Prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) may receive a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL). The UE may receive a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement. The UE may determine an order of performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction. The UE may perform the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction according to the order.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Background of the disclosure 1. Field of disclosure Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

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

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), will enable higher data rates, more connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on a reference signal for positioning (RS-P), such as a downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS)), and other technological enhancements compared to previous standards, according to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance. Summary of the Invention

[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 of all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope related to any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts of one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement; determining an order of performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction; and performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0006] In one aspect, a UE 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 via the at least one transceiver a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first PFL; receive via the at least one transceiver, before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL; determine an order for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction; and perform the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0007] In one aspect, the UE includes means for receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first PFL, means for receiving a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, means for determining an order of performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction, and means for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0008] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to receive a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first PFL, receive a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, determine an order for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction, and perform the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0009] 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. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only to illustrate, not limit, the aspects. [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates a location information transfer procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates the prioritization and execution of overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of an example process associated with prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8A] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8B] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8C] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8D] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9A] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9B] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10A] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10B] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11A] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11B] 1 illustrates a method for prioritizing and fulfilling overlapping positioning method requests in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0012] 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.

[0013] 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 referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0014] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. In addition, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, 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 be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0015] 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 location device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, 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 stationary (e.g., at a given time) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an "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 to 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.).

[0016] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which the base station is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used 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 only edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., 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) channel or a forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0017] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station that corresponds to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in the case of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located 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, non-co-located physical TRPs may be serving base stations that receive measurement reports from the UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Since a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives radio signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0018] 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 may instead transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or 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).

[0019] An "RF signal" includes 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, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a radio signal or an RF signal.

[0020] 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network, WWAN) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations 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.

[0021] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) through the backhaul links 122 and with 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. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as through an application server (not shown), through another network, such as through a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For purposes of signaling, communication between the UE 104 and the location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170), or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intervening nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagrams for clarity.

[0022] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and 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.

[0023] 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 resources, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a 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 for different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, since a TRP is typically a physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0024] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions), and some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" instead of "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network 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), which may serve closed groups known as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0025] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be 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).

[0026] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 over a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0027] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may utilize 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 extend coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0028] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW and / or sub-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has a wavelength between 1 and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path losses and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely large path losses and short distances. It will be further understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Thus, it will be understood that the above illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0029] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s). To vary 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 one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (also 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 a transmitter is fed to each antenna with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas combine together to enhance radiation in the desired direction while suppressing and canceling radiation in undesirable directions.

[0030] A transmit beam may be quasi-co-located, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antennas are physically co-located or not. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a QCL relationship of a given type means that certain parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a 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 a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0031] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a particular direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the 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 RF signals received from that direction.

[0032] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters for the second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0033] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, then it is a receive beam to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0034] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified with frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers, although a portion of FR1 is above 6 GHz. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

[0035] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may in effect extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0036] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "mmWave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0037] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell" and the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and on 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 control channels and UE-specific control channels and may (but is not always) be a carrier among licensed frequencies. 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. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE specific, the secondary carrier may include only the necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., UE specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to distribute the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0038] 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 data reception rates. For example, two aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0039] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via an mmW communication 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.

[0040] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communications. A sidelink-enabled UE (SL-UE) can communicate with the base station 102 over a communication link 120 that uses a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between the UE and the base station). The SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 that uses a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between sidelink-enabled UEs). Wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to all other SL-UEs in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0041] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a subject wireless communication medium, which may be shared with other vehicular and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications among other RATs. The "medium" may consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the subject medium may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for some communication systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi." Exemplary systems of this type include CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and various variations thereof.

[0042] It should be noted that while FIG. 1 illustrates only two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Additionally, while only UE 182 has been described as being beamforming capable, any of the illustrated UEs may be beamforming capable, including UE 164. If SL-UEs are beamforming capable, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), and so forth. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0043] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located within the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 from the SV 112 to derive geolocation information.

[0044] In a satellite positioning system, the use of the signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include an augmentation system or systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided Geo-augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with one or more such satellite positioning systems.

[0045] In one aspect, the SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also called a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5G network. This element will then provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In this 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.

[0046] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102, and a D2D P2P link 194 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity) with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150. In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc.

[0047] 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 control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, 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 the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the 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).

[0048] 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 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).

[0049] 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be viewed functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which 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, transparent proxy services 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 security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. AMF264 functionality also includes security context management (SCM).The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that the SCM uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulated services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interworking with evolved packet system (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project®) access networks.

[0050] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), routing and forwarding of packets, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support forwarding of location service messages on the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the SLP 272.

