Signaling for Timing Error Group (TEG) Reporting

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In one aspect, a UE determines an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS for a position estimation procedure, and the at least one UE Tx TEG indicates a transmission timing error of the SRS is within a margin. The UE transmits an indication of the expected association to a position estimation entity (e.g., another UE, a gNB, an LMF, etc.). The UE transmits the SRS (e.g., either in accordance with the expected association or not in accordance with the expected association). The position estimation entity processes measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. [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 intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0003]

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), requires, among other improvements, higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard by the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to a few dozen workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Thus, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary is not intended to be an extensive overview related to all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. As such, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting some concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0005]

[0005] In one aspect, a method for operating a user equipment (UE) includes determining an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG transmitting an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and after transmitting the indication, transmitting an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure.

[0006] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0007] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to an expected association.

[0008] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association.

[0009] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0010]

[0010] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0011] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgment of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0012] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0013]

[0013] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a pathloss reference, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0014]

[0014] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a bandwidth portion (BWP) switch, or a transition to discontinuous reception (DRX) off, or any combination thereof.

[0015] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0016] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0017]

[0017] In some aspects, the method includes receiving activation of an SRS configuration for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0018] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0019]

[0019] In some aspects, the method includes receiving a configuration of an SRS for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0020] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is transmitted prior to a maximum permitted time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0021] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further transmitted along with an associated confidence level.

[0022] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0023] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association.

[0024] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association.

[0025] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0026]

[0026] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0027] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgment of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0028] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0029]

[0029] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0030]

[0030] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a bandwidth portion (BWP) switch, or a transition to discontinuous reception (DRX) off, or any combination thereof.

[0031] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0032] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0033]

[0033] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, activation of an SRS configuration for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0034] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0035]

[0035] In some aspects, the method includes receiving, via at least one transceiver, a configuration of an SRS for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0036] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is transmitted prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0037]

[0037] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further transmitted along with an associated confidence level.

[0038] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association.

[0039] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association.

[0040] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0041]

[0041] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0042] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgment of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0043] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0044]

[0044] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving activation of an SRS configuration for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0045]

[0045] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving a configuration of an SRS for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0046] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association.

[0047] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0048] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgment of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0049]

[0049] In one aspect, a method for operating a position estimation entity includes receiving from a user equipment (UE) an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, and the at least one UE Tx TEG processing measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0050] In some aspects, the method includes receiving, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure.

[0051] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0052] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0053]

[0053] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not conform to the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0054] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0055]

[0055] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0056]

[0056] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0057] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0058] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is received from the UE prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0059]

[0059] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further received along with an associated confidence level.

[0060] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure.

[0061] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0062] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0063]

[0063] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not conform to the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0064] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0065]

[0065] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0066]

[0066] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0067] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0068] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is received from the UE prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0069]

[0069] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further received along with an associated confidence level.

[0070] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0071] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0072]

[0072] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not conform to the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0073]

[0073] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, where the at least one processor is configured to determine an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG transmits an indication of the expected association via the at least one transceiver indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and transmits, via the at least one transceiver, an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure after transmitting the indication.

[0074] In some aspects, the method includes means for transmitting a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0075] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0076]

[0076] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0077]

[0077] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0078] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0079]

[0079] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0080] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is transmitted prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0081]

[0081] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further transmitted along with an associated confidence level.

[0082] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association.

[0083]

[0083] In some aspects, the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0084] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0085]

[0085] In some aspects, the instructions further cause the UE to receive activation of an SRS configuration for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0086]

[0086] In some aspects, the method includes receiving a configuration of an SRS for a position estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0087]

[0087] In one aspect, a position estimation entity includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive from a user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, and the at least one UE Tx TEG is configured to process measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0088] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure.

[0089] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0090]

[0090] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0091]

[0091] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0092]

[0092] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0093] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is received from the UE prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0094]

[0094] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further received along with an associated confidence level.

[0095] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0096] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0097]

[0097] In some aspects, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not conform to the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0098]

[0098] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for determining an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG includes means for transmitting an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and means for transmitting an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure after transmitting the indication.

[0099] In some aspects, the instructions further cause the UE to transmit a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0100]

[0100] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0101]

[0101] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0102]

[0102] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0103]

[0103] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0104]

[0104] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0105]

[0105] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is transmitted prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0106]

[0106] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further transmitted along with an associated confidence level.

[0107]

[0107] In one aspect, a location estimation entity includes means for receiving from a user equipment (UE) an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a location estimation procedure, and means for processing measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of expected association, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0108]

[0108] In some aspects, the instructions further cause the position estimation entity to receive, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure.

[0109]

[0109] In some aspects, the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0110]

[0110] In some aspects, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, which is further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, which is further associated with the SRS.

[0111]

[0111] In some aspects, the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0112]

[0112] In some aspects, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0113] In some aspects, the indication of the anticipated association is received from the UE prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0114]

[0114] In some aspects, the indication of the expected association is further received along with an associated confidence level.

[0115]

[0115] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to determine an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG transmits an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and after transmitting the indication, transmit an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure.

[0116]

[0116] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a position estimation entity, cause the position estimation entity to receive from a user equipment (UE) an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, and the at least one UE Tx TEG processes measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0117]

[0117] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention.

[0118]

[0118] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided merely to illustrate, not to limit, the aspects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0119] [Figure 1]

[0119] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0120] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0121] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4A]

[0122] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4C] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4D] 1 illustrates an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5]

[0123] FIG. 2 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) call flow between a UE and a location server for performing a positioning operation. [Figure 6A]

[0124] 1 illustrates an example uplink-only position estimation procedure using LPP for Timing Error Group (TEG) reporting, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B] 1 illustrates an example uplink-only position estimation procedure using LPP for Timing Error Group (TEG) reporting, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0125] FIG. 1 illustrates an “NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup” information element (IE) and various IEs contained in or pointed to by the “NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup” IE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 8A]

[0126] FIG. 1 illustrates an example uplink-only position estimation procedure using New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) for TEG reporting, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example uplink-only position estimation procedure using New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) for TEG reporting, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 9]

[0127] FIG. 1 illustrates an example “SRS-Tx-TEG-ReportConfig” IE, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 10]

[0128] FIG. 1 illustrates an example UE Tx TEG reporting medium access control control element (MAC-CE) in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 11]

[0129] FIG. 1 illustrates an example UE Tx TEG MAC-CE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0130] 4 illustrates an example method of an uplink-only wireless position estimation procedure implemented in a UE, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]

[0131] 4 illustrates another example method of an uplink-only wireless position estimation procedure implemented at a UE, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0132] 1 illustrates an example method of positioning at a location server based on an uplink-only wireless position estimation procedure implemented in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0133] 4 illustrates an example method of an uplink-only wireless position estimation procedure implemented at a base station, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0134] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method for reporting expected UE Tx TEG associations according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 17]

[0135] 1 illustrates an example method for receiving expected UE Tx TEG associations according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 18A]

[0136] FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation of the process of FIGS. 16-17, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 18B] FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation of the process of FIGS. 16-17, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 19A]

[0137] FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation of the process of FIGS. 16-17, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 19B] FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation of the process of FIGS. 16-17, according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0120]

[0138] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0121]

[0139] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0122]

[0140] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0123]

[0141] Further, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Furthermore, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0124]

[0142] The terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" as used herein are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via the RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks, such as the Internet, and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0125]

[0143] Depending on the network in which it is deployed, a base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with the UE and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term Traffic Channel (TCH) as used herein may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0126]

[0144] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, if the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. If the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in cases where the base station employs beamforming). If the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, and therefore, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0127]

[0145] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0128]

[0146] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through 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 be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0129]

[0147] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations 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.

[0130]

[0148] The base stations 102 collectively form the RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0131]

[0149] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, called a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. Additionally, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably, since a TRP is generally a physical transmission point of a cell. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within any portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0132]

[0150] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0133]

[0151] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions (also referred to as reverse link) from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) transmissions (also referred to as forward link) from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0134]

[0152] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0135]

[0153] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0136]

[0154] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) and / or near-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also referred to as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Moreover, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Thus, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0137]

[0155] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). In transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0138]

[0156] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocated (QCL) relationships. In particular, a QCL relationship of a given type means that some parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam may be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial receive parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0139]

[0157] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0140]

[0158] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters for the second beam (e.g., transmit or receive beam) of the second reference signal may be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., receive or transmit beam) of the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0141]

[0159] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0142]

[0160] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW frequency band generally includes the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Thus, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" may generally be used interchangeably.

