning session. At least one message of the one or more messages may indicate that the corresponding peer UE is authorized to perform a sidelink relay function. The target UE may broadcast a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer UEs to participate in the positioning session.The capabilities associated with the at least one peer UE may indicate a maximum duration for which the at least one peer user equipment may participate in a peer positioning session, a frequency with which the at least one peer user equipment may transmit position reference signals, one or more types of positioning techniques that the at least one peer user equipment may perform, whether the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations, whether the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data, a quality metric associated with an accuracy of the current location of the at least one peer user equipment (e.g., one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each message of the one or more messages), a mobility state indicating whether the at least one peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement, a response time indicating how quickly the at least one peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements, a role parameter indicating at least one role that the at least one peer user equipment is authorized to perform, or any combination thereof. For example, aggregating positioning data may include aggregating positioning data corresponding to positioning measurements from other devices, or capabilities of other devices, or statistics related to usage / requests for positioning measurements and reference signals from other devices. The target UE may broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target UE, at least one peer UE, or both will participate in the positioning session. In some aspects, the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0195]

[0213] As can be appreciated, technical advantages of the process 1700 include the target UE being able to select peer UEs to participate in a peer positioning session without using a network element to determine the location of the target UE. Thus, the target UE can obtain accurate positioning information using the peer UEs. In some aspects, the target UE can receive an announcement message from the peer UE that self-identifies the capability of each peer UE to participate in the peer positioning session. In other aspects, after the target UE sends a request message to the UE to participate in the peer positioning session, the target UE can receive a response message from the peer UE indicating the capability of each peer UE to participate in the peer positioning session.

[0196]

[0214] 18 illustrates an example process 1800 that includes receiving a permission message from a network entity according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1600 may be performed by a peer UE, such as one or more of the peer UEs 104(1)-104(N) of FIGS. 13 and 14.

[0197]

[0215] At 1802, the peer UE receives an authorization message from a network entity associated with the serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in at least one role. For example, in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, one or more of the peer UEs 104 may request and receive (e.g., in the authorization response 1310) authorization to perform one or more of the roles 1306 during the peer positioning session. In an aspect, 1802 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0198]

[0216] At 1804, the peer UE sends a message including capabilities associated with the peer user equipment. The capabilities indicate at least one role. For example, in FIG. 13, the peer UE 104 may send a self-identification announcement message 1312 including capabilities 1304 including roles 1306 that each peer UE 104 may perform during a peer positioning session. As another example, in FIG. 14, in response to receiving a solicitation message 1402 from the target UE 104(T), one or more peer UEs 104 may send a response 1406 including capabilities 1304 including roles 1306 that each peer UE 104 may perform during a peer positioning session. In an aspect, 1804 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0199]

[0217] At 1806, the peer UE receives a selection message (e.g., also known as a positioning message) from the target user equipment. The selection message requests the peer user equipment to participate in a positioning session with the target user equipment. For example, in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, one or more of the peer UEs 104 may receive a setup message 1324 requesting a respective one of the peer UEs 104 (e.g., selected by the target 104(T)) to participate in a peer positioning session. In an aspect, 1806 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0200]

[0218] At 1808, the peer UE participates in a positioning session with the target user equipment. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, one or more of the peer UEs 104 and the target UE 104(T) may each transmit a positioning reference signal 726 during a sidelink positioning session. In an aspect, 1608 may be performed by the transceiver 604, the processing system 610, the memory 614, and / or the sidelink manager 670, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0201]