[0051] 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, policy enforcement and control of part of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0052] 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 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, which 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 on the 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 ) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0053] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and 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 over a radio interface referred to as a “Uu” interface.

[0054] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is called the "F1" interface. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for those functions that are exclusively assigned 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 more 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.

[0055] 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 embody any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively, may be independent of the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support file transmission operations taught herein. It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the illustrated components to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may contain multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0056] 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 tuning, means for ceasing transmission, etc.) over one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can 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 communication 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 to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode 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, to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0057] 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 may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for ceasing transmission, 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 Communication (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, respectively, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and / or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0058] 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, Navigation Satellite System of India (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communications signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and action from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using the acquired measurements according to any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0059] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, that provide a means for communicating (e.g., a means for transmitting, a means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0060] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired link or a wireless link. The transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). The transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that allows an individual 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 allows an individual device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that an individual device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listen modules (NLMs) and the like for performing various measurements.

[0061] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being implemented. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involve signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0062] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functionality related to wireless communication and to provide other processing functions. Thus, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may comprise processing means, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In one 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.

[0063] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include a location request processor 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The location request processor 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the location request processors 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 location request processors 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the location request processor 342, which may be part of, for example, one or more of the WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a location request processor 388, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C shows possible locations for a location request processor 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.

[0064] 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 signal 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. Additionally, 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.

[0065] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audio and / or visual indications) and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0066] 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 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 broadcasting of measurement configurations 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 forwarding of higher layer PDUs, error correction with automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0067] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying the time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0068] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its individual antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carriers and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. 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 includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point 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 on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0069] In the uplink, the 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.

[0070] Similar to the functionality described in connection with downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0071] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0072] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver functions 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.

[0073] 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.

[0074] For convenience, the UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the illustrated components may have different functions in different designs. In particular, various components in Figures 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 Figure 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 signal 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 radio transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit satellite receiver 370, etc. For brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but should be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0075] The various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and 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, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when various logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality integrated within the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0076] The components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in a variety of ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor component(s) 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 component(s) 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 the processor component(s) 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, actions, 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 understood that such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by a particular component or combination 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, and location request processors 342, 388, and 398.

[0077] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0078] Figure 4 shows a location information transfer procedure 400 in which a server 402 requests and receives location information from a target 404. In Figure 4, the server 402 optionally sends one or more ProvideAssistanceData messages 406 to the target 404. The server 402 then sends a RequestLocationInformation message 408 to request the location information, which indicates the type of location information required and the potentially associated QoS, i.e., in the commonIEsRequestLocationInformation information element (IE). The current definition of the RequestLocationInformation message is given below: --ASN1START RequestLocationInformation::=SEQUENCE{ criticalExtensions CHOICE c1 CHOICE requestLocationInformation-r9 RequestLocationInformation-r9-IEs, spare3 NULL,spare2 NULL,spare1 NULL }, criticalExtensionsFuture SEQUENCE{} } } RequestLocationInformation-r9-IEs::=SEQUENCE{ commonIEsRequestLocationInformation CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation OPTIONAL,--Need ON a-gnss-RequestLocationInformation A-GNSS-RequestLocationInformation OPTIONAL,--Need ON otdoa-RequestLocationInformation OTDOA-RequestLocationInformation OPTIONAL,--Need ON ecid-RequestLocationInformation ECID-RequestLocationInformation OPTIONAL,--Need ON epdu-RequestLocationInformation EPDU-Sequence OPTIONAL,--Need ON ..., [[ sensor-RequestLocationInformation-r13 Sensor-RequestLocationInformation-r13 OPTIONAL,--Need ON tbs-RequestLocationInformation-r13 TBS-RequestLocationInformation-r13 OPTIONAL,--Need ON wlan-RequestLocationInformation-r13 WLAN-RequestLocationInformation-r13 OPTIONAL,--Need ON bt-RequestLocationInformation-r13 BT-RequestLocationInformation-r13 OPTIONAL--Need ON ]], [[nr-ECID-RequestLocationInformation-r16 NR-ECID-RequestLocationInformation-r16 OPTIONAL,--Need ON nr-Multi-RTT-RequestLocationInformation-r16 NR-Multi-RTT-RequestLocationInformation-r16 OPTIONAL,--Need ON nr-DL-AoD-RequestLocationInformation-r16 NR-DL-AoD-RequestLocationInformation-r16 OPTIONAL,--Need ON nr-DL-TDOA-RequestLocationInformation-r16 NR-DL-TDOA-RequestLocationInformation-r16 OPTIONAL--Need ON ]] } --ASN1STOP

[0079] The target 404 responds by sending one or more ProvideLocationInformation messages 410 and 412 to the server 402 to transfer the location information. The location information transferred in messages 410 and 412 should match or be a subset of the location information requested in message 408, unless the server 402 explicitly allows additional location information. The last ProvideLocationInformation message, message 412 in Figure 4, has the endTransaction IE set to TRUE. If only one ProvideLocationInformation message is needed, optional messages such as message 410 are omitted.