[0143]

[0161] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell" and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals, and the signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, for example, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0144]

[0162] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0145]

[0163] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via an mmW communications link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0146]

[0164] 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 UE 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system generally includes a system of transmitters arranged to enable a receiver (e.g., the UE 104) to determine the location of the receiver on or above the Earth based at least in part on a positioning signal (e.g., signal 124) received from a transmitter (e.g., the SV 112). Such a transmitter generally transmits a signal marked with a repetitive pseudorandom noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although generally located in the SV 112, the transmitter may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, a base station 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 to derive geolocation information from the SVs 112.

[0147]

[0165] In a satellite positioning system, the use of the signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, 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.

[0148]

[0166] 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 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 5GC. This element will 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., signal 124) from the SV 112 instead of or in addition to communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0149]

[0167] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0150]

[0168] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be considered functionally as a control plane (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 operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, a ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have 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).

[0151]

[0169] 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(s) 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 UEs 204 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 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).

[0152]

[0170] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., 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 Function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the 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 (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0153]

[0171] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "termination markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as the SLP 272.

[0154]

[0172] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0155]

[0173] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may be connected to the LMF 270 via a core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, except that the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 via a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) via a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0156]

[0174] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, in particular the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 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.

[0157]

[0175] The functions of the gNB 222 are 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 functions exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU(s) 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.

[0158]

[0176] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively may be unrelated to the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support file transmission operations taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components to those described 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.

[0159]

[0177] The UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0160]

[0178] The UE 302 and base station 304 also each, in at least some cases, include 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 provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for adjusting, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., 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, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with a specified RAT. In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, Zigbee and / or Z-Wave transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0161]

[0179] 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 in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0162]

[0180] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, 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 to communicate with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0163]

[0181] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired or wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitter 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362). The transmitter may be an integrated device in some implementations (e.g., implemented as a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit in a single device), may comprise a separate transmitter circuit and a separate receiver circuit in some implementations, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter and receiver circuits of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) 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 enable 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 enable the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit 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.

[0164]

[0182] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being implemented. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally involves signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involves signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0165]

[0183] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functionality related to wireless communications and to provide other processing functions. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may thus provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, 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 circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0166]

[0184] 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.). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the 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 functions described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a positioning 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 illustrates possible locations of a positioning 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.

[0167]

[0185] 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 movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement 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 receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0168]

[0186] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or a means for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0169]

[0187] 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 implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transfer of higher layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0170]

[0188] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0171]

[0189] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0172]

[0190] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0173]

[0191] Similar to the functions described with respect to downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto and demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from transport blocks (TBs), scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0174]

[0192] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0175]

[0193] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0176]

[0194] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to a core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0177]

[0195] 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 functions in different designs. In particular, the 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(s) 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(s) 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, etc. 3B, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit satellite receiver 370, etc. For brevity, a description of various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0178]

[0196] 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 communication interfaces of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB functionality and location server functionality integrated in the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0179]

[0197] 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 this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0180]

[0198] 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 through the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0181]

[0199] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA position estimation procedure, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from a pair of base stations, called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives an identifier (ID) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE.

[0182]

[0200] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmission beams to determine an angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0183]

[0201] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on an uplink reference signal (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0184]

[0202] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include Extended Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multi-Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also called "Multi-Cell RTT"). In the RTT procedure, an initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a responder (UE or base station), and the responder transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, called the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, called the transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference. The propagation time (also called "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder may be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations to allow its location to be determined based on the known locations of the base stations (e.g., using multilateration). The RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0185]

[0203] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base station(s).

[0186]

[0204] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity of the positioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcasted overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes on its own without using the assistance data.

[0187]

[0205] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA position estimation procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurements are in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty value range may be + / - 8 μs.

[0188]

[0206] A location estimate may be called by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to cover with some specified or default confidence level).

[0189]

[0207] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of channels in a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4C is a diagram 450 illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4D is a diagram 480 illustrating an example of channels in an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0190]

[0208] LTE, and possibly NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0191]

[0209] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. At each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, slot duration is 0.0625 ms, symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 800 with a 4K FFT size.

[0192]

[0210] In the example of Figures 4A-4D, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 4A-4D, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0193]

[0211] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more (also called physical RB (PRB)) time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of Figures 4A-4D, in the case of a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 84 REs. In the case of an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0194]

[0212] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), etc. Figure 4A shows example locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled "R").

[0195]

[0213] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of a PRS is called a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and may span "N" consecutive symbols (such as one or more) within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0196]

[0214] The transmission of PRS resources in a given PRB has a particular comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. In particular, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for Com 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of Com 2, Com 4, Com 6, and Com 12 are supported for DL-PRS. FIG. 4A shows an example PRS resource configuration for Com 6 (spanning six symbols). That is, the location of the shaded RE (labeled "R") indicates the Com 6 PRS resource configuration.

[0197]

[0215] Currently, a DL-PRS resource may span 2, 4, 6 or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot with a fully frequency-domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources may be configured in any upper layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol of a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. Below are the frequency offsets between symbols for comb sizes 2, 4, 6 and 12 spanning 2, 4, 6 and 12 symbols. Com2 with 2 symbols: {0,1}, Com2 with 4 symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Com2 with 6 symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1}, Com2 with 12 symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}, Com4 with 4 symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 12 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com6 with 6 symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5}, Com6 with 12 symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5,03,1,4,2,5}, and Com12 with 12 symbols: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0198]

[0216] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Furthermore, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} slots, with μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} slots.

[0199]

[0217] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not have any implication as to whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0200]

[0218] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be called a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply an "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0201]

[0219] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply called a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs with the same values ​​for some parameters. In particular, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same point A, the same value of downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" ("ARFCN" stands for "Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number"), which is an identifier / code that specifies the pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers are defined, and up to two PRS resource sets may be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0202]

[0220] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat like that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), except that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, and frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. When a UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session, it may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0203]

[0221] FIG. 4B shows an example of various channels in a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. In general, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, which means that a UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of an SSB, but it may or may not include the SSB.

[0204]

[0222] Referring to FIG. 4B, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DL-RS mentioned above. A physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying an MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). A physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

[0205]

[0223] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE containing one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle containing one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is limited to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This allows UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0206]

[0224] In the example of FIG. 4B, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it could be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a unique region (i.e., the CORESET) in the frequency domain. Thus, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in FIG. 4B are shown as smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, it does not have to be contiguous. Additionally, the CORESET may span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0207]

[0225] The DCI in the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent), called uplink grant and downlink grant, respectively, and a description about the downlink data to be transmitted to the UE. More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for the downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and the uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for downlink scheduling, for uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH may be transported by one, two, four, eight, or sixteen CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0208]

[0226] As shown in FIG. 4C, some of the REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). The UE may further transmit an SRS, for example, in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. In the example of FIG. 4C, the illustrated SRS is comb 2 spanning one symbol. The SRS may be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0209]

[0227] Currently, an SRS resource can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot with comb sizes of Com 2, Com 4, or Com 8. Below are the frequency offsets between symbols for the currently supported SRS comb patterns: Com2 with 1 symbol: {0}, Com2 with 2 symbols: {0,1}, Com2 with 4 symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Com4 with 4 symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 8 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com4 with 12 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Com8 with 4 symbols: {0,4,2,6}, Com8 with 8 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}, and Com8 with 12 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0210]

[0228] A set of resource elements used for transmission of an SRS may be referred to as an "SRS resource" and identified by a parameter "SRS-ResourceId." The set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resources occupy consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0211]

[0229] Generally, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or a neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based position estimation procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. The term "SRS" as used herein may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS-for-communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS-for-positioning".

