User Equipment Anchor Capability Indication for Sidelink Based Positioning - Patent application

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communications are disclosed. In one aspect, a first user equipment (UE) receives from a network entity a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and transmits to a network node a capability information message indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to sidelink-based positioning. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 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 systems 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.

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), calls for higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, providing 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor, according to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance. To support large-scale 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.

[0004] In particular, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technologies are being implemented to leverage 5G's increased data rates and reduced latency to support autonomous driving applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, between vehicles and pedestrians, etc. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

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

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a first user equipment (UE) includes the steps of receiving a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and transmitting a capability information message to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a network node includes the steps of: transmitting a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0008] In one aspect, a first user equipment (UE) includes a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, where the memory and the at least one processor are configured to: receive a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and transmit a capability information message to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0009] In one aspect, a network node includes a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, where the memory and the at least one processor are configured to: send a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receive a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0010] In one aspect, a first user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and means for transmitting a capability information message to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0011] In one aspect, the network node includes means for transmitting a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and means for receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes at least one instruction to direct a first user equipment (UE) to receive from a network node a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and at least one instruction to direct the first UE to transmit to the network node a capability information message indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes at least one instruction to direct a network node to send to a first user equipment (UE) a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure, and at least one instruction to direct the network node to receive from the first UE a capability information message indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0014] 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.

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for the purpose of illustrating the aspects and not for the purpose of limiting the aspects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 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 communication 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] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system supporting unicast sidelink establishment, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 illustrates another example of a network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 illustrates an example positioning anchor capabilities information element, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 9A] 1 illustrates example information elements that may be exchanged between two UEs to request and provide anchor capability status of the UEs, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 9B] 1 illustrates example information elements that may be exchanged between two UEs to request and provide anchor capability status of the UEs, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 10A] 1 illustrates example information elements that may be exchanged between a UE and a network entity to request and provide anchor capability status of the UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 10B] 1 illustrates example information elements that may be exchanged between a UE and a network entity to request and provide anchor capability status of the UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] 1 is a simplified block diagram of various devices configured to support wireless communication operations as taught herein. [Figure 14] 1 is a simplified block diagram of various devices configured to support wireless communication operations as taught herein. [Figure 15] 1 is a simplified block diagram of various devices configured to support wireless communication operations as taught herein. [Figure 16] 1 is a simplified block diagram of various devices configured to support wireless communication operations as taught herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] In order for a UE to determine its location based on wireless signals exchanged with one or more other user equipments (UEs) during a sidelink positioning procedure (a positioning procedure for locating one or more UEs based on wireless signals exchanged among multiple UEs, including the UE to be located), at least one of the other UEs should be able to provide its location to the UE (to serve as an "anchor" for the location determination). Similarly, when a network entity manages a sidelink positioning procedure among multiple UEs, a prerequisite for determining which UEs should participate in the sidelink positioning procedure is to know which of the UEs, if any, can serve as an anchor. Thus, having a mechanism for a UE to inform the network and / or other UEs whether it can serve as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure allows for better positioning, unless a positioning procedure is attempted for a UE that indicates it does not have the capability to serve as an anchor. The present disclosure provides a signaling mechanism for a UE to inform the network (and / or other UEs) of its capability to serve as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure. The conveyed information may include parameters indicating the UE's ability to serve as an anchor, its location, the accuracy of its location, and its ability to perform sidelink positioning calculations based on receiving wireless signal measurements from other UEs. In one or more examples, the information elements used to configure these parameters may be incorporated into existing messages or as part of new messages specific to sidelink positioning.

[0018] The mechanisms of the present disclosure allow a UE to provide, and a network node (a base station, a location server, or another UE) to receive, the UE's capability to serve as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure, thereby enabling better positioning, as long as a positioning procedure is not attempted for a UE that has indicated it cannot serve as an anchor, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling.

[0019] Additional aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, which are directed to various examples provided for illustrative 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.

[0020] 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" should not necessarily 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.

[0021] 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, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced 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.

[0022] 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 recognized that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processors of the device to perform the functionality 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. In addition, 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.

[0023] The terms "user equipment" (UE), "vehicle UE" (V-UE), "pedestrian UE" (P-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 specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a vehicle-mounted computer, a vehicle navigation device, a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an asset locating device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, a smart glass, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, 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 may be stationary (e.g., at some times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be referred to interchangeably as a "mobile device," "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof.

[0024] A V-UE is a type of UE and may be any in-vehicle wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, a warning system, a head-up display (HUD), an on-board computer, an in-vehicle information system, an automated driving system (ADS), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE may be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cell phone, a tablet computer, etc.) carried by a driver of the vehicle or a passenger in the vehicle. The term "V-UE" may refer to an in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself, depending on the context. A P-UE is a type of UE and may be a portable wireless communication device carried by a pedestrian (i.e., a user not driving or riding in the vehicle). A sidelink UE (SL-UE) is any type of UE capable of sidelink communication and may be a V-UE, a P-UE, or another type of UE (e.g., an IoT device). In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to an external network such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for a UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are possible, 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, etc.), or the like.

[0025] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with a UE depending on the network in which the UE is deployed, 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 functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) channel or a forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) can refer to either a UL / reverse traffic channel or a DL / forward traffic channel.

[0026] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station that corresponds to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs that are collocated, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs that are not collocated, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-colocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. As a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as references to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0027] 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 RF 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 RF signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when it receives and measures RF signals from the UE).

[0028] An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports 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, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0029] 1 illustrates an example 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 "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.

[0030] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 174 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through the 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 servers 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 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 distribution 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.

[0031] 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 the base stations (e.g., over some frequency resources, 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" can refer to a logical communication entity and one or both base stations that support it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0032] While adjacent to macrocell base stations 102, the geographic coverage areas 110 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions) and 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" instead of "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 including both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a Home eNB (HeNB) that may serve a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0033] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions 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 over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0034] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication 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) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0035] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and may 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 extend 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.