[0219] Thus, the peer UE may send an authorization request to a network entity (e.g., a base station) of the serving cell. The authorization request may request the network entity to allow the peer UE to participate in the positioning session in at least one role. In response, the peer UE may receive an authorization message from the network entity of the serving cell. The authorization request may include one or more measurements related to signal strength, memory capacity of the peer UE, processing capabilities of the peer UE, or any combination thereof. The authorization message may allow the peer UE to participate in the positioning session in at least one role. The peer UE may send a message including capabilities associated with the peer UE. In some aspects, the message may be a sidelink (SL) discovery message including a positioning field indicating that the peer UE is authorized to participate in the positioning session. In some aspects, the peer UE may receive an SL request message from the target UE. The SL request message may include a positioning field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the UE to participate in the positioning session. For example, the message may self-identify each peer UE and indicate its capabilities. As another example, the message (e.g., a message sent in response to a solicitation request from the target UE) may indicate capabilities associated with each responding peer UE. The capabilities associated with the peer UE may include at least one of: a maximum duration for which the peer UE may participate in a positioning session, a response time indicating how quickly the peer UE can provide positioning measurements, a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer UE may transmit position reference signals during a positioning session, a technology parameter indicating one or more types of positioning technology the peer UE may perform during a positioning session, a role parameter indicating at least one role the peer UE is authorized to perform, a quality metric associated with the peer UE (e.g., the quality metric may include one or more measurements related to signal strength, arrival time of a message from the target UE, or both), a mobility state indicating an amount of movement the peer UE is experiencing, or any combination thereof.The capabilities may indicate the role that each peer UE is authorized to perform in a peer positioning session. At least one role may include an anchor UE, a measurement aggregator, a positioning engine, a sidelink relay provider, a transmitter of a position reference signal, or any combination thereof. A peer UE may receive a positioning message (e.g., a setup message) from a target UE requesting the peer UE to participate in a peer positioning session with the target UE. In response, one or more peer UEs may participate in a positioning session with the target UE.

[0202]

[0220] As will be appreciated, technical advantages of process 1800 include the target UE being able to determine the location of the target UE using a peer UE in a peer (e.g., SL) positioning session (e.g., without using a network element). Thus, the target UE can obtain accurate positioning information using the peer UE without directly accessing the network.

[0203]

[0221] 19 illustrates an example process 1900 that includes receiving an authorization request from a peer user equipment according to an aspect of the disclosure. In an aspect, the process 1900 may be performed by a network entity such as the base station 102 of FIG. 1 or the network entity 1350 of FIG. 13 and FIG. 14.

[0204]

[0222] At 1902, the network entity receives an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests authorization to participate in a positioning session. The authorization request comprises data (e.g., one or more capabilities) associated with the peer user equipment. For example, in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the network entity 1350 receives an authorization request 1308 from an individual one of the peer UEs 104. In an aspect, 1902 may be performed by the receiver 312, 322, 352, 362, the processor 332, 384, 394, and / or the memory 340, 386, 396, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0205]

[0223] At 1904, the network entity sends an authorization response 1310 indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the peer (e.g., SL) positioning session based on a determination based on the data associated with the peer user equipment that the peer user equipment is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session. For example, in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, in response to receiving an authorization request 1308 from an individual one of the peer UEs 104, the network entity 1350 sends the authorization response 1310. If, based on the data 1309, the network entity 1350 determines that the peer UE is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session, then the network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310 indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the peer (e.g., SL) positioning session. In an aspect, 1904 may be performed by the receiver 312, 322, 352, 362, the processor 332, 384, 394, and / or the memory 340, 386, 396, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0206]

[0224] At 1906, the network entity, based on a determination based on the data associated with the peer user equipment that the peer user equipment can perform a role in the positioning session, sends an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in that role. For example, in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, in response to receiving an authorization request 1308 from an individual one of the peer UEs 104, the network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310. If the network entity 1350 determines based on the data 1309 that the peer UE can perform one or more roles in the positioning session, then the network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310 indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform the role specified in the authorization response 1310 during the peer (e.g., SL) positioning session. In an aspect, 1702 may be performed by the receiver 312, 322, 352, 362, the processor 332, 384, 394, and / or the memory 340, 386, 396, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation. The role 706 includes at least one of an anchor user equipment, a measurement aggregator, a positioning engine, a sidelink relay provider, a transmitter of a location reference signal, or any combination thereof. The data in the authorization request includes one or more measurements related to the signal strength of the peer user equipment, the memory capacity of the peer user equipment, the processing capabilities of the peer user equipment, a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing, or any combination thereof.