[0212]

[0230] Several extensions over the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (also called "UL-PRS"), such as new staggered patterns in SRS resources (except for single symbol / comb 2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. Furthermore, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" should be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span across multiple component carriers. Also, SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Also, there may be open loop power control, no closed loop power control, and a comb 8 (i.e., SRS transmitted in every 8th subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA through the same transmission beam, all of which are features added to the current SRS framework, configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through the MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI).

[0213]

[0231] FIG. 4D illustrates an example of various channels in an uplink slot of a frame according to an aspect of the disclosure. A random access channel (RACH), also referred to as a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be in one or more slots in a frame based on a PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs in a slot. The PRACH enables a UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may be further used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0214]

[0232] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to the unique reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further differentiation of PRS types is required, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS" and uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS, PTRS for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS". Furthermore, for signals that may be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), those signals may be prepended with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be differentiated from "DL-DMRS."

[0215]

[0233] 5 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) procedure 500 between a UE 504 and a location server (shown as a Location Management Function (LMF) 570) for performing a positioning operation. As shown in FIG. 5, positioning of the UE 504 is supported via an exchange of LPP messages between the UE 504 and the LMF 570. The LPP messages may be exchanged between the UE 504 and the LMF 570 via a serving base station of the UE 504 (shown as a serving gNB 502) and a core network (not shown). The LPP procedure 500 may be used to position the UE 504 to support various location-related services, such as navigation for the UE 504 (or for a user of the UE 504), for routing, or to provide an accurate location to a public safety answering point (PSAP) in connection with an emergency call from the UE 504 to the PSAP, or for some other reason. The LPP procedure 500 may also be referred to as a positioning session, and there may be multiple positioning sessions for different types of positioning methods (e.g., Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Extended Cell Identity (E-CID), etc.).

[0216]

[0234] Initially, the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities (e.g., an LPP Capability Request message) from the LMF 570 at stage 510. At stage 520, the UE 504 provides the LMF 570 with its positioning capabilities for the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Capability Provision message to the LMF 570 indicating the position methods and characteristics of these positioning methods supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Capability Provision message may, in some aspects, indicate the types of positioning that the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the ability of the UE 504 to support those types of positioning.

[0217]

[0235] Upon receipt of the LPP capability provision message in stage 520, the LMF 570 determines to use a particular type of positioning method (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based on the indicated type(s) of positioning that the UE 504 supports and determines a set of one or more transmission reception points (TRPs) from which the UE 504 should measure downlink positioning reference signals or to which the UE 504 should transmit uplink positioning reference signals. In stage 530, the LMF 570 sends an LPP assistance data provision message to the UE 504 identifying the set of TRPs.

[0218]

[0236] In some implementations, the Provide LPP Assistance Data message in stage 530 may be sent by the LMF 570 to the UE 504 in response to an LPP Request Assistance Data message (not shown in FIG. 5) sent by the UE 504 to the LMF 570. The Request LPP Assistance Data message may include an identifier of the serving TRP of the UE 504 and a request for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration of the neighboring TRPs.

[0219]

[0237] At stage 540, the LMF 570 sends a request for location information to the UE 504. The request may be an LPP Location Information Request message. This message typically includes information elements that define the location information type, the desired accuracy of the location estimate, and the response time (i.e., the desired latency). Note that a low latency requirement allows for a longer response time, while a high latency requirement requires a shorter response time. However, a long response time is referred to as a high latency, and a short response time is referred to as a low latency.

[0220]

[0238] It should be noted that in some implementations, for example, if the UE 504 sends a request for assistance data to the LMF 570 (e.g., in an LPP Assistance Data Request message, not shown in FIG. 5) after receiving a request for location information at stage 540, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message sent at stage 530 may be sent after the LPP Request Location Information message at 540.

[0221]

[0239] In stage 550, the UE 504 utilizes the assistance information received in stage 530 and any additional data received in stage 540 (e.g., desired location accuracy or maximum response time) to perform positioning operations (e.g., measuring DL-PRS, transmitting UL-PRS, etc.) for the selected positioning method.

[0222]

[0240] In stage 560, the UE 504 may send an LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 570 conveying the results of the measurements (e.g., Time of Arrival (ToA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Receive-Transmit (Rx-Tx), etc.) taken in stage 550 and before or when any maximum response time (e.g., the maximum response time provided by the LMF 570 in stage 540) expires. The LPP Provide Location Information message in stage 560 may also include the time(s) at which the positioning measurements were taken and the identity of the TRP(s) from which the positioning measurements were taken. Note that the time between the request for location information in 540 and the response in 560 is the "response time" and indicates the latency of the positioning session.

[0223]

[0241] The LMF 570 calculates an estimated location of the UE 504 using an appropriate positioning technique (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based at least in part on the measurements received in the LPP location information provision message at stage 560.

[0224]

[0242] The UE is expected to report one or more measurement instances (of RSTD measurements, downlink RSRP measurements, and / or UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements) in a single measurement report (e.g., in an LPP location information provision message in stage 560) to the location server in case of UE-assisted positioning (there is no such report in case of UE-based positioning). Each UE measurement instance may consist of “N” instances (including N=1) of DL-PRS resource sets. Similarly, the TRP is expected to report one or more measurement instances (of relative ToA (RTOA) measurements, uplink RSRP measurements, and / or base station Tx-Rx time difference measurements) in a single measurement report to the location server (e.g., via NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa)). Each measurement instance is reported with its own timestamp, and the measurement instance may be within a (configured) measurement window. Each TRP measurement instance may consist of “M” SRS measurement time occasions (including M=1). It should be noted that a measurement instance refers to one or more measurements that can be either of the same or different types and that are obtained from the same DL-PRS resource(s) or the same SRS resource(s).

[0225]

[0243] The following definitions are used to describe internal timing errors:

[0226]

[0244] Transmit (Tx) Timing Error: From a signal transmission perspective, there is a time delay from the time a digital signal is generated in baseband to the time an RF signal is transmitted from a transmit antenna. To support positioning, the UE / TRP may implement internal calibration / compensation of transmit time delay for transmission of DL-PRS / UL-SRS, which may also include calibration / compensation of relative time delay between different RF chains in the same UE / TRP. The compensation may also take into account the offset of the transmit antenna phase center relative to the physical antenna center. However, the calibration may not be perfect. The remaining transmit time delay after calibration, or the uncalibrated transmit time delay, is defined as the "transmit timing error" or "Tx timing error."

[0227]

[0245] Receive (Rx) Timing Error: From the perspective of signal reception, there is a time delay from the time the RF signal arrives at the Rx antenna to the time the signal is digitized and time-stamped in baseband. To support positioning, the UE / TRP may implement an internal calibration / compensation of the Rx time delay before it reports measurements obtained from the DL-PRS / SRS, which may also include calibration / compensation of the relative time delay between different RF chains in the same UE / TRP. The compensation may also take into account the offset of the Rx antenna phase center relative to the physical antenna center. However, the calibration may not be perfect. The remaining Rx time delay after calibration, or the uncalibrated Rx time delay, is defined as the "Rx timing error."

[0228]

[0246] UE Tx Timing Error Group (TEG): A UE Tx TEG (or TxTEG) is associated with the transmission of one or more SRS resources for positioning purposes that have a Tx timing error within a certain margin (eg, within a threshold of each other).

[0229]

[0247] TRP Tx TEG: A TRP Tx TEG (or TxTEG) is associated with the transmission of one or more DL-PRS resources that have a Tx timing error within a certain margin.

[0230]

[0248] UE Rx TEG: The UE Rx TEG (or RxTEG) is associated with one or more downlink measurements that have an Rx timing error within a certain margin.

[0231]

[0249] TRP Rx TEG: The TRP Rx TEG (or RxTEG) is associated with one or more uplink measurements that have an Rx timing error within the margin.

[0232]

[0250] UE Rx-Tx TEG: The UE Rx-Tx TEG (or RxTxTEG) is associated with one or more UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements with Rx timing error + Tx timing error within a certain margin and one or more SRS resources for positioning purposes.

[0233]

[0251] TRP Rx-Tx TEG: The TRP Rx-Tx TEG (or RxTxTEG) is associated with one or more TRP Rx-Tx time difference measurements and one or more DL-PRS resources, with Rx timing error + Tx timing error within a certain margin.