[0080] Using an example where target 404 is a UE that has indicated it is capable of performing multi-RTT positioning and server 402 is a Location Management Function (LMF), message 406 may comprise one or more NR-Multi-RTT-ProvideAssistanceData messages and message 408 may comprise an NR-Multi-RTT-RequestLocationInformation message. In this example, when the UE's physical layer receives the last NR-Multi-RTT-ProvideAssistanceData and NR-Multi-RTT-RequestLocationInformation messages from the LMF over the LPP, the UE may UERxTx,Total It shall be possible to measure multiple UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements at positioning frequency layers (PFLs) configured within ms. Under current 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) specifications, when the measurement gap and processing time T have overlap between different frequency PFLs, the measurement period for measuring location information from multiple PFLs is calculated as shown in the following formula:

[0081]

number

[0082] However, note that the above formula is the sum of a single method across multiple PFLs. The current specification does not describe what a UE should do if it receives a RequestLocationInformation message that specifies more than one measurement method. Furthermore, the current specification does not describe what a UE should do if it receives a second RequestLocationInformation message before it has completed execution of one or more of the methods specified in the first RequestLocationInformation message. For example, the above formula does not take into account the time consumed by the methods in the second request, and therefore does not extend the measurement period to also include the time consumed by the methods in the second request.

[0083] This disclosure thus provides techniques for handling scenarios in which a target UE or other device is requested to perform more than one positioning method, e.g., by receiving a first request for location information specifying more than one positioning method, or by receiving a second request for location information before completing execution of one or more methods specified in a previously received first request for location information. These techniques enable the UE to determine when to initiate any pending (i.e., not yet started) positioning methods, and in what order to initiate them. In various aspects, this determination may be made based on factors including, but not limited to, whether the UE can perform simultaneous processing of the methods, whether the UE is requested to perform measurements on the same or different PFLs, and the relative timing of such requests with respect to each other and with respect to the start of the nearest measurement gap.

[0084] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an example process 500 related to prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests. In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 5 may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104). In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 5 may be performed by another device or a group of devices that are separate from or include the UE. Additionally or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 5 may be performed by one or more components of the UE 302, such as the processor(s) 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short-range radio transceiver(s) 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensor(s) 344, user interface 346, and location request processor(s) 342, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of the process 500.

[0085] 5, process 500 may include receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first PFL (block 510). Means for performing the operations of block 510 may include WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may receive the first instruction via receiver(s) 312.

[0086] As further shown in FIG. 5, the process 500 may include receiving a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL prior to completion of the measurement associated with the first positioning measurement (block 520). The means for performing the operation of block 520 may include the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may receive the second instruction via the receiver 312. The first and second instructions may be part of a single request, e.g., a single request message including both instructions, or each instruction may be part of a separate request, e.g., the first instruction is part of the first request message and the second instruction is part of the second request message. In some aspects, at least one of the first and second measurement method types includes a downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (TDoA) measurement, a DL angle of departure (AoD) measurement, or a multiple round-trip time (multi-RTT) measurement. In some aspects, the first measurement type and the second measurement type are the same measurement type or different measurement types. In some aspects, the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

[0087] 5, the process 500 may include determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication (block 530). Means for performing the operations of block 530 may include the processor(s) 332 and memory 340 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may use an algorithm stored in the processor(s) 332 and memory 340 to determine the order of performing the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication. In some aspects, determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication includes determining the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, whether the second indication is received before the measurements associated with the first indication start, or a combination thereof.

[0088] 5, the process 500 may include performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in a sequence (block 540). Means for performing the operations of block 540 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may perform measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in a sequence using the transmitter(s) 314 and receiver(s) 312 in a sequence specified by the processor(s) 332.

[0089] In some aspects, determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is not capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes performing the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0090] In some aspects, determining an order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is not capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started, and determining an order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes the positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, wherein performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to the order includes sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0091] In some aspects, at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions for performing multiple positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the multiple positioning measurements having a distinct measurement method type and targeting a distinct PFL.

[0092] In some aspects, determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions according to a priority metric, and then separately determining an order of performing measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric, wherein the measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric are performed after the measurements associated with the first instructions are completed.