[0036] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 in communication with the UE 182 and may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) and / or sub-mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has wavelengths between 1 and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path losses and relatively short distances. 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 losses and short distances. It will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or sub-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the above illustrations are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0037] 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). With 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 resulting in a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. To change the directionality of an RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of 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 points in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to 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 suppressing and eliminating radiation in undesired directions.

[0038] A transmit beam may be quasi-co-located, 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 own transmit antennas are physically co-located or not. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (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 can 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 average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0039] 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 the gain level of) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in some direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is larger than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the largest 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 and Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of RF signals received from that direction.

[0040] The transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0041] It should be noted that a "downlink" beam may 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, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, then the downlink beam is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam may 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, then the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0042] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified with frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers, although a portion of FR1 is above 6 GHz. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

[0043] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified the operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0044] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "mmWave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0045] 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 on 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 among 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 among unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, the secondary carrier may only include the necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies for the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0046] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (i.e., a "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 aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0047] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located within the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 from the SV 112 to derive geolocation information.

[0048] In a satellite positioning system, the use of the signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation systems 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-Function Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0049] In one aspect, the SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also called a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna), or a network node in a 5G network. This element will then provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, the UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from the SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0050] In particular, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to leverage NR's increased data rates and reduced latency to support Intelligent Transport System (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 will enable safety, mobility, and environmental improvements that current technologies cannot provide. When fully implemented, the technology is expected to reduce unimpaired vehicle collisions by 80%.

[0051] 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 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 roadside access points 164 (also referred to as “roadside units”) over wireless sidelink 166, or with the SL-UEs 106 over wireless sidelink 168. Wireless sidelink (or simply “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standards that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the communications having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, V2V communications, V2X communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency relief applications, etc. One or more of a group 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 a group 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 are performed between the V-UEs 160 without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0052] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may operate over a subject wireless communications medium, which may be shared with other vehicles 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.

[0053] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. First generation 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. Other countries may allocate other bands. Thus, as a specific example, the target medium 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.

[0054] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) links. DSRC is a one-way or two-way, short- to medium-range wireless communications protocol using the wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) protocol, also referred to 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 the Safety Channel, a 10 MHz channel that in the United States is typically dedicated for safety purposes. The remainder of the DSRC band (total bandwidth of 75 MHz) is dedicated to other driver-targeted services such as roadway enforcement, toll collection, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a specific example, the target medium utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the 5.9 GHz licensed ITS frequency band.

[0055] 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 have been 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 various variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0056] 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 about the position, speed, acceleration, heading, 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 regulations, parking automation information, and the like. V2P communications between V-UEs 160 and UEs 104 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, and heading of V-UEs 160, as well as the position, speed (e.g., if UEs 104 are carried by a user on a bicycle), and heading of UEs 104.

[0057] It should be noted that while FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as V-UEs (V-UE 160) and one of the UEs as a SL-UE (SL-UE 106), any of the other illustrated UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs or SL-UEs. Additionally, while only V-UE 160 and a single SL-UE 106 are illustrated as being connected via a sidelink, any of the UEs illustrated in FIG. 1, whether V-UE, P-UE, etc., may be capable of sidelink communication and therefore may be examples of SL-UEs. Additionally, although only UE 182 has been described as being beamforming capable, any of the illustrated UEs may be beamforming capable, including V-UE 160 and SL-UE 106. If the V-UE 160 and the SL-UE 106 are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other V-UEs 160 and SL-UEs 106), towards the roadside access point 164, towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 106, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, the V-UE 160 and the SL-UE 106 may utilize beamforming on the sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0058] In one aspect, the V-UE 160 and the SL-UE 106 include sidelink components 108 that may enable the V-UE 160 and the SL-UE 106 to perform sidelink communication operations described herein. Although only the V-UE 160 and the SL-UE 106 are shown as including sidelink components 108, it should be noted that any of the UEs of FIG. 1 (and base stations supporting sidelink communications) may include sidelink communications 108.

[0059] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a SL-UE 106 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 using 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 as described above with respect to the sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0060] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be viewed functionally as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that work cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both an ng-eNB 224 and a gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0061] 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 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC 210 and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0062] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. The 5GC 260 (which may correspond to the 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be viewed 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 work cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a Session Management Function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that the SCM uses to derive access network specific keys. The AMF 264 functionality also includes location service management for regulated services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification.In addition, AMF264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) ("3GPP" is a registered trademark) access networks.

[0063] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), routing and forwarding of packets, 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 "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support forwarding of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the SLP 272.

[0064] 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 part of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0065] 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 connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, while the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey 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 the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0066] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224, respectively, in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0067] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is called the "F1" interface. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for those functions exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or multiple cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, and with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

[0068] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into 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 embody any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the described components to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may contain multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0069] The UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350 that provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, 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. Each WWAN transceiver 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 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively, 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 one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0070] Each UE 302 and base station 304 also, at least in some cases, includes one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, PC5, Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), Wireless Access for Vehicular Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communications (NFC), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively, 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, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. 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] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also, at least in some cases, include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communications signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and action from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using the obtained measurements according to any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0072] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, that provide a means for communicating (e.g., a means for transmitting, a means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0073] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired link or a wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). The transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter and receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming," as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listen modules (NLMs) and the like for performing various measurements.

[0074] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involve signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0075] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, for providing functionality related to wireless communications and for providing other processing functionality, respectively. Thus, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0076] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for retaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include sidelink components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The sidelink 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, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sidelink components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., may be part of a modem processing system, may be integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the sidelink components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.) cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the sidelink component 342, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a sidelink component 388, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C shows possible locations of a sidelink component 398, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0077] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensors 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 motion detection sensor. Moreover, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0078] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audio and / or visual indications) and / or 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] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may perform functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality 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 functionality related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0080] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality 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), M-ary 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 together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is 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] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carriers and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 perform Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. Multiple spatial streams may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312 if destined for the UE 302. 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, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points that were most likely transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that perform Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0082] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 perform demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processing systems 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0083] Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality related to system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality 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] 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 facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0085] 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 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0086] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 perform demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0087] For convenience, the UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A-3C are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, device use, or other considerations. For example, in the case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor 344, and so on. 3B, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or may omit satellite receiver 370, etc. For brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but should be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0088] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, when various logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality integrated within the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0089] The components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in a variety of ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components 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 the processor and memory components 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, as will be appreciated, such operations, activities, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, sidelink components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0090] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0091] 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 a D2D P2P link 192, or the UE 204 in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.