[0234]

[0252] 6A and 6B illustrate an example uplink-only position estimation procedure 600 using LPP for TEG reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In step 605a, the LMF 270 sends an LPP capability request message to the target UE 204, as in step 510 of FIG. 5. In step 605b, the UE 204 sends an LPP capability provision message to the LMF 270, as in step 520 of FIG. 5.

[0235]

[0253] In step 610a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa positioning information request to the serving gNB 222 (or TRP) of the target UE 204 to request UL-SRS configuration information for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may provide any assistance data required by the serving gNB 222 (e.g., path loss criteria, spatial relationships, SSB configuration, etc.). In step 610b, the serving gNB 222 determines available resources for UL-SRS and configures the target UE 204 with a UL-SRS resource set. In step 610c, the serving gNB 222 provides the UL-SRS configuration information to the UE 204. In step 610d, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa positioning information response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa positioning information response message includes the UL-SRS configuration information sent to the UE 204.

[0236]

[0254] In step 615a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa positioning activation request message to the serving gNB 222 instructing the serving gNB 222 to configure the UE 204 to activate UL-SRS transmission on the configured / allocated resources. The UL-SRS may be a non-periodic (e.g., on-demand) UL-SRS, and thus in step 615b, the serving gNB 222 configures / instructs the UE 204 to activate (i.e., start) UL-SRS transmission. In step 615c, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa positioning activation response message to the LMF 270 to indicate that the UL-SRS transmission has been activated.

[0237]

[0255] At step 620, the LMF 270 sends an LPP Location Information Request message to the target UE 204, as in step 540 of Figure 5. The response time for an LPP Location Information Request message applies as usual, however, the LPP Location Information Request message includes a UE Tx TEG request, as described further below.

[0238]

[0256] At stage 625, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa Measurement Request message to the serving gNB 222 and the candidate neighbor gNBs 222 (or TRPs). The NRPPa Measurement Request message contains all information required to enable the gNBs 222 to perform uplink measurements of the UL-SRS transmissions from the target UE 204.

[0239]

[0257] At stage 630, the involved gNBs 222 (here, the serving gNB 222 and the neighbor gNB 222) perform positioning measurements of the UL-SRS transmission from the target UE 204. For example, the gNBs 222 may measure the ToA, UL-RSTD, AoA, etc. of the UL-SRS transmitted by the UE 204.

[0240]

[0258] At stage 635, the participating gNBs 222 send an NRPPa measurement response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa measurement response message includes the measurements of the UL-SRS transmissions measured at stage 630.

[0241]

[0259] At step 640, the target UE 204 sends an LPP Provide Location Information message, as in step 560 of Figure 5. However, unlike the LPP Provide Location Information message in step 560, the LPP Provide Location Information message in step 640 includes the UE Tx TEG report requested in step 620.

[0242]

[0260] At stage 645a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa positioning deactivation message to the serving gNB 222. At stage 645b, the serving gNB 222 configures / commands the UE 204 to deactivate (i.e., cease) transmission of UL-SRS.

[0243]

[0261] Referring again to step 620, the LPP location information request message includes a "LocationInformationType" field in the "CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation" information element (IE). Currently, the location information type may indicate a downlink-based or downlink-and-uplink-based positioning type. Thus, the "LocationInformationType" field is not applicable to UL-only positioning. For UL-only positioning (i.e., where the "RequestLocationInformation" IE includes only the "NR-UL-RequestLocationInformation" IE), the "LocationInformationType" may be ignored by the receiving side (e.g., the target UE 204). Alternatively, a new code point may be added for TEG-only reporting for UL-only positioning. For example, a "ue-tx-TEG-Required" field may be added to the "LocationInformationType" field.

[0244]

[0262] Then, UL dedicated location information request and provision messages (as in stages 620 and 640) may be defined for TEG reporting. For example, an optional "nr-UL-RequestLocationInformation" field may be added in the "RequestLocationInformation" IE of the LPP location information request message. This field will point to the "NR-UL-RequestLocationInformation" IE. The "NR-UL-RequestLocationInformation" IE will be used by the location server (e.g., LMF 270) to request uplink location information from the target device (e.g., UE 204). The "NR-UL-RequestLocationInformation" IE will include a "ue-tx-timing-error-group-request" field. This field will be set to "true" to indicate a UE Tx TEG request (i.e., the target UE is requested to provide a UE Tx TEG report to the LMF 270, as in stage 640).

[0245]

[0263] Referring again to stage 640, the LPP Provide Location Information message is used by the target device (e.g., UE 204) to provide positioning measurements or position estimates to a location server (e.g., LMF 270). Similar to the LPP Request Location Information message, an optional "nr-UL-ProvideLocationInformation" field may be added to the "ProvideLocationInformation" IE of the LPP Provide Location Information message. This field will point to the "NR-UL-ProvideLocationInformation" IE. The "NR-UL-ProvideLocationInformation" IE will be used by the target device (e.g., UE 204) to provide uplink location information to a location server (e.g., LMF 270). It may also be used to provide uplink positioning specific error reasons.

[0246]

[0264] In one aspect, the "NR-UL-ProvideLocationInformation" IE may include a "nr-ul-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" field and a "nr-UL-Error" field. The "nr-ul-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" field points to a "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE that may be used by the target device to provide UE Tx TEG information to the location server. The UE Tx TEG is associated with transmissions of one or more UL-SRS resources that have the same transmission timing error within a certain margin (e.g., within a threshold of each other). FIG. 7 illustrates the "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE and various IEs included in or pointed to by the "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 shows various fields in the "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE, the "UE-TX-TEG" IE, the "TEG-SRS-PosResourceSet" IE, and the "TX-TEG-CalibrationInfo" IE, but it should be noted that there may be additional fields in these IEs as required.

[0247]

[0265] The following table describes some of the fields of the "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE.

[0248] [Table 1]

[0249]

[0266] For the Tx timing errors in Table 1, note that from a signal transmission perspective, there will be a time delay from the time the digital signal is generated in baseband to the time the RF signal is transmitted from the transmit antenna. To support positioning, the UE (e.g., UE 204) may implement an internal calibration / compensation of the UE Tx time delay for the transmission of the UL-SRS. The compensation may also take into account the offset of the transmit antenna phase center relative to the physical antenna center. However, the calibration may not be perfect. The remaining Tx time delay after calibration, or the uncalibrated Tx time delay, is defined as the "Tx timing error."

[0250]

[0267] 8A and 8B show an example uplink-only position estimation procedure 800 using NRPPa for TEG reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In step 805a, the LMF 270 sends an LPP capability request message to the target UE 204, as in step 510 of FIG. 5. In step 805b, the UE 204 sends an LPP capability provision message to the LMF 270, as in step 520 of FIG. 5.

[0251]

[0268] In step 810a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message to the serving gNB 222 (or TRP) of the target UE 204 to request UL-SRS configuration information for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may provide any assistance data required by the serving gNB 222 (e.g., path loss criteria, spatial relationships, SSB configuration, etc.). The NRPPa Positioning Information Request message may include a UE Tx TEG reporting request, as described further below. In step 810b, the serving gNB 222 determines available resources for UL-SRS and configures the target UE 204 with a UL-SRS resource set. In step 810c, the serving gNB 222 provides UL-SRS configuration information to the UE 204. The UL-SRS configuration information may include a UE Tx TEG reporting configuration, as described further below. At stage 810d, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa Positioning Information Response message includes the UL-SRS configuration information sent to the UE 204. It may also include the UE Tx TEG reporting configuration indicated to the target UE 204, as described further below.

[0252]

[0269] In step 815a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa positioning activation request message to the serving gNB 222 instructing the serving gNB 222 to configure the UE 204 to activate UL-SRS transmission on the configured / allocated resources. The UL-SRS may be a non-periodic (e.g., on-demand) UL-SRS, and thus in step 815b, the serving gNB 222 configures / instructs the UE 204 to activate (i.e., start) UL-SRS transmission. In step 815c, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa positioning activation response message to the LMF 270 to indicate that the UL-SRS transmission has been activated.

[0253]

[0270] At stage 820, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa Measurement Request message to the serving gNB 222 and the candidate neighbor gNBs 222 (or TRPs). The NRPPa Measurement Request message contains all information required to enable the gNBs 222 to perform uplink measurements of the UL-SRS transmissions from the target UE 204.