[0093] In some aspects, determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instructions and the measurements associated with the second instructions includes determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instructions with the measurements associated with the second instructions according to a priority metric.

[0094] In some aspects, determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL, and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes performing the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0095] In some aspects, determining an order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started; and determining an order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes the positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, wherein performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to the order includes sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0096] In some aspects, determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have not yet started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes simultaneously performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction.

[0097] In some aspects, simultaneously performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes starting the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction at a start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the first PFL.

[0098] In some aspects, determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes starting the measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

[0099] Process 500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although Figure 5 illustrates example blocks of process 500, in some implementations process 500 may include additional, fewer, different, or differently configured blocks than those illustrated in Figure 5. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 500 may be performed in parallel.

[0100] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating portions of an exemplary process 600 performed by a UE for prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the process 600 begins by receiving an instruction to perform a first measurement method (block 602) and then an instruction to perform a second measurement method (block 604). The first and second instructions may be part of a single request, e.g., a single request message that includes both instructions, or each instruction may be part of a separate request, e.g., the first instruction is part of the first request message and the second instruction is part of the second request message. As shown in FIG. 6, the process 600 includes determining whether the UE supports simultaneous methods (block 606).

[0101] If the UE does not support simultaneous execution of the measurement methods, the process 600 determines whether the first measurement method has already started (block 608). If the first measurement method has already started, for example because a request for the second measurement method occurred after the measurement gap in which the first measurement method started, the second measurement method is started after the first measurement method ends (block 610). If the first measurement method has not yet started, for example because a request for the second measurement method occurred well before the measurement gap in which the first measurement method started, the process 600 includes determining a priority order for the first and second measurement methods (block 612) and then sequentially executing the measurement methods according to the priority order (block 614).

[0102] If the UE supports simultaneous execution of measurement methods, the process 600 determines whether the first and second measurement methods are for the same PFL (block 616). If the first and second measurement methods are for different PFLs, they must be performed sequentially and the process proceeds from block 608 onwards as described above. If the first and second measurement methods are for the same PFL, the process 600 determines whether the first measurement method has already been started (block 618). If the first measurement method has not yet been started, the first and second measurement methods may be started simultaneously, e.g., in the next MG (block 620). If the first measurement method has already been started, the second measurement method may be started immediately (block 622).

[0103] Referring again to block 612, if more than one measurement method is requested, the order in which not yet performed measurement methods should be performed (also referred to herein as priority) may be determined in a number of ways, including but not limited to determining the order based on measurement method type, based on measurement method response time or latency, based on PFL priority, based on whether the UE can perform simultaneous measurement methods, based on some other priority, or a combination thereof. The priority order used may be static, predefined, configured, or a combination thereof. The following figures show some of the possible scenarios and the resulting priority orders. For each of the following figures, it is assumed that the UE has already received the necessary assistance data.

[0104] FIG. 7 illustrates a method for prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates a scenario involving a UE that does not support simultaneous execution of multiple positioning methods. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the UE receives a single request specifying two different positioning methods, e.g., a target executes a TDoA method and an AoD method, both using the same PFL, e.g., PFL1. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the TDoA method has a higher priority than the AoD method, and therefore the UE executes the TDoA method on PFL1, followed by the AoD method. The measurement period of the TDoA method starts from the first measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource (e.g., MG) in PFL1, and the measurement period of the AoD method on PFL1 starts after the measurement period of the TDoA method ends.

[0105] 8A-8D illustrate methods for prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests in scenarios involving a UE supporting simultaneous execution of measurement methods, according to aspects of the present disclosure. In each of these scenarios, a measurement method using PFL1 is prioritized over a measurement method using PFL2.

[0106] 8A and 8B show a scenario in which a UE receives a first request to perform an AoD measurement using PFL1 (hereinafter, the “first measurement”) and a second request to perform a TDoA measurement using PFL1 (hereinafter, the “second measurement”).

[0107] In Figure 8A, the second request is received by the UE before the first measurement starts, e.g., before the start of a measurement gap (MG). Since both the first and second measurements use the same PFL and the UE supports simultaneous measurements, both measurement methods start simultaneously from the beginning of the MG.

[0108] In Figure 8B, the second request was received after the first measurement was started. Since both the first and second measurements use the same PFL and the UE supports simultaneous measurements, the second measurement can start at the next measurement occasion aligned with the downlink positioning reference signal resources in PFL2.

[0109] 8C and 8D show a scenario in which a UE receives a first request to perform AoD measurements using PFL2 and a second request to perform TDoA measurements using PFL1.