[0207]

[0225] As will be appreciated, technical advantages of the process 1900 include having the BS determine which roles a peer UE can perform during a peer positioning session based on data associated with the peer UE. Thus, the peer UEs are pre-authorized as to which roles each peer UE can perform, allowing the target UE to quickly set up a peer positioning session including peer UEs with appropriate roles. For example, the target UE 104(T) may select a first peer UE 104 authorized to perform the role of an anchor UE, a second peer UE 104-104 authorized to perform the role of a measurement aggregator, a third peer UE 104-104 authorized to perform the role of a positioning engine, a fourth UE 104-104 authorized to perform the role of a sidelink relay provider, a fifth peer UE 104-104 authorized to perform the role of a transmitter of a PRS, etc.

[0208]

[0226] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than those explicitly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each exemplary clause disclosed. Thus, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated herein, and each clause can exist as a separate example by itself. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the dependent clause aspect(s) with any other dependent clause or independent clause subject matter, or combinations of any features with other dependent and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein expressly include certain combinations (e.g., inconsistent aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor) unless these combinations are expressly expressed or can be easily inferred to be not intended. Moreover, it is also contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on that independent clause. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0209]

[0227] Clause 1. A method implemented by a target user equipment for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one of one or more peer user equipments, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A method for providing the above.

[0210]

[0228] Clause 2. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform a sidelink communication relay function; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises one or more of:

[0211]

[0229] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each capability message of the one or more capability messages.

[0212]

[0230] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, further comprising broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer user equipments, or both, will participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0213]

[0231] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0214]

[0232] Clause 6. A method implemented by a target user equipment for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment indicating additional capabilities; and receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A method for providing the above.

[0215]

[0233] Clause 7. Transmitting the sidelink request message broadcasting the sidelink request message; and groupcasting the sidelink request message; and unicasting the sidelink request message; and 7. The method of claim 6, comprising one of the following:

[0216]

[0234] Clause 8. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the method further comprises one or more of:

[0217]

[0235] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages.

[0218]

[0236] Clause 10. A method for participating in a sidelink positioning session, comprising: receiving, by a peer user equipment, an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role; sending, by said peer user equipment, a message comprising capabilities associated with said peer user equipment, said capabilities indicating said at least one role; receiving, by the peer user equipment, a positioning message from a target user equipment, the positioning message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. participating in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment by the peer user equipment; A method for providing the above.

[0219]

[0237] Clause 11. The at least one role comprises: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 11. The method of claim 10, comprising at least one of:

[0220]

[0238] Clause 12. The method of clause 10 or 11, wherein the message comprises a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0221]

[0239] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 10 to 12, further comprising receiving a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a positioning field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0222]

[0240] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 10 to 13, further comprising sending an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in the at least one role.

[0223]

[0241] Article 15. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 15. The method of claim 14, comprising:

[0224]

[0242] Clause 16. The capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include the maximum duration that the peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; A response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how frequently the peer user equipment may transmit a position reference signal during the sidelink positioning session; and a technique parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment is capable of implementing during the sidelink positioning session; and a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with said peer user equipment, said quality metric comprising one or more measurements related to signal strength, an arrival time of said message, or both; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; and Any combination of these 16. The method of any of clauses 10 to 15, comprising at least one of:

[0225]

[0243] Clause 17. A method for authorizing peer user equipment, comprising: receiving, by a network entity, an authorization request from the peer user equipment, the authorization request requesting authorization to participate in a positioning session, the authorization request comprising data relating to the peer user equipment; sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on a determination by the network entity that the peer user equipment is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment; sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on a determination by the network entity that the peer user equipment is capable of performing the role in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment; A method for providing the above.

[0226]

[0244] Article 18. The role is: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 18. The method of claim 17, comprising at least one of the following:

[0227]

[0245] Article 19. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to the signal strength of said peer user equipment; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is undergoing; or Any combination of these 19. The method of claim 17 or 18, comprising:

[0228]

[0246] Article 20. Memory At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a target user equipment (TE) comprising: receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one of one or more peer user equipments, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A target user device configured to:

[0229]

[0247] Clause 21. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 21. A target user equipment as claimed in claim 20, which indicates one or more of:

[0230]

[0248] Clause 22. The target user equipment of clause 21, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements relating to a signal strength of each capability message of the one or more capability messages.