[0254]

[0271] At stage 825, the involved gNBs 222 (here, the serving gNB 222 and the neighbor gNB 222) perform positioning measurements of the UL-SRS transmission from the target UE 204. For example, the gNBs 222 may measure the ToA, UL-RSTD, AoA, etc. of the UL-SRS transmitted by the UE 204.

[0255]

[0272] At stage 830, the target UE 204 sends one or more MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) or RRC messages including the UE Tx TEG report to the serving gNB 222, as described further below. At stage 835, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Update message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa Positioning Information Update message includes the UE Tx TEG report of the UE 204 received at stage 830, as described further below.

[0256]

[0273] At stage 840, the participating gNBs 222 send an NRPPa measurement response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa measurement response message includes the measurements of the UL-SRS transmissions measured at stage 825.

[0257]

[0274] At stage 845a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa positioning deactivation message to the serving gNB 222. At stage 845b, the serving gNB 222 configures / commands the UE 204 to deactivate (i.e., cease) transmission of UL-SRS.

[0258]

[0275] Referring again to step 810a, the LMF 270 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message to request positioning information from the gNB 222. In an aspect, an optional "UE Tx TEG Reporting Configuration Requested" parameter may be added to this message to indicate the UE Tx TEG reporting configuration to be provided to the UE 204 in step 820c. The "UE Tx TEG Reporting Configuration" IE may include the following fields and example values:

[0259] [Table 2]

[0260]

[0276] Note that the value of 129 for the number of periodic TEG reports corresponds to an "infinite" number of reports, i.e., the LMF 270 requests that the serving gNB 222 configures the target UE 204 to report until any reconfiguration occurs.

[0261]

[0277] Referring again to step 810c, the "SRS-Config" IE is used to configure UL-SRS transmission. The configuration defines a list of SRS resources and a list of SRS resource sets. Each SRS resource set defines a set of SRS resources. The network (e.g., serving gNB 222) triggers (at step 815b) the transmission of the set of SRS resources using the configured "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger" (Layer 1 DCI signal).

[0262]

[0278] To indicate the requested UE Tx TEG reporting configuration to the UE 204, a "srs-Tx-TEG-ReportConfig" field may be added to the "SRS-Config" IE. The "srs-Tx-TEG-ReportConfig" field refers to the "SRS-Tx-TEG-ReportConfig" IE. FIG. 9 illustrates an example "SRS-Tx-TEG-ReportConfig" IE 900, according to an aspect of the disclosure. The following table describes some of the fields of the "NR-UL-Tx-TimingErrorGroup" IE.

[0263] [Table 3]

[0264]

[0279] Referring again to step 810d, the serving gNB 222 sends a Positioning Information Response message to the LMF 270 to provide the positioning information. A “UE Tx TEG Reporting Configuration” IE may be added to this message to report the UE Tx TEG reporting configuration provided to the UE 204 in step 810c.

[0265]

[0280] Referring again to stage 830, the UE Tx TEG reporting MAC-CE is identified by a MAC sub-header with an extended logical channel identifier (eLCID). FIG. 10 illustrates an example UE Tx TEG reporting MAC-CE 1000 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The UE Tx TEG reporting MAC-CE 1000 has a variable size and includes the following fields as illustrated in FIG. 10: The "Cell ID of Positioning SRS Resource Set" field indicates the identity of the serving cell (e.g., serving gNB 222) that contains the positioning SRS resource set. This field may alternatively or additionally include a BWP identifier for the BWP that contains the positioning SRS resource set. The "Number of TEGs" field indicates the number "M" of UE Tx Timing Error Groups included in this UE Tx TEG reporting MAC-CE 1000. The "TEG" field indicates the UE Tx TEG MAC-CE, which will be described below with reference to FIG. 11.

[0266]

[0281] FIG. 11 illustrates an example UE Tx TEG MAC-CE 1100 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The UE Tx TEG MAC-CE 1100 includes the following fields: The "TX Timing Error" field indicates the TX timing error as specified in 3GPP TS37.355. The "TX Timing Error Uncertainty" field indicates the TX timing error (single-sided) uncertainty as specified in 3GPP TS37.355. The "Positioning SRS Resource Set ID" field indicates the SRS resource set ID. The "Cal" field indicates whether the UE Tx TEG is calibrated (e.g., set to "1") or not (e.g., set to "0"). The "Number of Resources N" field indicates the number of positioning SRS resource IDs included. If this field is 0, then all positioning SRS resource IDs of the positioning SRS resource set ID belong to the TEG. The "Positioning SRS Resource ID" field indicates the SRS resource ID. The "R" field represents a reserved bit set to "0".

[0267]

[0282] Referring again to stage 835, the serving gNB 222 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Update message to the LMF 270 to indicate that a change in the SRS configuration has been made. A UE Tx TEG Report IE may be added to this message to provide the UE Tx TEG information. The "UE Tx TEG Report" IE may include the following fields and example values:

[0268] [Table 4]

[0269]

[0283] Note that the semantic description of the "TX Timing Error" and "TX Timing Error Uncertainty" parameters may be specified according to 3GPP TS37.355. The parameter "maxNoTEGs" is the maximum number of TEGs provided (e.g., 16). The parameter "maxNoResources" is the maximum number of SRS resource sets in a TEG (e.g., 16). The parameter "maxNoResourcesperSet" is the maximum number of SRS resources per SRS resource set (e.g., 16).

[0270]

[0284] With reference to Table 4, the "TEG Calibration Info" parameter provides information regarding UE Tx time delay calibration. The "TEG Calibration Info" IE may include the following fields and example values:

[0271] [Table 5]

[0272]

[0285] Note that in the above table, the slot selection is based on subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15, 30, 60, or 120 kHz.

[0273]

[0286] 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of wireless positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1200 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0274]

[0287] At 1210, the UE receives a request to provide a UE Tx TEG report for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure from a location server (e.g., LMF 270), as in stage 620. The request to provide the UE Tx TEG report may be included in an LPP Location Information Request message for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In an aspect, operation 1210 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0275]

[0288] At 1220, the UE transmits one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set during the uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In one aspect, operation 1220 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0276]

[0289] At 1230, the UE transmits a UE Tx TEG report to the location server as in stage 640, the UE Tx TEG report including at least one UE Tx TEG associated with transmission of one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmission timing error of the transmission of the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set is within a margin. The UE Tx TEG report may be included in an LPP location information provision message for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In an aspect, operation 1230 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0277]

[0290] 13 illustrates an example method 1300 of wireless positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1300 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0278]

[0291] At 1310, the UE receives a request from a serving base station (e.g., gNB 222) to provide a UE Tx TEG report for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure, as in stage 810c. The request to provide the UE Tx TEG report may be included in an SRS configuration for one or more UL-SRS resources. In an aspect, the operation 1310 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0279]

[0292] At 1320, the UE transmits one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set during the uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In one aspect, operation 1320 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0280]

[0293] At 1330, the UE transmits a UE Tx TEG report to the serving base station as in stage 830, the UE Tx TEG report including at least one UE Tx TEG associated with transmission of one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmission timing error of the transmission of the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set is within a margin. The UE Tx TEG report may be included in an RRC message or a MAC-CE. In an aspect, operation 1330 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0281]

[0294] 14 illustrates an example method 1400 of positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1400 may be performed by a location server (e.g., the LMF 270).

[0282]

[0295] At 1410, the location server transmits to a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) a request for the UE to provide a UE Tx TEG report for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure, as in stage 620. The request to provide the UE Tx TEG report may be included in an LPP Location Information Request message for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In an aspect, operation 1410 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0283]

[0296] At 1420, the location server receives a UE Tx TEG report from the UE, as in stage 640, the UE Tx TEG report including at least one UE Tx TEG associated with a transmission by the UE of one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmission timing error of the transmission of the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set is within a margin. The UE Tx TEG report may be included in an LPP location information provision message for an uplink dedicated position estimation procedure. In an aspect, operation 1420 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0284]

[0297] 15 illustrates an example method 1500 of positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1500 may be performed by a serving base station (e.g., gNB 222).

[0285]

[0298] At 1510, the serving base station transmits to the UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) a request for the UE to provide a UE Tx TEG report for the uplink dedicated position estimation procedure, as in stage 810c. The request to provide the UE Tx TEG report may be included in a UL-SRS configuration for one or more UL-SRS resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set. In an aspect, the operation 1510 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing this operation.