[0110] In Figure 8C, the second request was received by the UE before the first measurement started. However, since the first and second measurements do not use the same PFL, the measurements must be performed sequentially even if the UE supports simultaneous measurements. Since PFL1 has a higher priority than PFL2, the measurement method of the second request is performed first, followed by the measurement method of the first request.

[0111] In Figure 8D, the second request was received after the first measurement started. Again, since the first and second measurements do not use the same PFL, the measurements must be performed sequentially even if the UE supports simultaneous measurements. Since the first measurement has already started, the second measurement will not start until the first measurement is completed.

[0112] 9A and 9B illustrate a method for prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the disclosure in a scenario involving a UE that does not support simultaneous execution of measurement methods. In FIG. 9A and 9B, a first request is to perform AoD measurements for PFL1, and a second request is to perform TDoA measurements for PFL1. In each of these scenarios, the TDoA measurement method is prioritized over the AoD measurement method.

[0113] 9A, the second request is received by the UE before the first measurement starts, e.g., before the start of the measurement gap (MG). Since TDoA measurements have priority over AoD measurements, TDoA measurements for PFL1 are performed first, followed by AoD measurements for PFL1.

[0114] In Figure 9B, the second request was received after the first measurement was started. Because the AoD measurement for PFL1 has already started, the TDoA measurement for PFL1 will not start until the AoD measurement is completed, even though the TDoA measurement has a higher priority than the AoD measurement.

[0115] 10A and 10B illustrate a method for prioritization and execution of overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the disclosure in a scenario for a UE that does not support simultaneous execution of measurement methods. In FIG. 10A and 10B, the UE receives a first request to perform TDoA measurements on PFL2 and TDoA measurements on PFL3 (both shown as thin outline boxes in FIG. 10A and 10B), and then receives a second request to perform AoD measurements on PFL1 (both shown as thick outline boxes in FIG. 10A and 10B). FIG. 10A and 10B illustrate how priority can affect the order in which methods are executed given the same set of requests. In FIG. 10A and 10B, all of the pending requests are evaluated against each other to determine which measurement method should be executed next.

[0116] In Fig. 10A, the priority is based on the PFL, e.g., the priority of PFL1 is higher than the priority of PFL2, which is higher than the priority of PFL3. Thus, among the measurement methods in the first request, TDoA on PFL2 has a higher priority than TDoA on PFL3. If both requests arrived before the start of MG, the methods would have been executed in the order of PFL priority, i.e., AoD measurement on PFL1, TDoA measurement on PFL2, and then TDoA measurement on PFL3. However, in Fig. 10A, the second request arrived after TDoA measurement for PFL2 had already started. Since PFL1 has a higher priority than PFL3, in Fig. 10A, AoD measurement on PFL1 is performed next, followed by TDoA measurement on PFL3.

[0117] In Figure 10B, the priority is based on the measurement type, e.g., TDoA measurements have a higher priority than AoD measurements. Thus, in Figure 10B, TDoA measurements for PFL3 are performed next, followed by TDoA measurements for PFL1.

[0118] 11A and 11B illustrate a method for prioritization and execution of overlapping positioning method requests according to an aspect of the present disclosure in a scenario for a UE that does not support simultaneous execution of measurement methods. In FIG. 11A and 11B, the UE receives a first request to perform TDoA measurements on PFL1 and AoD measurements on PFL3 (both shown as thin outline boxes in FIG. 11A and 11B), and then receives a second request to perform AoD measurements on PFL2 (both shown as thick outline boxes in FIG. 11A and 11B). FIG. 11A and 11B illustrate how priority can affect the order in which the methods are executed given the same set of requests.

[0119] In FIG. 11A, the priority is based on latency, i.e., the measurement method with the shortest response time requirement has the highest priority. In this example, assume that the AoD measurement has a shorter response time requirement than the TDoA measurement. Thus, within the first request, the AoD measurement has a higher priority than the TDoA measurement, and thus, the AoD measurement for PFL3 from the first request is performed first, the AoD measurement for PFL2 from the second request is performed next, and the TDoA measurement for PFL2 from the first request is performed third. In another aspect, the measurement method with the lowest measurement latency (i.e., the time it takes to complete the measurement) has the highest priority.

[0120] In Figure 11B, the priority is "first requested, first served". Thus, the measurement methods of a first request are all completed before the measurement methods of a second request received later are performed. In Figure 11B, the AoD measurement for PFL3 from the first request is performed first, the TDoA measurement for PFL1 from the first request is performed second, and the AoD measurement for PFL2 from the second request is performed third.