[0092] In the example of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may attempt to establish a unicast connection with the UE 404 over a sidelink, which may be a V2X sidelink between the UE 402 and the UE 404. As a specific example, the established sidelink connection may correspond to the sidelinks 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1. The sidelink connection may be established in an omnidirectional frequency range (e.g., FR1) and / or a mmW frequency range (e.g., FR2). In some cases, the UE 402 may be referred to as an initiating UE that initiates the 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.

[0093] To establish a unicast connection, Access Stratum (AS) (a functional layer in the UMTS and LTE protocol stacks, and part of Layer 2, between the RAN and the UE responsible for transporting data over the wireless link and managing radio resources) 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 bands, 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. Additionally, 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, V2X and Uu systems 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 unicast connections between UE 402 and UE 404.

[0094] In some cases, the UE 404 may create a service announcement (e.g., a service capability message) for transmission 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) that is decrypted by nearby UEs (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, in the case of a different wireless communication system (e.g., D2D or V2X communication), the discovery channel may not be configured to allow the UE 402 to detect the BSM. Thus, the service announcement (e.g., discovery signal) transmitted by the UE 404 and other nearby UEs may be 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 for itself, including connection parameters and / or capabilities it possesses, in the service announcement. The UE 402 may then monitor for and receive the broadcasted service announcements to identify possible UEs for a corresponding sidelink connection. In some cases, the UE 402 may identify possible UEs based on the capabilities that each UE indicates in their respective service announcements.

[0095] The service announcement may include information to assist the UE 402 (e.g., or any initiating UE) in identifying the UE (UE 404 in the example of FIG. 4) that is sending the service announcement. For example, the service announcement may include channel information in which the 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. Additionally, 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 layer or transport layer for the UE 402 to send the communication request. For example, the network layer (also referred to as "Layer 3" or "L3") or 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 the type of protocol for certificate establishment and QoS related parameters.

[0096] After identifying a possible 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 "RRC Setup Request" 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 sidelink, and the connection request 415 may be an RRC Connection Setup Request message. Additionally, the UE 402 may use a sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to transport the connection request 415.

[0097] 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, the ability to accommodate a unicast connection over the sidelink, the particular service indicated for the unicast connection, the 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. In response, 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 a connection response 420. Additionally, the connection response 420 may be a second RRC message sent by the UE 404 in response to the connection request 415 (e.g., an “RRC Response” message).

[0098] In some cases, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 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 supporting 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).

[0099] If the connection response 420 indicates that the UE 404 accepted the connection request 415, the UE 402 may then 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 "RRC Setup Complete" message). Each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection establishment 425 may use basic capabilities when in transport from one UE to the other UE to enable each UE to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g., an RRC message).

[0100] 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 / 404 is sending which message and / or which UE 402 / 404 the message is intended for. For physical (PHY) layer channels, the RRC signaling and any subsequent data transmissions may use the same identifier (e.g., Layer 2 ID). However, for logical channels, the identifiers may be separate for the RRC signaling and for the data transmissions. For example, on logical channels, the RRC signaling and the data transmissions may be treated differently and may 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 transmitted and received correctly.

[0101] 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 the unicast connection. For example, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters in the 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. Additionally, 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 (e.g., reordering timer (t-reordering) is used) or unacknowledged mode (UM) is used for the RLC layer of the unicast communication.

[0102] Additionally, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include medium access control (MAC) parameters to set up a MAC context for a 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. Additionally, the UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include PHY layer parameters when establishing a unicast connection to set up 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 per UE 402 / 404) 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).

[0103] In some cases, a security context may also be set for the unicast connection (e.g., after the 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 the security association is established, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may be protected. Thus, the security context may enable secure data transmission over the unicast connection as well as the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. Additionally, 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 whether to accept or reject the connection request 415 for the particular service indicated for the unicast connection and / or the content (e.g., higher layer information) to be transmitted over the unicast connection. The particular service and / or content may also be indicated by higher layer control protocols operating after the RRC signaling is established.

[0104] After the unicast connection is established, the UE 402 and the UE 404 may communicate using a unicast connection over the sidelink 430, where the 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. 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 (e.g., event triggered) periodically or on demand. 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 (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 the connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., when 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 delete the unicast connection over the sidelink 430. Thus, no subsequent RRC messages may be transmitted between the UE 402 and the UE 404 over the unicast connection.

[0105] NR can support a variety of sidelink ranging and positioning techniques. Sidelink-based ranging allows the determination of the relative distance between UEs and, optionally, their absolute positions when the absolute positions of at least one associated UE are known. This technique can be useful in situations where Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning is degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, etc.) and also can increase the accuracy of distance and positioning when GNSS is available.

[0106] Sidelink-based ranging may be achieved via broadcasting of Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) from participating UEs (e.g., any UE capable of sidelink, V2X, V2V, etc. communications) and network entities (e.g., RSUs, gNBs, APs, etc.), followed by participants exchanging measurements based on the transmission and reception of the PRS. Based on these measurements, a participant (UE or network entity) can determine its distance to the other participants. If at least one participant has accurate knowledge of its location, the result of the ranging act is a determination of location relative to the other participants. If none of the participants have knowledge of their locations, the result is simply a determination of inter-participant distance.