[0286]

[0299] At 1520, the serving base station receives a UE Tx TEG report from the UE, as in stage 830, the UE Tx TEG report including at least one UE Tx TEG associated with a transmission by the UE of one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmission timing error of the transmission of the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set is within a margin. The UE Tx TEG report may be included in an RRC message or a MAC-CE. In an aspect, the operation 1320 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0287]

[0300] As can be appreciated, a technical advantage of the methods 1200 and 1300 is the reporting of UE Tx TEG for uplink only position estimation procedures.

[0288]

[0301] As described above with respect to 640 in FIG. 6B and 830 in FIG. 8B, the UE may provide a UE Tx TEG report after the transmission of the UL-SRS. In particular, the UE Tx TEG report may arrive at the LMF after the LMF receives some or all of the UL-SRS measurements from the gNBs involved in the location estimation procedure. Thus, the UE Tx TEG report may delay the processing of the UL-SRS at the LMF, which delays the location estimation procedure.

[0289]

[0302] Aspects of the present disclosure are thereby directed to an early indication of expected (e.g., or predicted or committed) association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS for a location estimation procedure (e.g., UL only for UL-TDOA or angle measurements, or DL+UL for RTT, etc.). Although there is some risk that the expected association may be inaccurate (e.g., due to active BWP switching, RRC reconfiguration, UL-SRS resource reconfiguration, DRX off transition, etc.), in some aspects, an early indication of expected association may enable a location estimation entity (e.g., LMF, or UE for UE-based location estimation, etc.) to start processing the UL-SRS earlier. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as faster location estimation of the target UE.

[0290]

[0303] 16 illustrates an example method 1600 of positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1600 may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 302).

[0291]

[0304] At 1610, the UE 302 (e.g., processor(s) 332, positioning component 342, etc.) determines an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS for a position estimation procedure, where the at least one UE Tx TEG indicates a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin. In some designs, the position estimation procedure may be UL-TDOA or UL only for angle measurements, or DL+UL for RTT, etc. In some designs, the expected association may be determined as a current association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS when the determination of 1610 is performed (e.g., in response to some triggering event, such as activation of an SRS configuration in case of SP-SRS or receipt of an SRS configuration for AP-SRS). In other designs, the UE may be aware of a possible or possible upcoming change of the UE Tx. For example, the UE switched on both panels in the current scenario for the purpose of servicing a high priority / ultra-reliable / low latency demanding communication scenario for a limited time, but the UE knows that the UE will switch off one of the panels when this high priority transmission ends. In another example, the UE has received an activation command for a signal in the future that will then be turned off, and thus the UE knows that the UE will make a change to how the antenna maps to resources. In another example, the UE is configured with semi-persistent traffic, where the UE determines a different antenna-resource mapping or the antenna is powered on. The UE determines that an SRS for positioning will be transmitted while the UE is transmitting semi-persistent traffic, and thus the expected association may differ from the current association.

[0292]

[0305] At 1620, the UE 302 (eg, a transmitter 314 or 324) transmits an indication of the expected association.

[0293]

[0306] At 1630, the UE 302 (eg, transmitter 314 or 324), after sending the indication, transmits SRS on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure.

[0294]

[0307] 17 illustrates an example method 1700 of positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1700 may be performed by a position estimation entity (e.g., an LMF incorporated in a gNB such as the BS 304 or a core network such as the network entity 306, other location server, a UE for UE-based position estimation, etc.).

[0295]

[0308] At 1710, a location estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) receives from the UE an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS for a location estimation procedure, where the at least one UE Tx TEG indicates a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin. In some designs, the location estimation procedure may be UL-TDOA or UL only for angle measurements, or DL+UL for RTT, etc.

[0296]

[0309] At 1720, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor(s) 332 or 384 or 394, positioning component 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) processes the measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of expected association.

[0297]

[0310] 16-17, in some designs, the UE 302 may further transmit a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to the position estimation entity. In some designs, assume that the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association. In this case, in some designs, the UE Tx TEG report includes a positive acknowledgement of the expected association (e.g., the expected association is ACKed), and the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association (e.g., the expected association is not NACKed). In other designs, if the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association, the supplemental UE Tx TEG report may be omitted entirely (e.g., the absence of a “corrective” UE Tx TEG report within a threshold time period is interpreted at the position estimation entity as being confirmation of an earlier indication of the expected indication). In other designs, assume that the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following the expected association. In other words, the expected association is found to be inaccurate (e.g., a bad prediction). In this case, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof. In some designs, if the expected association is accurate, the UE Tx TEG report may be optional, and if the expected association is inaccurate, the UE Tx TEG report may be mandatory.

[0298]

[0311] 16-17 , in some designs described above, the supplemental or post-SRS UE Tx TEG report may be optional or conditional (e.g., may be sent only if the expected association is found to be inaccurate). In some designs, the supplemental or post-SRS UE Tx TEG report may have an “error message” format. Alternatively, the supplemental or post-SRS UE Tx TEG report may have the same format as the TxTEG report sent before the SRS (e.g., with a different value to indicate “true” Tx TEG information). In some designs, the expected association indication (or “early” UL Tx TEG report) and the supplemental or post-SRS UE Tx TEG report may be configured differently. For example, if there is a timestamp in the UE Tx TEG report and the timestamp corresponds to a past SRS, the UE Tx TEG report indicates the “actual TxTEG” (or actual association indication) to be used. Alternatively, if there is a timestamp in the report and that timestamp corresponds to a future SRS, then this UE Tx TEG report is an "intended TxTEG" (or an indication of expected association).

[0299]

[0312] 16-17, in some designs, the indication of expected association of at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof. For example, the timestamp, the time domain window, and / or the number of SRS instances may specify when the expected association is valid (e.g., while valid, the expected association may be used for processing positioning measurements for position estimation).

[0300]

[0313] 16-17 , in some designs, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association (e.g., a TxTEG<>SRS resource). In other designs, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, where the spatial relationship information is further associated with the SRS (e.g., a TxTEG<>Spatial-Relation-Info<>SRS resource). In other designs, the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss reference, where the path loss reference is further associated with the SRS (e.g., a TxTEG<>PathLossReference<>SRS resource).

[0301]

[0314] 16-17, in some designs, the anticipated association may remain valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a bandwidth portion (BWP) switch, or a transition to discontinuous reception (DRX) off (or inactive time) (e.g., between the indication of the anticipated association and the SRS transmission), or any combination thereof (e.g., may be subject to other constraints (e.g., the timestamp, time domain window, and / or number of SRS instances, as discussed above).

[0302]

[0315] 16-17 , in some designs, the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS. In some designs, an indication of an expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is sent via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE) to receive activation of a configuration of the SRS for a position estimation procedure, and an indication of an expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is sent in response to the activation.

[0303]

[0316] 16-17, in some designs, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS. In some designs, the UE 302 may receive a configuration of the SRS for a position estimation procedure, and an indication of expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is sent in response to the configuration (e.g., rather than in response to activation of a previously received configuration as in the case of an SP SRS, as described above). In other designs, the indication of expected association may be skipped for the AP SRS.

[0304]

[0317] 16-17, in some designs, the indication of expected association is transmitted before a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure (e.g., but still before transmission of the SRS).

[0305]

[0318] 16-17, in some designs, the indication of expected association may further be sent with an associated confidence level. For example, the confidence level may be factored into the measurement information processing at 1720 of FIG. 17 at the location estimation entity (e.g., ignoring or de-weighting the measurement information if below a threshold, etc.).