[0231]

[0249] Clause 23. If the processor: 23. The target user equipment of any of clauses 20 to 22, further configured to broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer user equipments, or both, will participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0232]

[0250] Clause 24. The target user equipment of clause 23, wherein the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0233]

[0251] Article 25. Memory and At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a target user equipment (TE) comprising: transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment, the second message identifying additional capabilities; receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A target user device configured to:

[0234]

[0252] Clause 26. Transmitting the sidelink request message broadcasting the sidelink request message; and groupcasting the sidelink request message; and unicasting the sidelink request message; and 26. A target user equipment as claimed in claim 25, comprising one of:

[0235]

[0253] Clause 27. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 27. A target user equipment as claimed in clause 25 or 26, indicating one or more of:

[0236]

[0254] Clause 28. The target user equipment of clause 27, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements relating to a signal strength of each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages.

[0237]

[0255] Article 29. Memory and At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a peer user equipment (PEE) comprising: receiving an authorization message from a network entity of a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role; sending a message comprising capabilities associated with said peer user equipment, said capabilities indicating said at least one role; receiving a positioning message from a target user equipment, the positioning message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment; participating in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment; A peer user equipment configured to:

[0238]

[0256] Clause 30. The at least one role comprises: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 30. A peer user equipment as claimed in claim 29, comprising at least one of:

[0239]

[0257] Clause 31. A peer user equipment as described in clause 29 or 30, wherein the message comprises a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0240]

[0258] Clause 32. If the processor: 32. The peer user equipment of any of clauses 29 to 31, further configured to receive a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a positioning field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0241]

[0259] Clause 33. If the processor: and sending an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in the at least one role, the authorization request comprising: one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 33. A peer user equipment according to any of clauses 29 to 32 comprising:

[0242]

[0260] Article 34. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 34. A peer user equipment as claimed in claim 33, comprising:

[0243]

[0261] Clause 35. The capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include the maximum duration that the peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; A response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how frequently the peer user equipment may transmit a position reference signal during the sidelink positioning session; and a technique parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment is capable of implementing during the sidelink positioning session; and a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with said peer user equipment, said quality metric comprising one or more measurements related to signal strength, an arrival time of said message, or both; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; and Any combination of these 35. A peer user equipment according to any of clauses 29 to 34, comprising at least one of:

[0244]

[0262] Article 36. Memory and At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a network entity comprising: receiving an authorization request from a peer user equipment, the authorization request requesting authorization to participate in a positioning session, the authorization request comprising data associated with the peer user equipment; sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on determining that the peer user equipment is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session; sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in said role based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on determining that the peer user equipment is capable of performing the role in the positioning session; 4. A network entity configured to:

[0245]

[0263] Article 37. The role is: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 37. The network entity of claim 36, comprising at least one of:

[0246]

[0264] Article 38. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to the signal strength of said peer user equipment; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is undergoing; or Any combination of these 38. A network entity as claimed in clause 36 or 37, comprising:

[0247]

[0265] Clause 39. A device for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: means for receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. means for sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; means for receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. means for sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. An apparatus comprising:

[0248]

[0266] Clause 40. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the apparatus exhibits one or more of the following:

[0249]

[0267] Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each capability message of the one or more capability messages.

[0250]

[0268] Clause 42. The apparatus of any of clauses 39 to 41, further comprising means for broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer user equipments, or both, will participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0251]

[0269] Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 41 or 42, wherein the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0252]

[0270] Clause 44. A device for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: means for transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. means for receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; means for sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment indicating additional capabilities; means for receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; means for sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. An apparatus comprising:

[0253]

[0271] Clause 45. The means for transmitting the sidelink request message further comprises: means for broadcasting the sidelink request message; and means for groupcasting the sidelink request message; and means for unicasting the sidelink request message; 45. The apparatus according to claim 44, comprising one of:

[0254]

[0272] Clause 46. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 46. ​​Apparatus according to clause 44 or 45, exhibiting one or more of:

[0255]

[0273] Clause 47. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages.