[0107] When a UE determines its location from a sidelink positioning procedure (also called a sidelink ranging procedure, sidelink ranging session, sidelink ranging and positioning procedure, etc.), at least one participant in the procedure needs to have accurate knowledge of its location to serve as an "anchor" for the location calculation (i.e., an "anchor" is a device with a known location that can be used to determine the location of a device with an unknown location). Similarly, when a network entity manages the sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., LME, RSU, gNB), a prerequisite for determining the participants in the sidelink positioning procedure is to know which UEs, if any, can serve as anchors. Thus, having a mechanism for the UE to inform the network and / or other UEs whether it can serve as an anchor allows better sidelink positioning and reduces over-the-air messaging / resource utilization by not initiating the procedure if no suitable anchor is available.

[0108] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a signaling mechanism for a UE to inform the network (and / or other UEs) of its ability to serve as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure. The UE may determine whether the UE can serve as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure based on various factors, such as whether the UE has a known location, the accuracy of that location (e.g., even if the UE has a known location, the UE will not serve as an anchor if the accuracy of its location is below a threshold), the signal strength of messages received from other participating UEs (e.g., weak signal strength may indicate that the UE is too far from other UEs to provide reliable anchor services), the UE's battery level, privacy settings (e.g., if the UE provides anchor services, the UE needs to share its location), etc. The information conveyed may include the UE's ability to serve as an anchor, its location, the accuracy of its location, and its ability to perform sidelink positioning calculations based on receiving measurement results from other UEs. The information elements used to configure these parameters may be incorporated within existing 3GPP signaling messages or as part of new messages specific to sidelink positioning.

[0109] FIG. 5 illustrates an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500 according to an aspect of the disclosure. Sidelink ranging is based on calculating UE-to-UE round trip time (RTT) measurements as determined from the transmission and reception times of PRS (wideband reference signal defined in LTE and NR for positioning). Each UE reports the RTT measurement results along with its location (if known) to all other participating UEs. If the UEs have no knowledge or inaccurate knowledge of their locations, the RTT procedure results in UE-to-UE distances between the associated UEs. If the UEs have accurate knowledge of their locations, the distances result in absolute locations. UE joining, PRS transmission, and subsequent RTT calculations are orchestrated by an initial three-way messaging handshake (PRS request, PRS response, and PRS confirmation) and a message exchange after PRS transmission to share measurement results after receiving the peer UE's PRS (post-PRS messages).

[0110] The sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500 (or session) starts with the broadcast of capability information by the associated peer UEs in stage 505. As shown in FIG. 5, one of the peer UEs, UE 204-1 (e.g., any of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein), may be the anchor UE for the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500, meaning that it has a known location. As such, the anchor UE 204-1 includes an indication in its capability message that it may be the anchor for the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500. The capability message may also include the location of the anchor UE 204-1, or this may be provided later. The other UE, UE 204-2 (e.g., any other of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein), is the target UE, meaning that it has an unknown or imprecise location and is trying to be located. Based on receiving capability information from the anchor UE 204-1 indicating that the anchor UE 204-1 is an anchor UE, the target UE 204-2 knows that it can determine its location based on performing the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500 with the anchor UE 204-1.

[0111] After the initial capability exchange, the associated UEs 204 perform a three-way messaging handshake. At stage 510, the anchor UE 204-1 sends a PRS request (labeled "PRSrequest") to the target UE 204-2. At stage 515, the target UE 204-2 sends a PRS response (labeled "PRSresponse") to the UE 204-1. At stage 520, the anchor UE 204-1 sends a PRS confirm to the target UE 204-2. At this point, the three-way messaging handshake is complete.

[0112] In stages 525 and 530, the associated peer UEs 204 transmit the PRS to each other. The resources on which the PRS is transmitted may be configured / allocated by the network (e.g., one of the serving base stations of the UEs 204) or negotiated by the UEs 204 during a three-way messaging handshake. The anchor UE 204-1 measures the transmit-to-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference between the transmit time of the PRS in stage 525 and the receive time of the PRS in stage 530. The target UE 204-2 measures the receive-to-transmit (Tx-Rx) time difference between the receive time of the PRS in stage 525 and the transmit time of the PRS in stage 530.

[0113] At stages 535 and 540, the peer UEs 204 exchange their respective time difference measurements in a post-PRS message (labeled "postPRS"). If the anchor UE 204-1 has not yet provided its location to the target UE 204-2, it does so at this point. Each UE 204 can then determine the RTT between each UE 204 based on the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time difference measurements (specifically, the difference between the Tx-Rx time difference measurement and the Rx-Tx time difference measurement). Based on the RTT measurements and the speed of light, each UE 204 can then estimate the distance (or range) between the two UEs 204 (specifically, half the RTT measurement multiplied by the speed of light). Since the target UE 204-2 also has the absolute location (eg, geographic coordinates) of the anchor UE 204-1, the target UE 204-2 can use that location and the distance to the anchor UE 204-1 to determine its own absolute location.

[0114] It should be noted that although FIG. 5 shows two UEs 204, a UE may perform or attempt to perform the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 500 with multiple UEs.

[0115] The network (e.g., gNB, RSU, LMF) can manage the sidelink positioning procedure by assigning an anchor UE (or multiple UEs) to the sidelink positioning procedure based on capability exchange with participating UEs. There are two types of network-managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedures, shown in Figures 6 and 7. In Figure 6, the network selects an anchor UE and the target UEs determine their own locations based on the anchor UE's location. In Figure 7, the network selects an anchor UE, the associated UEs report their measurements to the network, and the network determines the target UE's location.

[0116] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 600 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 600 (or session) begins with an exchange of capability information between associated peer UEs 204 and the gNB 222 at stage 610. As shown in FIG. 6, one of the peer UEs, anchor UE 204-1 (e.g., any of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein) includes an indication in its capability message that it can be an anchor UE. The other UEs, UE 204-2 through UE 204-N (e.g., any of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein) are target UEs.

[0117] Based on the capabilities received in stage 610, the gNB 222 determines that the anchor UE 204-1 can serve as an anchor for the network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 600. The gNB 222 assigns the anchor UE 204-1 and the UEs 204-2 through 204-N to a sidelink positioning group and sends a PRS request (labeled “PRSrequest”) to each of the associated UEs 204 in stage 620. The PRS request indicates the sidelink positioning group to which the peer UE 204 is assigned and may indicate the time and frequency resources on which the UE 204 will transmit the PRS.