[0121] It should be noted that while the examples described above use a single priority metric (e.g., based only on PFL priority, based only on method type priority, etc.), the same principles may be applied to use multiple priority metrics. For example, a priority rule may define a priority based on PFL and then on measurement type. Another priority rule may define a priority based on request arrival time, then measurement type, then PFL. These examples are illustrative and not limiting. Other priority rules may be used to determine the order of execution of pending measurement methods. Furthermore, different UEs may use different priority rules, or they may all use one or more of the same priority rules.

[0122] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the techniques for prioritizing and executing overlapping positioning method requests disclosed herein is that they define how to handle scenarios that current specifications do not address, thus reducing operational ambiguity. Furthermore, by allowing different priority rules to be defined and configured across a set of UEs, network operators can flexibly configure how UEs in the network can determine their individual locations and provide that location information to network nodes such as location servers.

[0123] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in each example. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Thus, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated in the description, and each clause may stand alone as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspect(s) of the dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the aspect(s) of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or combinations of any features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Unless a specific combination is not intended (e.g., conflicting aspects such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor) is expressly expressed or can be easily inferred, the various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations. It is further contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0124] The following numbered clauses describe example implementations.

[0125] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving, before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL; determining an order for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction; and performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0126] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein at least one of the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type includes a downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (TDoA) measurement, a DL angle of departure (AoD) measurement, or a multiple round trip time (multi-RTT) measurement.

[0127] Clause 3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the first instruction and the second instruction are received in the same location request or in different location requests.

[0128] Clause 4. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type are the same measurement method type or different measurement method types.

[0129] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

[0130] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started, or a combination thereof.

[0131] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is unable to perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes performing the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0132] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is unable to perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have not yet been started, and determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction sequentially in order.

[0133] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions for performing a plurality of positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the plurality of positioning measurements having a respective measurement method type and targeting a respective PFL.

[0134] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions according to a priority metric, and then separately determining an order of performing measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric, wherein the measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric are performed after the measurements associated with the first instructions are completed.

[0135] Clause 11. The method of clause 9 or 10, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions with measurements associated with the second instructions according to a priority metric.

[0136] Article 12. Determining the order in which measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction are performed The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, comprising: determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; and determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has already been started, wherein performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes performing the measurement associated with the second instruction after the measurement associated with the first instruction is completed.

[0137] Article 13. Determining the order in which measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction are performed The method of any one of clauses 1 to 12, comprising: determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started; and determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, wherein performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order comprises sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0138] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 13, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have not yet started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes simultaneously performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction.

[0139] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein simultaneously performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes starting the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the first PFL.

[0140] Clause 16. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 15, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes starting the measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

[0141] Clause 17. 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: receive via the at least one transceiver a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receive via the at least one transceiver, before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL; determine an order for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction; and perform the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0142] Clause 18. The UE of clause 17, wherein at least one of the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type includes a downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (TDoA) measurement, a DL angle of departure (AoD) measurement, or a multiple round trip time (multi-RTT) measurement.

[0143] Clause 19. The UE of clause 17 or 18, wherein the first indication and the second indication are received in the same location request or in different location requests.

[0144] Clause 20. The UE of any one of clauses 17 to 19, wherein the first measurement type and the second measurement type are the same measurement type or different measurement types.

[0145] Clause 21. The UE of any one of clauses 17 to 20, wherein the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

[0146] Clause 22. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 17 to 21, wherein to determine the order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, at least one processor is configured to determine the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started, or a combination thereof.

[0147] Clause 23. A UE as described in any one of clauses 17 to 22, wherein, in order to determine the order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the UE is unable to perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements and to determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has already been started, and, in order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to perform the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0148] Clause 24. The UE described in any one of Clauses 17 to 23, wherein, to determine an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to: determine that the UE is not capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet been started; and determine an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; and, to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to sequentially perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0149] Clause 25. The UE of clause 24, wherein at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions for performing a plurality of positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the plurality of positioning measurements having a respective measurement method type and targeting a respective PFL.

[0150] Clause 26. The UE of Clause 25, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction according to a priority metric, and then separately determining an order of performing measurements associated with the second instruction according to the priority metric, wherein the measurements associated with the second instruction according to the priority metric are performed after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0151] Clause 27. A UE as described in Clause 25 or 26, wherein to determine an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, at least one processor is configured to determine an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction with measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric.

[0152] Clause 28. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 17 to 27, wherein, in order to determine the order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to: determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; and determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has already been started; and, in order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to perform the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0153] Clause 29. The UE described in any one of Clauses 17 to 28, wherein, to determine an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to: determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started; and determine an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; and, to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to sequentially perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0154] Clause 30. A UE as described in any one of clauses 17 to 29, wherein, in order to determine the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started; and, in order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to simultaneously perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction.