[0256]

[0274] Clause 48. An apparatus for participating in a sidelink positioning session, comprising: means for receiving, by a peer user equipment, an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning session in at least one role; means for sending, by said peer user equipment, a message comprising capabilities associated with said peer user equipment, said capabilities indicating said at least one role; means for receiving, by the peer user equipment, a positioning message from a target user equipment, the positioning message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. means for participating, by the peer user equipment, in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment; An apparatus comprising:

[0257]

[0275] Clause 49. The at least one role comprises: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 49. The apparatus of claim 48, comprising at least one of:

[0258]

[0276] Clause 50. The apparatus of clause 48 or 49, wherein the message comprises a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0259]

[0277] Clause 51. The apparatus of any of clauses 48 to 50, further comprising means for receiving a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a positioning field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0260]

[0278] Clause 52. The apparatus of any of clauses 48 to 51, further comprising means for sending an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in the at least one role.

[0261]

[0279] Article 53. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 53. The apparatus according to clause 52, comprising:

[0262]

[0280] Clause 54. The capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include the maximum duration that the peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; A response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how frequently the peer user equipment may transmit a position reference signal during the sidelink positioning session; and a technique parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment is capable of implementing during the sidelink positioning session; and a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with said peer user equipment, said quality metric comprising one or more measurements related to signal strength, an arrival time of said message, or both; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; and Any combination of these 54. Apparatus according to any of clauses 48 to 53, comprising at least one of the following:

[0263]

[0281] Clause 55. An apparatus for authorizing peer user equipment, comprising: receiving, by a network entity, an authorization request from the peer user equipment, the authorization request requesting authorization to participate in a positioning session, the authorization request comprising data relating to the peer user equipment; sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on a determination by the network entity that the peer user equipment is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment; sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in the role based on a determination by the network entity that the peer user equipment is capable of performing the role in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment; An apparatus comprising:

[0264]

[0282] Article 56. The role is: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 56. The apparatus of claim 55, comprising at least one of:

[0265]

[0283] Article 57. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to the signal strength of said peer user equipment; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is undergoing; or Any combination of these 57. Apparatus according to clause 55 or 56, comprising:

[0266]

[0284] Clause 58. Receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one or more peer user equipments, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the steps of:

[0267]

[0285] Clause 59. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities are: the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 59. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 58, comprising one or more of:

[0268]

[0286] Clause 60. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 59, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each capability message of the one or more capability messages.

[0269]

[0287] Article 61. If the said order: 61. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 58 to 60, further executable to broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer user equipments, or both, will participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0270]

[0288] Clause 62. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 61, wherein the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

[0271]

[0289] Clause 63. Transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment, the second message identifying additional capabilities; receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the steps of:

[0272]

[0290] Clause 64. Transmitting the sidelink request message broadcasting the sidelink request message; and groupcasting the sidelink request message; and unicasting the sidelink request message; and 64. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 63, comprising one of:

[0273]

[0291] Clause 65. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communications relay functions; and how frequently each peer user equipment can transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; and Whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; and whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; and a quality metric relating to the accuracy of the current location of each peer user device; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time indicating how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; and a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is permitted to perform; Any combination of these 65. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as set forth in claim 64, comprising one or more of:

[0274]

[0292] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 65, wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages.

[0275]

[0293] Article 67. Memory and At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver, the one or more processors: receiving an authorization message from a network entity of a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in at least one role; sending a message comprising capabilities associated with said peer user equipment, said capabilities indicating said at least one role; receiving a positioning message from a target user equipment, the positioning message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment; participating in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment; 2. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a process according to claim 1 .

[0276]

[0294] Clause 68. The at least one role comprises: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 68. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 67, comprising at least one of:

[0277]

[0295] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 68, wherein the message comprises a sidelink discovery message including a positioning field indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0278]

[0296] Article 70. If the said order: 70. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 67 to 69, further executable to receive a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a positioning field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session.