[0118] At stage 630, the peer UEs 204 transmit PRS responses (labeled "PRSresponse1", "PRSresponse2", "PRSresponseN") to one another, and at stage 640, the peer UEs 204 transmit PRS to one another. The UEs 204 measure the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences of the transmitted and received PRS at stage 640. For example, each UE 204 may perform stages 525 and 530 to one another to determine the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences.

[0119] In step 650, the UEs 204 report their respective time difference measurements and / or their RTTs to each other in post-PRS messages (labeled "PostPRS1", "PostPRS2", "PostPRSN") as in steps 535 and 540 of FIG. 5. If the anchor UE 204-1 has not yet provided its location to the target UEs 204-2-204-N, it does so at this point. The peer UEs 204 can now determine the RTTs and / or the distances between themselves. Based on the distances between the target UEs 204-2-204-N and the known location of the anchor UE 204-1, each target UE 204-2-204-N can determine its location.

[0120] 7 illustrates another example of a network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 700 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 700 (or session) starts with an exchange of capability information between associated peer UEs 204 and the gNB 222 at stage 710. As shown in FIG. 7, one of the peer UEs, anchor UE 204-1 (e.g., any of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein) includes an indication in its capability message that it can be an anchor UE. The other UEs, UE 204-2 through UE 204-N (e.g., any other of the sidelink-capable UEs described herein) are target UEs.

[0121] Based on the capabilities received in stage 710, the gNB 222 determines that the anchor UE 204-1 can serve as an anchor for the network managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 700. The gNB 222 assigns the anchor UE 204-1 and the target UEs 204-2 through 204-N to a sidelink positioning group and sends a PRS request ("PRSrequest") to each of the associated UEs 204 in stage 720. The PRS request indicates the sidelink positioning group to which the peer UE 204 is assigned and may indicate the time and frequency resources on which the UE 204 will transmit the PRS.

[0122] At stage 730, each peer UE 204 transmits a PRS response (labeled "PRSresponse1", "PRSresponse2", "PRSresponseN") to the gNB 222. At stage 740, the peer UEs 204 transmit the PRS to each other. The UEs 204 measure the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences of the transmitted and received PRS at stage 740. For example, each UE 204 may perform stages 525 and 530 to each other to determine the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences.

[0123] At stage 750, the UEs 204 report their respective time difference measurements, their RTTs, and / or relative distances between each other to the gNB 222 in post-PRS messages (labeled "PostPRS1", "PostPRS2", "PostPRSN"). If the anchor UE 204-1 has not yet provided its location to the gNB 222, it does so at this point. The gNB 222 or LMF 270 can now determine the RTTs or distances between the UEs 204, if not provided by the UE 204. Based on the distances between the UE 204 and the known locations of the anchor UE 204-1, the gNB 222 or LMF 270 can determine the locations of the target UEs 204-2 through UE 204-N.

[0124] A UE may signal its capability to serve as an anchor UE for a sidelink positioning procedure using various information elements (e.g., as in steps 505, 610, 710 of FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7). FIG. 8 illustrates an example positioning anchor capability information element 800 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 8, the positioning anchor capability information element 800 is named "sl-PositionAnchorCapability", but as will be appreciated, this is merely an example. The positioning anchor capability information element 800 may be an RRC information element exchanged between a UE and a base station or between two UEs. The positioning anchor capability information element 800 may include the following fields:

[0125] [Table 1]

[0126] 9A and 9B illustrate example information elements that may be exchanged between two UEs to request and provide anchor capability status of the UEs according to an aspect of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9A, a first UE (labeled "UE1") and a second UE (labeled "UE2") perform a capability exchange procedure 900. This may be the capability exchange procedure performed in stage 505 of FIG. 5.

[0127] In a first stage of the capability exchange procedure 900, the first UE receives a capability query message 910 (e.g., a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" message) from the second UE. The capability query message 910 includes a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" information element that includes at least one "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink-IEs-r16" information element. The "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink-IEs-r16" information element includes a "sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field that points to a "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element (e.g., the positioning anchor capability information element 800). The "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element requests an indication 912 of whether the UE is capable of being an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure.

[0128] In a second stage of the capability exchange procedure 900, the first UE responds to the capability query message with a capability information message 930 (e.g., a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" message). The capability information message 930 includes a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" information element that includes at least one "UECapabilityInformationSidelink-IEs-r16" information element. The "UECapabilityInformationSidelink-IEs-r16" information element includes a "sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field that points to a "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element (e.g., a positioning anchor capability information element 800). The "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element indicates whether the UE is capable of being an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure (is an indication of whether 932 it is possible).

[0129] It should be noted that although Figures 9A and 9B show the "sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field and the "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element being added to an existing RRC message, it will be appreciated that these fields and information elements may instead be provided in a new RRC message.

[0130] 10A and 10B illustrate example information elements that may be exchanged between a UE and a network entity to request and provide an anchor capability status of the UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10A, the UE and a network entity (labeled "NW") perform a capability exchange procedure 1000. This may be the capability exchange procedure performed in stages 610 and 710 of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

[0131] In a first stage of the capability exchange procedure 1000, the UE receives a capability query message 1010 (e.g., a “UECapabilityEnquiry” message) from a network entity (e.g., a base station, a location server). The capability query message 1010 may include various “UECapabilityEnquiry” information elements. The “UECapabilityEnquiry-v1610-IEs” information element includes a “sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus” field that points to a “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element (e.g., a positioning anchor capability information element 800). The “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element requests an indication 1012 of whether the UE is capable of being an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure.