[0155] Clause 31. The UE of clause 30, wherein to simultaneously perform measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, at least one processor is configured to initiate measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource within the first PFL.

[0156] Clause 32. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 17 to 31, wherein, in order to determine the order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, and determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has already been started, and, in order to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the at least one processor is configured to start the measurement associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

[0157] Clause 33. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); means for receiving a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement; means for determining an order of performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction; and means for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0158] Clause 34. The UE of clause 33, wherein at least one of the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type includes a downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (TDoA) measurement, a DL angle of departure (AoD) measurement, or a multiple round trip time (multi-RTT) measurement.

[0159] Clause 35. The UE of clause 33 or 34, wherein the first indication and the second indication are received in the same location request or in different location requests.

[0160] Clause 36. The UE of any one of clauses 33 to 35, wherein the first measurement type and the second measurement type are the same measurement type or different measurement types.

[0161] Clause 37. The UE of any one of clauses 33 to 36, wherein the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

[0162] Clause 38. A UE as described in any one of clauses 33 to 37, wherein the means for determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes means for determining the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started, or a combination thereof.

[0163] Clause 39. A UE as described in any one of clauses 33 to 38, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions and performing the measurements associated with the first instructions and the measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order includes means for determining that the UE is unable to perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, means for determining that the measurements associated with the first instructions have already been started, and means for performing the measurements associated with the second instructions after the measurements associated with the first instructions have been completed.

[0164] Clause 40. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 33 to 39, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes: means for determining that the UE is unable to perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; means for determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet been started; means for determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; and means for sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0165] Clause 41. The UE of clause 40, wherein at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions for performing a plurality of positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the plurality of positioning measurements having a respective measurement method type and targeting a respective PFL.

[0166] Clause 42. The UE of Clause 41, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction according to a priority metric, and then separately determining an order of performing measurements associated with the second instruction according to the priority metric, wherein the measurements associated with the second instruction according to the priority metric are performed after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0167] Clause 43. The UE of clause 41 or 42, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction comprises means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction with measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric.

[0168] Clause 44. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 33 to 43, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes: means for determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; means for determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; means for determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started; and means for performing the measurements associated with the second instruction after the measurements associated with the first instruction are completed.

[0169] Clause 45. The UE of any one of Clauses 33 to 44, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes: means for determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; means for determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; means for determining that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started; means for determining an order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; and means for sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

[0170] Clause 46. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 33 to 45, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes: means for determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; means for determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL; means for determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have not yet started; and means for simultaneously performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction.

[0171] Clause 47. The UE of clause 46, wherein the means for simultaneously performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction includes means for initiating measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource within the first PFL.

[0172] Clause 48. A UE as described in any one of Clauses 33 to 47, wherein the means for determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order includes: means for determining that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements; means for determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL; means for determining that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already started; and means for starting the measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

[0173] Clause 49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to receive a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL), receive a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL before completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement, determine an order for performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction, and perform the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order.

[0174] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 49, wherein at least one of the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type includes a downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (TDoA) measurement, a DL angle of departure (AoD) measurement, or a multiple round-trip time (multi-RTT) measurement.

[0175] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 49 or 50, wherein the first instruction and the second instruction are received in the same location request or in different location requests.

[0176] Clause 52. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 49 to 51, wherein the first measurement type and the second measurement type are the same measurement type or different measurement types.

[0177] Clause 53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 49 to 52, wherein the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

[0178] Clause 54. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 53, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine the order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started, or a combination thereof.

[0179] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 54, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with a first instruction and measurements associated with a second instruction, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine that the UE cannot perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, to determine that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and to perform the measurements associated with the second instructions after the measurements associated with the first instructions have been completed.

[0180] Clause 56. The computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions and to perform the measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order include computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine that the UE cannot perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the measurement associated with the first instructions has not yet started, determine an order in which to perform the measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, and perform the measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions sequentially in the order. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 55, comprising: computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine that the UE cannot perform simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the measurement associated with the first instructions has not yet started, determine an order in which to perform the measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof.

[0181] Clause 57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 56, wherein at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions for performing a plurality of positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the plurality of positioning measurements having a respective measurement method type and targeting a respective PFL.

[0182] Clause 58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 57, wherein determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions includes determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instructions according to a priority metric, and then separately determining an order of performing measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric, wherein the measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric are performed after the measurements associated with the first instructions are completed.

[0183] Clause 59. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 57 or 58, wherein the computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with the first instructions and measurements associated with the second instructions include computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with the first instructions with measurements associated with the second instructions according to a priority metric.