[0306]

[0319] 18A-18B illustrate an example implementation 1800 of the processes 1600-1700 of FIGS. 16-17 according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIGS. 18A-18B, the UE performing the process of FIG. 16 corresponds to the UE 204, and the location estimation entity performing the process 1700 of FIG. 17 corresponds to the LMF 270. Moreover, FIGS. 18A-18B correspond to a modified implementation of the process 600 of FIGS. 6A-6B, and similarly numbered operations in FIGS. 18A-18B correspond to those described above with respect to FIGS. 6A-6B. In FIG. 18A, an indication of the expected association is transmitted from the UE 204 to the LMF 270 as an LPP Provide Location Information message at 1805 in response to the LPP Request Location Information message from 620. 18B, the supplemental or post-SRS Tx TEG report is transmitted from UE 204 to LMF 270 at 1840 as an LPP Provide Location Information message. In some designs, the LPP Provide Location Information message at 1840 may be configured similarly to the LPP Provide Location Information message at 640, although the LPP Provide Location Information message at 1840 may alternatively be configured differently (e.g., configured as an error message, or configured to indicate only information that was inaccurate, or configured to provide an ACK for an LPP Provide Location Information message from 1805 that provided an early indication of expected association, etc.). Also, as noted above, the LPP Provide Location Information message at 1840 may be optional and may be omitted in some implementations (e.g., if the LPP Provide Location Information message at 1805 is accurate, in some designs the LPP Provide Location Information message at 1805 may be implicitly ACKed by not sending an LPP Provide Location Information message at 1840).

[0307]

[0320] 19A-19B illustrate an example implementation 1900 of the processes 1600-1700 of FIGS. 16-17 according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIGS. 19A-19B, the UE performing the process of FIG. 16 corresponds to the UE 204, and the location estimation entity performing the process 1700 of FIG. 17 corresponds to the LMF 270. Moreover, FIGS. 19A-19B correspond to a modified implementation of the process 600 of FIGS. 6A-6B, and similarly numbered operations in FIGS. 19A-19B correspond to those described above with respect to FIGS. 8A-8B. In FIG. 19A, an indication of expected association is transmitted from the UE 204 to the LMF 270 as MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1905 in response to the active UE SRS transmission signaling from 815b. 19B , the supplemental or post-SRS Tx TEG report is transmitted at 1930 from the UE 204 to the LMF 270 as MAC-CE or RRC message signaling. In some designs, the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1930 may be configured similarly to the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 830, although the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1930 may alternatively be configured differently (e.g., as an error message, or configured to indicate only information that was incorrect, or configured to provide an ACK for the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1905 that provided an early indication of expected association, etc.). Also, as mentioned above, the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1930 may be optional and may be omitted in some implementations (e.g., if the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1905 is accurate, in some designs the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1905 may be implicitly ACKed by not sending the MAC-CE or RRC message signaling at 1930).

[0308]

[0321] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than those explicitly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each exemplary clause disclosed. Thus, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated herein, and each clause can exist as a separate example by itself. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the dependent clause aspect(s) with any other dependent clause or independent clause subject matter, or combinations of any features with other dependent and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein expressly include certain combinations (e.g., inconsistent aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor) unless these combinations are expressly expressed or can be easily inferred to be not intended. Moreover, it is also contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on that independent clause.

[0309]

[0322] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0310]

[0323] Clause 1. A method of operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure; the at least one UE Tx TEG transmitting an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; and transmitting an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure after transmitting the indication.

[0311]

[0324] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising transmitting a UE Tx TEG report for a position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0312]

[0325] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to an expected association.

[0313]

[0326] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement of the expected association.

[0314]

[0327] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 3 to 4, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0315]

[0328] Clause 6. The method according to any of clauses 2 to 5, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0316]

[0329] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0317]

[0330] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0318]

[0331] Clause 9. The method according to any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0319]

[0332] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0320]

[0333] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0321]

[0334] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS is transmitted via an uplink medium access control element (MAC-CE).

[0322]

[0335] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 11 to 12, further comprising receiving an activation of a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0323]

[0336] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0324]

[0337] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, receiving a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is sent in response to the configuration.

[0325]

[0338] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the indication of expected association is transmitted no earlier than a maximum permitted time after a triggering event associated with the position estimation procedure.

[0326]

[0339] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1 to 16, wherein an indication of the expected association is further transmitted together with an associated confidence level.

[0327]

[0340] Clause 18. A method of operating a location estimation entity, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a location estimation procedure; and the at least one UE Tx TEG processing measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0328]

[0341] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, further comprising receiving, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for a location estimation procedure.

[0329]

[0342] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an expected association acknowledgement to confirm transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0330]

[0343] Clause 21. The method according to any of clauses 19 to 20, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS according to the expected association.

[0331]

[0344] Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 19 to 21, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not comply with the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0332]

[0345] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 18 to 22, wherein the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0333]

[0346] Clause 24. The method according to any of clauses 18 to 23, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0334]

[0347] Clause 25. The method of any of clauses 18 to 24, wherein the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0335]

[0348] Clause 26. The method of any of clauses 18 to 25, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0336]

[0349] Clause 27. The method of any of clauses 18 to 26, wherein an indication of expected association is received from the UE no earlier than a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0337]

[0350] Clause 28. The method of any of clauses 18 to 27, wherein an indication of the expected association is further received together with an associated confidence level.

[0338]

[0351] Clause 29. A user equipment (UE) comprising a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: determine an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure; transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; and transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure after transmitting the indication.

[0339]

[0352] Clause 30. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 29, further configured by the at least one processor to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0340]

[0353] Clause 31. A UE according to any of clauses 2 to 30, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to an expected association.

[0341]

[0354] Clause 32. The UE of any of clauses 3 to 31, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement of the expected association.

[0342]

[0355] Clause 33. A UE according to any of clauses 3 to 32, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgements of expected associations.

[0343]

[0356] Clause 34. A UE according to any of clauses 2 to 33, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0344]

[0357] Clause 35. A UE as described in any of clauses 6 to 34, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0345]

[0358] Clause 36. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 35, wherein the indication of expected association of at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0346]

[0359] Clause 37. A UE according to any of clauses 1 to 36, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0347]

[0360] Clause 38. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 37, wherein the anticipated association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0348]

[0361] Clause 39. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 38, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0349]

[0362] Clause 40. The UE of any of clauses 11 to 39, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0350]

[0363] Clause 41. The UE of any of clauses 11 to 40, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, activation of an SRS configuration for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0351]

[0364] Clause 42. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 41, wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0352]

[0365] Clause 43. A UE as described in any of clauses 14 to 42, receiving via at least one transceiver a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0353]

[0366] Clause 44. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 43, wherein the indication of anticipated association is transmitted no earlier than a maximum permitted time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0354]

[0367] Clause 45. The UE of any of clauses 1 to 44, wherein the indication of the anticipated association is further transmitted together with an associated reliability level.

[0355]

[0368] Clause 46. A location estimation entity comprising a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, from a user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a location estimation procedure; and process measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0356]

[0369] Clause 47. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 18 to 46, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the location estimation procedure.

[0357]

[0370] Clause 48. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 19 to 47, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0358]

[0371] Clause 49. The location estimation entity according to any of clauses 19 to 48, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0359]

[0372] Clause 50. A location estimation entity as described in any of clauses 19 to 49, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that does not comply with the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0360]

[0373] Clause 51. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 18 to 50, wherein the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0361]

[0374] Clause 52. The location estimation entity according to any of clauses 18 to 51, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0362]

[0375] Clause 53. A location estimation entity according to any of clauses 18 to 52, wherein the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0363]

[0376] Clause 54. A location estimation entity according to any of clauses 18 to 53, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0364]

[0377] Clause 55. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 18 to 54, wherein an indication of expected association is received from the UE no earlier than a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0365]

[0378] Clause 56. A location estimation entity according to any of clauses 18 to 55, wherein an indication of the expected association is further received together with an associated confidence level.

[0366]

[0379] Clause 57. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for determining an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, means for transmitting an indication of the expected association, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and means for transmitting an SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure after transmitting the indication.

[0367]

[0380] Clause 58. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 57, further comprising means for transmitting a UE Tx TEG report for a position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0368]

[0381] Clause 59. The UE of any of clauses 30 to 58, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to the expected association.

[0369]

[0382] Clause 60. The UE of any of clauses 31 to 59, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement of the expected association.

[0370]

[0383] Clause 61. A UE according to any of clauses 31 to 60, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits negative acknowledgements of expected associations.