[0132] In a second stage of the capability exchange procedure 1000, the UE responds to the capability query message with a capability information message 1030 (e.g., a “UECapabilityInformation” message). The capability information message 1030 includes a “UECapabilityInformation” information element, which may include at least one “UECapabilityInformation-IEs-r16” information element. The “UECapabilityInformation-IEs-r16” information element may include a “sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus” field that points to a “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element (e.g., a positioning anchor capability information element 800). The “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element indicates (is an indication 1032 of) whether the UE is capable of being an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure.

[0133] It should be noted that although Figures 10A and 10B show the "sl-PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field and the "sl-PositionAnchorCapability" information element being added to the existing "UECapabilityEnquiry" and "UECapabilityInformation" RRC messages, these fields and information elements may instead be added to the existing "UEInformationRequest" and "UEInformationResponse" RRC messages. Alternatively, these fields and information elements may instead be provided in a new RRC message.

[0134] 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1100 may be performed by a first UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0135] At 1110, the first UE receives a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., a “UECapabilityEnquirySidelink” or “UECapabilityEnquiry” message) from a network node (e.g., a base station, a location server, an anchor UE), where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide (e.g., via an “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element) the location of the first UE (i.e., serving as an anchor) for the sidelink positioning procedure. In one aspect, operation 1110 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memories 340, and / or sidelink components 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0136] At 1120, the first UE transmits a capability information message (e.g., a “UECapabilityInformationSidelink” or “UECapabilityInformation” message) to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in a sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has an ability to provide the first UE's location for the sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., via an “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element). In one aspect, operation 1120 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memories 340, and / or sidelink components 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0137] 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1200 may be performed by a network node (e.g., any of a base station, a UE, or a location server described herein).

[0138] At 1210, the network node sends a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., a “UECapabilityEnquirySidelink” or “UECapabilityEnquiry” message) to a first UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), where the capability query message includes a request for an indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., via an “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element). In an aspect, if the network node is a UE (e.g., a target UE), operation 1210 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memories 340, and / or sidelink components 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation. In one aspect, if the network node is a base station, the operation 1210 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or sidelink components 388, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation. In one aspect, if the network node is a location server, the operation 1210 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or sidelink components 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation.

[0139] At 1220, the network node receives a capability information message (e.g., a “UECapabilityInformationSidelink” or “UECapabilityInformation” message) from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in a sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the first UE's location for the sidelink positioning procedure (e.g., via an “sl-PositionAnchorCapability” information element). In one aspect, if the network node is a UE (e.g., a target UE), operation 1220 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or sidelink components 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation. In one aspect, if the network node is a base station, the operation 1220 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or sidelink components 388, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation. In one aspect, if the network node is a location server, the operation 1220 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or sidelink components 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation.

[0140] As will be appreciated, methods 1100 and 1200 enable a first UE to provide, and a network node (a base station, a location server, or another UE) to receive, its capability to act as an anchor for a sidelink positioning procedure. This enables better sidelink positioning and reduces over-the-air messaging / resource utilization by not initiating the procedure if a suitable anchor is not available.

[0141] 13 illustrates an example user equipment 1300 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The user equipment 1300 may include a memory 1310, a communication device 1320, and at least one processor 1330. The memory 1310, the communication device 1320, and the at least one processor 1330 may be coupled to each other over a data bus 1340. In an aspect, the memory 1310 may correspond to the memory 340 and / or the sidelink components 342, the communication device 1320 may correspond to one or more WWAN transceivers 310 and / or the sidelink components 342, and the at least one processor 1330 may correspond to one or more processors 332 and / or the sidelink components 342.

[0142] In one aspect, the memory 1310 and the at least one processor 1330 may be configured to: receive a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the user equipment 1300 has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and send a capability information message to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the user equipment 1300 to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the user equipment 1300 include at least an indication of whether the user equipment 1300 has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0143] 14 illustrates an example network node 1400 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The network node 1400 may include a memory 1410, a communication device 1420, and at least one processor 1430. The memory 1410, the communication device 1420, and the at least one processor 1430 may be coupled together over a data bus 1440. In one aspect, depending on whether the network node 1400 is a UE, a base station, or a location server, the memory 1410 may correspond to the memory 340, 386 or 396 and / or the sidelink components 342, 388 or 398, the communication device 1420 may correspond to one or more transceivers 310, 350 or 390 and / or the sidelink components 342, 388 or 398, and the at least one processor 1430 may correspond to one or more processors 332, 384 or 394 and / or the sidelink components 342, 388 or 398.

[0144] In an aspect, the memory 1410 and the at least one processor 1430 may be configured to: send a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to the first UE, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receive a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0145] 15 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 1500 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. The user equipment 1500 may include a module for receiving 1510 and a module for transmitting 1520. In one aspect, the module for receiving 1510 may correspond to one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or sidelink components 342, and the module for transmitting 1520 may correspond to one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or sidelink components 342.

[0146] 16 illustrates an exemplary network node 1600, represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. The network node 1600 may include a module 1610 for transmitting and a module 1620 for receiving. In an aspect, depending on whether the network node 1600 is a UE, a base station, or a location server, the module 1610 for transmitting may correspond to one or more transceivers 310, 350 or 390, one or more processors 332, 384 or 394, a memory 340, 386 or 396, and / or a sidelink component 342, 388 or 398, and the module 1620 for receiving may correspond to one or more transceivers 310, 350 or 390, one or more processors 332, 384 or 394, a memory 340, 386 or 396, and / or a sidelink component 342, 388 or 398.

[0147] The functionality of the modules in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 may be implemented in a variety of ways consistent with the teachings herein. In some designs, the functionality of these modules may be implemented as one or more electrical components. In some designs, the functionality of these blocks may be implemented as a processing system including one or more processor components. In some designs, the functionality of these modules may be implemented, for example, using at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (e.g., ASICs). As described herein, an integrated circuit may include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination thereof. Thus, functionality of different modules may be implemented, for example, as different subsets of an integrated circuit, as different subsets of a set of software modules, or as a combination thereof. It will also be appreciated that a given subset (e.g., of an integrated circuit and / or of a set of software modules) may provide at least a portion of functionality for more than one module.