[0184] Clause 60. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 59, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with a first instruction and measurements associated with a second instruction, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL, determine that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and perform the measurements associated with the second instructions after the measurements associated with the first instructions are completed.

[0185] Clause 61. The computer-executable instructions for causing a UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with a first instruction and measurements associated with a second instruction and to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order include computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL, determine that the measurement associated with the first instruction has not yet started, determine an order in which to perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, an order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof, and perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instructions sequentially in the order. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 60.

[0186] Clause 62. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 61, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with a first instruction and measurements associated with a second instruction, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, determine that the measurements associated with the first instruction have not yet started, and perform the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instructions simultaneously.

[0187] Clause 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 62, wherein the computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to simultaneously perform measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction include computer-executable instructions for causing the UE to initiate measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource within the first PFL.

[0188] Clause 64. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of Clauses 49 to 63, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a UE to determine an order in which to perform measurements associated with a first instruction and measurements associated with a second instruction, and performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order, the computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine that the UE is capable of performing simultaneous processing of multiple positioning measurements, determine that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL, determine that the measurements associated with the first instruction have already been started, and start the measurements associated with the second instruction at the start of a next measurement opportunity aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

[0189] Clause 65. An apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the memory, the transceiver, and the processor are configured to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 16.

[0190] Clause 66. An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 16.

[0191] Clause 67. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions including at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 16.

[0192] 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.

[0193] 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 varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0194] 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.

[0195] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module 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.

[0196] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of media. 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 using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0197] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Receiving a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving a second instruction to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL prior to completion of a measurement associated with the first positioning measurement; determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, where determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements and whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started; performing the measurements associated with the first instructions and the measurements associated with the second instructions in accordance with the order; A method comprising:

2. At least one of the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type is Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) measurements; DL Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, or The method of claim 1 , further comprising: multiple round-trip time (multi-RTT) measurements.

3. the first indication and the second indication are received in the same location request or in different location requests; the first measurement method type and the second measurement method type are the same measurement method type or different measurement method types; and / or The method of claim 1 , wherein the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL or different PFLs.

4. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction further comprises: Whether the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL; The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the order based on:

5. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is not capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has already begun; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; The method of claim 1 , comprising performing the measurement associated with the second instruction after the measurement associated with the first instruction is completed.

6. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is not capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has not yet begun; determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, the order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; The method of claim 1 , comprising sequentially performing the measurement associated with the first instruction and the measurement associated with the second instruction in the order.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first instructions and the second instructions includes instructions to perform a plurality of positioning measurements, each positioning measurement of the plurality of positioning measurements having a distinct measurement method type and targeting a distinct PFL.

8. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instructions according to the priority metric, and then separately determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric, the measurements associated with the second instructions according to the priority metric being performed after the measurements associated with the first instructions are completed. Or, The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction together with the measurements associated with the second instruction according to the priority metric.

9. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has already begun; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; The method of claim 1 , comprising performing the measurement associated with the second instruction after the measurement associated with the first instruction is completed.

10. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are not the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has not yet begun; determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction according to a priority metric that prioritizes positioning measurements based on a measurement method type, a measurement method latency, a measurement method response time, a target PFL, the order in which the instructions are received, or a combination thereof; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; The method of claim 1 , comprising sequentially performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in the order.

11. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has not yet begun; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction simultaneously; 2. The method of claim 1, optionally wherein simultaneously performing the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication comprises starting the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication at a start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the first PFL.

12. Determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes: determining that the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous positioning measurements; determining that the first PFL and the second PFL are the same PFL; determining that the measurement associated with the first indication has already begun; performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction in accordance with the order; 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: commencing the measurement associated with the second indication at a start of a next measurement occasion aligned with a downlink positioning reference signal resource in the second PFL.

13. Memory, At least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor comprising: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first instruction to perform a first positioning measurement having a first measurement method type and targeting a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving, prior to completion of measurements associated with the first positioning measurement, a second instruction via the at least one transceiver to perform a second positioning measurement having a second measurement method type and targeting a second PFL; determining an order of performing measurements associated with the first instruction and measurements associated with the second instruction, wherein determining the order of performing the measurements associated with the first instruction and the measurements associated with the second instruction includes determining the order based on whether the UE is capable of performing multiple simultaneous processing of positioning measurements and whether the second instruction is received before the measurements associated with the first instruction are started; A user equipment (UE) configured to perform the measurements associated with the first indication and the measurements associated with the second indication in accordance with the order.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein at least one processor is further configured to execute a method according to any one of claims 2 to 12.

15. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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