[0371]

[0384] Clause 62. The UE according to any of clauses 30 to 61, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0372]

[0385] Clause 63. A UE as described in any of clauses 34 to 62, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0373]

[0386] Clause 64. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 63, wherein the indication of expected association of at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0374]

[0387] Clause 65. The UE according to any of clauses 29 to 64, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0375]

[0388] Clause 66. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 65, wherein the anticipated association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0376]

[0389] Clause 67. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 66, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0377]

[0390] Clause 68. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 67, wherein the indication of expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0378]

[0391] Clause 69. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 68, further comprising means for receiving activation of an SRS configuration for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0379]

[0392] Clause 70. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 69, wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0380]

[0393] Clause 71. A UE as described in any of clauses 42 to 70, comprising means for receiving a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0381]

[0394] Clause 72. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 71, wherein the indication of anticipated association is transmitted no earlier than a maximum permitted time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0382]

[0395] Clause 73. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 72, wherein the indication of the anticipated association is further transmitted together with an associated reliability level.

[0383]

[0396] Clause 74. A location estimation entity comprising: means for receiving from a user equipment (UE) an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a location estimation procedure; and means for processing measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the expected association, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0384]

[0397] Clause 75. The location estimation entity according to any of clauses 46 to 74, further comprising means for receiving from the UE a UE Tx TEG report for the location estimation procedure.

[0385]

[0398] Clause 76. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 47 to 75, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0386]

[0399] Clause 77. The location estimation entity according to any of clauses 47 to 76, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm the transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0387]

[0400] Clause 78. A location estimation entity as described in any of clauses 47 to 77, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate a transmission of the SRS that is not in accordance with the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with the transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0388]

[0401] Clause 79. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 46 to 78, wherein the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0389]

[0402] Clause 80. The location estimation entity according to any of clauses 46 to 79, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0390]

[0403] Clause 81. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 46 to 80, wherein the expected association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0391]

[0404] Clause 82. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 46 to 81, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS, or wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0392]

[0405] Clause 83. The location estimation entity of any of clauses 46 to 82, wherein an indication of expected association is received from the UE no earlier than a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0393]

[0406] Clause 84. A location estimation entity according to any of clauses 46 to 83, wherein an indication of the expected association is further received together with an associated confidence level.

[0394]

[0407] Clause 85. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to determine an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG transmits an indication of the expected association indicating that a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin, and after transmitting the indication, transmit the SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource set during the position estimation procedure.

[0395]

[0408] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 85, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to transmit a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure to a position estimation entity.

[0396]

[0409] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 86, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of at least one UL-SRS resource via at least the UE Tx TEG according to an expected association.

[0397]

[0410] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 59 to 87, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgment of the expected association.

[0398]

[0411] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 59 to 88, wherein the UE Tx TEG reporting omits negative acknowledgments of expected associations.

[0399]

[0412] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 89, wherein the SRS is transmitted on one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource via one or more other UE Tx TEGs different from the at least one UE Tx TEG without following an expected association.

[0400]

[0413] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 62 to 90, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgment of an expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs, or a combination thereof.

[0401]

[0414] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 91, wherein the indication of expected association of at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0402]

[0415] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 92, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0403]

[0416] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 93, wherein the anticipated association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0404]

[0417] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 94, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

[0405]

[0418] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 67 to 95, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and an SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE).

[0406]

[0419] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 67 to 96, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to receive activation of a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and a transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

[0407]

[0420] Clause 98. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 97, wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0408]

[0421] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 98, receiving a configuration of an SRS for a location estimation procedure, wherein an indication of an expected association between at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration.

[0409]

[0422] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57-99, wherein the indication of the anticipated association is transmitted prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0410]

[0423] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 100, wherein the indication of the expected association is further transmitted along with an associated reliability level.

[0411]

[0424] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a position estimation entity, cause the position estimation entity to receive, from a user equipment (UE), an indication of an expected association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, and process measurement information associated with the position estimation procedure based in part on the indication of expected association, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin.

[0412]

[0425] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74-102, wherein the instructions further cause the position estimation entity to receive, from the UE, a UE Tx TEG report for the position estimation procedure.

[0413]

[0426] Clause 104. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 75 to 103, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes an expected association acknowledgment to confirm transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0414]

[0427] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 75 to 104, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to confirm transmission of the SRS in accordance with the expected association.

[0415]

[0428] Clause 106. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 75 to 105, wherein the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the expected association to indicate transmission of the SRS that does not conform to the expected association, or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of one or more other UE Tx TEGs associated with transmission of the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0416]

[0429] Clause 107. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 106, wherein the indication of expected association of the at least one UE Tx TEG is associated with a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

[0417]

[0430] Clause 108. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 107, wherein the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to a direct association, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS, or the expected association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS corresponds to an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS.

[0418]

[0431] Clause 109. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 108, wherein the anticipated association remains valid until a reconfiguration of one or more UL-SRS resources, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or a Bandwidth Partition (BWP) switch, or a transition to Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Off, or any combination thereof.

[0419]

[0432] Clause 110. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 109, wherein the SRS corresponds to an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS; or, the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

[0420]

[0433] Clause 111. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 110, wherein an indication of anticipated association is received from the UE prior to a maximum allowed time after a triggering event associated with the location estimation procedure.

[0421]

[0434] Clause 112. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74 to 111, wherein an indication of the expected association is further received along with an associated reliability level.

[0422]

[0435] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0423]

[0436] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0424]

[0437] 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.

[0425]

[0438] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0426]

[0439] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that enables 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 in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0427]

[0440] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a predicted association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; transmitting an indication of the predicted association; and transmitting the SRS on one or more uplink SRS (UL-SRS) resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the location estimation procedure after the transmission of the indication; A method comprising:

2. sending a UE Tx TEG report about said location estimation procedure to a location estimation entity; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the SRS is transmitted on the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource associated with the at least UE Tx TEG according to the predicted association.

4. The UE Tx TEG report includes an acknowledgement that the SRS is transmitted on the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource associated with the at least one US Tx TEG according to the predicted association; or 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the UE Tx TEG report omits a negative acknowledgement that the SRS is transmitted on the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource associated with the at least one US Tx TEG in accordance with the predicted association.

5. The SRS is transmitted on the one or more UL-SRS resources of the at least one UL-SRS resource according to a UE Tx TEG that does not follow the predicted association, the UE Tx TEG that does not follow the predicted association being different from the at least one UE Tx TEG that follows the predicted association; Optionally, the UE Tx TEG report includes a negative acknowledgement of the predicted association; or the UE Tx TEG report includes an indication of the UE Tx TEG not following the predicted association; or The method of claim 2, which is a combination thereof.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the predicted association of the at least one UE Tx TEG comprises a timestamp, a time domain window, a number of SRS instances, or a combination thereof.

7. The predicted association comprises an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and spatial relationship information, the spatial relationship information being further associated with the SRS; or The predicted association comprises an association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and a path loss criterion, the path loss criterion being further associated with the SRS. The method of claim 1.

8. The predicted association may be: reconfiguration of the one or more UL-SRS resources; or Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration, or Bandwidth Part (BWP) switching, or A transition to discontinuous reception (DRX) off, or any combination thereof, The method of claim 1 , wherein the method remains in effect until

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SRS is an instance of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS.

10. The indication of the predicted association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted via an uplink media access control element (MAC-CE), or the method further comprises: receiving an activation of a configuration of the SRS for the location estimation procedure; the indication of the predicted association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the transmission of the SRS is transmitted in response to the activation.

10. The method of claim 9.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SRS corresponds to an aperiodic (AP) SRS.

12. receiving a configuration of the SRS for the location estimation procedure; the indication of the predicted association between the at least one UE Tx TEG and the SRS is transmitted in response to the configuration. The method of claim 11.

13. 1. A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), an indication of a predicted association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) for a position estimation procedure and a sounding reference signal (SRS), the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; processing measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the predicted association; and A method comprising:

14. Memory, At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; 11. A user equipment (UE) comprising: determining a predicted association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) and a sounding reference signal (SRS) for a position estimation procedure, the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of the anticipated association; transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, after the transmission of the indication, the SRS on one or more uplink SRS resources of at least one UL-SRS resource set during the location estimation procedure; A user equipment (UE) configured to:

15. Memory, At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver; a location estimation entity, the at least one processor comprising: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from a user equipment (UE), an indication of a predicted association between at least one UE transmit (Tx) timing error group (TEG) for a position estimation procedure and a sounding reference signal (SRS), the at least one UE Tx TEG indicating a transmit timing error of the SRS is within a margin; processing measurement information associated with the location estimation procedure based in part on the indication of the predicted association; and A location estimation entity configured to:

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