[0148] Moreover, the components and functions represented by Figures 15 and 16, as well as other components and functions described herein, may be implemented using any suitable means. Such means may also be implemented, at least in part, using corresponding structure as taught herein. For example, the components described above in conjunction with the "module for" components of Figures 15 and 16 may also correspond to similarly designated "means for" functions. Thus, in some aspects, one or more of such means may be implemented using one or more of a processor component, an integrated circuit, or other suitable structure as taught herein.

[0149] 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 referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0150] 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, the 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.

[0151] 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.

[0152] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied 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.

[0153] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of media. Disk and disc, as used herein, 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 using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0154] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

[0155] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of each exemplary clause disclosed. Thus, the following clauses should be considered hereby as being incorporated into this description, and each clause may stand alone as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the dependent clause aspects with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless it is expressly expressed or can be easily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). It is further contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included within any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on an independent clause.

[0156] Example implementations are described in the following numbered sections.

[0157] Clause 1. A method of wireless communications performed by a first user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, where the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability for providing a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and transmitting a capability information message to the network node indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, where the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability for providing a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0158] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0159] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide its location for a sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0160] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on the received location measurement result information.

[0161] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, further comprising determining a location of the second UE based at least in part on the location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0162] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 4 to 5, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide a position calculation for the sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0163] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, further comprising: receiving a request for a location of the first UE from the network node based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure; and transmitting the location of the first UE to the network node.

[0164] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0165] Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the network node is a third UE.

[0166] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" information element (IE) and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE.

[0167] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide the location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" IE, a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE, or both.

[0168] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0169] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformation" IE.

[0170] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide the location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE, a "UECapabilityInformation" IE, or both.

[0171] Clause 15. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising: transmitting a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0172] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, further comprising: sending a request to the first UE for a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure; and receiving from the first UE the location of the first UE.

[0173] Clause 17. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 16, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0174] Clause 18. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 17, further comprising determining a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0175] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0176] Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 19, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0177] Clause 21. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 20, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on the received location measurement information.

[0178] Clause 22. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 18, 20 and 21, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0179] Clause 23. A first user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are configured to: receive a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure from a network node, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and transmit to the network node a capability information message indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0180] Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0181] Clause 25. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 24, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0182] Clause 26. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on the received location measurement result information.

[0183] Clause 27. The UE of clause 26, wherein the memory and at least one processor are further configured to determine a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0184] Clause 28. The UE of any one of clauses 26 to 27, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0185] Clause 29. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 28, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are further configured to: receive a request from the network node for a location of the first UE and send the location of the first UE to the network node based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure.

[0186] Clause 30. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 29, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0187] Clause 31. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 30, wherein the network node is a third UE.

[0188] Clause 32. The UE of clause 31, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" information element (IE) and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE.

[0189] Clause 33. The UE of clause 32, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" IE, a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE, or both.

[0190] Clause 34. The UE of any one of clauses 23 to 30, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0191] Clause 35. The UE of clause 34, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformation" IE.

[0192] Clause 36. The UE of clause 35, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE, a "UECapabilityInformation" IE, or both.

[0193] Clause 37. A network node comprising: a memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are configured to: send a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), wherein the capability query message includes at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receive a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0194] Clause 38. The network node of clause 37, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are further configured to: send a request to the first UE for a location of the first UE and receive from the first UE a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure.

[0195] Clause 39. The network node of any one of clauses 37 to 38, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0196] Clause 40. The network node of any one of clauses 37 to 39, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are further configured to determine a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0197] Clause 41. The network node of clause 40, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0198] Clause 42. The network node of any one of clauses 37 to 41, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0199] Clause 43. The network node of any one of clauses 37 to 42, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on received location measurement result information.

[0200] Clause 44. The network node of any one of clauses 37 to 40, 42 and 43, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0201] Clause 45. A first user equipment (UE) comprising: means for receiving from a network node a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability for providing a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and means for transmitting to the network node a capability information message indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability for providing a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0202] Clause 46. The UE of clause 45, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0203] Clause 47. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 46, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0204] Clause 48. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 47, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on the received location measurement result information.

[0205] Clause 49. The UE of clause 48, further comprising means for determining a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0206] Clause 50. The UE of any one of clauses 48 to 49, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

[0207] Clause 51. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 50, further comprising: means for receiving a request for a location of the first UE from the network node based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure; and means for transmitting the location of the first UE to the network node.

[0208] Clause 52. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 51, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0209] Clause 53. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 52, wherein the network node is a third UE.

[0210] Clause 54. The UE of clause 53, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" information element (IE) and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE.

[0211] Clause 55. The UE of clause 54, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquirySidelink" IE, a "UECapabilityInformationSidelink" IE, or both.

[0212] Clause 56. The UE of any one of clauses 45 to 52, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0213] Clause 57. The UE of clause 56, wherein the capability query message includes a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE and the capability information message includes a "UECapabilityInformation" IE.

[0214] Clause 58. The UE of clause 57, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure includes a "PositionAnchorCapabilityStatus" field in a "UECapabilityEnquiry" IE, a "UECapabilityInformation" IE, or both.

[0215] Clause 59. A network node comprising: means for transmitting a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and means for receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure.

[0216] Clause 60. The network node of clause 59, further comprising: means for sending a request to the first UE for a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure indicating the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for a sidelink positioning procedure; and means for receiving from the first UE a location of the first UE.

[0217] Clause 61. The network node of any one of clauses 59 to 60, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

[0218] Clause 62. The network node of any one of clauses 59 to 61, further comprising means for determining a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from the second UE.

[0219] Clause 63. The network node of clause 62, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0220] Clause 64. The network node of any one of clauses 59 to 63, wherein the capability query message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a first Medium Access Control control element (MAC-CE), a first Sidelink Control Information (SCI), or a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, and the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

[0221] Clause 65. The network node of any one of clauses 59 to 64, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a position calculation for a sidelink positioning procedure based on received location measurement result information.

[0222] Clause 66. The network node of any one of clauses 59 to 62, 64 and 65, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server serving the first UE.