[0279]

[0297] Article 71. If the said order: and sending an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session in the at least one role, the authorization request comprising: one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 71. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 67 to 70, comprising:

[0280]

[0298] Article 72. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to signal strength; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; or Any combination of these 72. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 71, comprising:

[0281]

[0299] Clause 73. The capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include the maximum duration that the peer user equipment may participate in the sidelink positioning session; A response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how frequently the peer user equipment may transmit a position reference signal during the sidelink positioning session; and a technique parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment is capable of implementing during the sidelink positioning session; and a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with said peer user equipment, said quality metric comprising one or more measurements related to signal strength, an arrival time of said message, or both; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; and Any combination of these 73. A peer user equipment according to any of clauses 67 to 72, comprising at least one of:

[0282]

[0300] Clause 74. Receiving an authorization request from a peer user equipment, the authorization request requesting authorization to participate in a positioning session, the authorization request comprising data relating to the peer user equipment. sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the positioning session based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on determining that the peer user equipment is not capable of performing a role in the positioning session; sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the positioning session in said role based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on determining that the peer user equipment is capable of performing the role in the positioning session; 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the steps of:

[0283]

[0301] Article 75. The role is: An anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; A positioning engine; A sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a position reference signal; Any combination of these 75. The network entity of claim 74, comprising at least one of:

[0284]

[0302] Article 76. If the request for permission is one or more measurements related to the signal strength of said peer user equipment; the memory capacity of said peer user equipment; the processing power of said peer user equipment; a mobility state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is undergoing; or Any combination of these 76. A network entity as claimed in claim 74 or 75, comprising:

[0285]

[0303] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0286]

[0304] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0287]

[0305] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0288]

[0306] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0289]

[0307] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and computer communication media, including any medium that enables transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0290]

[0308] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method implemented by a target user equipment for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A method for providing the above.

2. said subset of capabilities and said additional capabilities, the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in said sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how frequently each peer user equipment is allowed to transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric relating to the accuracy of each peer user equipment's current location; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time that indicates how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or Any combination of these The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises one or more of:

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each capability message of the one or more capability messages.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer user equipments, or both, will participate in the sidelink positioning session.

5. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reservation request is broadcast over a physical sidelink control channel.

6. 1. A method implemented by a target user equipment for selecting a positioning peer, comprising: transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment indicating additional capabilities; and receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A method for providing the above.

7. transmitting the sidelink request message, broadcasting the sidelink request message; groupcasting the sidelink request message; or unicasting the sidelink request message. The method of claim 6 , comprising one of:

8. said subset of capabilities and said additional capabilities, the capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration that each peer user equipment may participate in said sidelink positioning session; Permission to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how frequently each peer user equipment is allowed to transmit sidelink positioning reference signals; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment is capable of implementing; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user device is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric relating to the accuracy of each peer user equipment's current location; a mobility state indicating whether each peer user equipment is experiencing less than a threshold amount of movement; A response time that indicates how quickly each peer user device can provide a positioning measurement; a role parameter indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or Any combination of these The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises one or more of:

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the quality metric comprises one or more measurements related to a signal strength of each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages.

10. Memory, At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a target user equipment (TE) comprising: receiving one or more discovery messages, each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages being received from a corresponding one of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery message of the one or more discovery messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning session. sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to have the one or more peer user equipments participate in the sidelink positioning session; receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each capability message of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session. sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities and the additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A target user device configured to:

11. A target user equipment as described in claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.

12. Memory, At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a target user equipment (TE) comprising: transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning session, the sidelink request message comprising a subset of capabilities. receiving one or more discovery request messages, each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of one or more peer user equipment, wherein each discovery request message of the one or more discovery request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message to the one or more peer user equipment, the second message identifying additional capabilities; receiving one or more acknowledgement messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments; sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning session, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning session with the target user equipment. A target user device configured to:

13. A target user equipment as described in claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 9.

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