[0223] Clause 67. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 66. [Explanation of symbols]

[0224] 100 Wireless communication system 102 Base station 102' Small Cell (SC) 104 User Equipment (UE) 106 Side Link UE (SL-UE) 108 Sidelink components 110 Geographic Coverage Areas 110' Geographical Coverage Area 112 Space Vehicle (SV) 120 Communication Links 122 backhaul links 124 SPS signals 134 backhaul links 150 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Points (AP) 152 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Station (STA) 154 Communication Links 160 Vehicle UE (V-UE) 162 Wireless Side Link 164 Roadside Access Points 166 Wireless Sidelink 168 Wireless Side Link 172 Location Server 174 Core Network 180 mmW base station 182 User Equipment (UE) 184 mmW communication link 190 User Equipment (UE) 192 D2D P2P links 194 D2D P2P links 200 Wireless Network Structure 200 Wireless Communication System 204 User Equipment (UE) 204-1 Anchor UE 204-2 Target UE 204-N Target UE 210 5G Core (5GC) 212 User Plane Functions 213 User Plane Interface (NG-U) 214 Control Plane Functions 215 Control Plane Interface (NG-C) 220 Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 222 gNB 223 Backhaul Connection 224 Next generation eNB (ng-eNB) 226 gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 228 gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) 230 Location Server 232 Interface 250 Wireless Network Structure 250 Wireless Communication System 260 5GC 262 User Plane Function (UPF) 263 User Plane Interface 264 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 265 Control Plane Interface 266 Session Management Facility (SMF) 270 Location Management Function (LMF) 272 Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 302UE 304 base station 306 Network Entities 310 Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) Transceiver 312 Receiver 314 Transmitter 316 Antenna 318 Signal 320 Short Range Wireless Transceiver 322 Receiver 324 Transmitter 326 Antenna 328 signal 330 Satellite signal receiver 332 processor 334 Data Bus 336 Antenna 338 Satellite positioning / communication signals 340 Memory 342 Sidelink components 344 Sensors 346 User Interface 350 WWAN Transceiver 352 Receiver 354 Transmitter 356 Antenna 358 Signal 360 Short Range Wireless Transceiver 362 Receiver 364 Transmitter 366 Antenna 368 signal 370 Satellite signal receiver 376 Antenna 378 Satellite positioning / communication signals 380 Network Transceiver 382 Data Bus 384 processor 386 memory 388 Sidelink Components 390 Network Transceiver 392 Data Bus 394 processor 396 Memory 398 Sidelink Components 400 Wireless Communication System 402 First UE 404 Second UE 405 Sidelink Signalling Radio Bearer 410 Sidelink Signalling Radio Bearer 415 Connection Request 420 Connect 425 Connection Established 430 Side Link 435 Sidelink Data 500 Sidelink Ranging and Positioning Procedures 505 stages 510 steps 515 stages 520 steps 525 stages 530 steps 535 stages 540 steps 600 Network-managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedures 610 steps 620 steps 630 steps 640 steps 650 steps 700 Network-managed sidelink ranging and positioning procedures 710 steps 720 steps 730 steps 740 steps 750 stages 800 Positioning Anchor Capability Information Element 900 Ability Exchange Procedure 910 Capability Inquiry Message 912 display 930 Capability Information Message 932 displays 1000 Ability Exchange Procedure 1010 Capability Inquiry Message 1012 display 1030 Capability Information Message 1032 displays 1300 User Equipment 1310 Memory 1320 Communication Devices 1330 Processor 1340 Data Bus 1400 Network Node 1410 Memory 1420 Communication Devices 1430 Processor 1440 Data Bus 1500 User Devices 1510 Receiving module 1520 Transmitting Module 1600 network nodes 1610 Transmitting module 1620 Receiving module

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication for sidelink based positioning performed by a first user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving from a second UE a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; sending a capability information message to the second UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; The method includes:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for the sidelink positioning procedure based on received location measurement information.

3. receiving a request from the second UE for a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and transmitting the location of the first UE to the second UE.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

5. A method of wireless communication for sidelink based positioning performed by a second user equipment (UE), comprising: sending a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first UE, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; The method includes:

6. sending a request to the first UE for a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receiving the location of the first UE from the first UE.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

8. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for the sidelink positioning procedure based on received location measurement information.

9. A first user equipment (UE) for sidelink based positioning, comprising: Memory, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor comprising: receiving from a second UE a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure, the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; sending a capability information message to the second UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; A first UE configured to:

10. the capability query message is a first radio resource control (RRC) message, a first medium access control control element (MAC-CE), a first sidelink control information (SCI), or a first long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) message; The first UE of claim 9, wherein the capability information message is a second RRC message, a second MAC-CE, a second SCI, or a second LPP message.

11. 10. The first UE of claim 9, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

12. the one or more capabilities of the first UE include an indication of whether the first UE has a capability to provide a position calculation for the sidelink positioning procedure based on received location measurement information; and the memory and the at least one processor; and further configured to determine a location of the second UE based at least in part on a location of the first UE and measurements of a positioning reference signal received from a second UE; 10. The first UE of claim 9, wherein the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide a position calculation for the sidelink positioning procedure is a Boolean value.

13. the memory and the at least one processor; receiving a request from the second UE for a location of the first UE based on the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure indicating that the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; The first UE of claim 9, further configured to: transmit the location of the first UE to the second UE.

14. The first UE of claim 9 , wherein the one or more capabilities of the first UE include location coordinates of the first UE.

15. A second user equipment (UE) for sidelink based positioning, comprising: Memory, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor comprising: sending a capability query message for a sidelink positioning procedure to a first user equipment (UE), the capability query message including at least a request for an indication of whether the first UE has capability to provide a location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; and receiving a capability information message from the first UE indicating one or more capabilities of the first UE to participate in the sidelink positioning procedure, the one or more capabilities of the first UE including at least the indication of whether the first UE has the capability to provide the location of the first UE for the sidelink positioning procedure; A second UE configured to:

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