Sidelink-assisted time-difference-of-arrival based positioning

Abstract

Techniques are provided for a sidelink-assisted time difference of arrival (TDOA) based positioning method. An example method of determining a time difference of arrival value includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link, receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node using the second radio access link, receiving assistance data including a transmission delay value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node, and determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay value.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Greek Patent Application No. 20210100547, entitled "SIDELINK AIDED TIME DIFFERENCE OF ARRIVAL BASED POSITIONING," filed on August 10, 2022, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this specification for all purposes. [Background technology]

[0002]

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

[0003]

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

[0004]

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

[0005]

[0005] An exemplary method of determining a time difference of arrival value according to the present disclosure includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link, receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node using the second radio access link, receiving assistance data including a transmit delay time value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node, and determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmit delay time value.

[0006]

[0006] Implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features: The first wireless node may be a base station, and the first reference signal may be a downlink positioning reference signal. The second wireless node may be a user equipment, and the second reference signal may be a sidelink reference signal. The first radio access link may utilize a cellular wide area network technology, and the second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol. The cellular wide area network technology may include a fifth generation new radio. Receiving the assistance data may include receiving one or more sidelink messages from the second wireless node including the assistance data. Receiving the assistance data may include receiving one or more messages from the first wireless node including the assistance data. The assistance data may include an estimated propagation time based on a distance between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and determining the time difference of arrival value is based at least in part on the estimated propagation time. A location based at least in part on the time difference of arrival value may be determined.

[0007]

[0007] An example method for providing sidelink assistance data according to the present disclosure includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link, transmitting a second reference signal at a second time using a second radio access link, determining a transmission delay time value based on the first time and the second time, and transmitting an indication of the transmission delay time value.

[0008]

[0008] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first wireless node may be a base station, and the first reference signal may be a downlink positioning reference signal. The second reference signal may be a sidelink reference signal. The first wireless node may be a user equipment, and the first reference signal may be a sidelink reference signal. The second reference signal may be an uplink sounding reference signal. The first radio access link may utilize a cellular wide area network technology, and the second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol. The cellular wide area network technology may include a fifth generation new radio. Transmitting the indication of the transmission delay value may include transmitting one or more sidelink messages including the transmission delay value to a proximate user equipment. Transmitting the indication of the transmission delay value may include transmitting one or more uplink messages including the transmission delay value to the base station.

[0009]

[0009] An example method for determining a time difference of arrival value according to the present disclosure includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link, receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node, receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based on a time at which the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and a time at which the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal, where the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using the second radio access link, determining a sidelink delay time value based on the time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and the time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal, and determining a time difference of arrival based at least in part on the first time, the second time, the transmission delay time value and the sidelink delay time value.

[0010]

[0010] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first wireless node may be a user equipment, and the first reference signal may be an uplink positioning reference signal. The second wireless node may be a user equipment, and the second reference signal may be an uplink positioning reference signal. The third reference signal may be a sidelink reference signal. The first radio access link may utilize a cellular wide area network technology, and the second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol. The cellular wide area network technology may include a 5G new radio. Receiving the assistance data may include receiving one or more sidelink messages from the second wireless node including the assistance data. Receiving the assistance data may include receiving one or more messages from a network server including the assistance data. Determining the sidelink delay time value may include receiving one or more messages from the first wireless node. Determining the sidelink delay time value may include receiving one or more messages from a network server. A range to the second wireless node may be determined. A location of the first wireless node based at least in part on the time difference of arrival value may be determined.

[0011]

[0011] Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Wireless nodes, such as user equipment (UE) and base stations, may utilize sidelink signals to and from neighboring wireless nodes to assist in obtaining time difference of arrival measurements. In one example, the target UE and neighboring UEs may receive downlink reference signals from a base station. The neighboring UEs may be configured to transmit sidelink signals in response to receiving the downlink reference signals. The target UE may be configured to determine a reference signal time difference based on receiving the downlink reference signals and the sidelink signals. In one example, the target UE may transmit an uplink reference signal to a base station and a sidelink signal to a neighboring UE. The neighboring UEs may be configured to transmit an uplink reference signal in response to receiving the sidelink signals from the target UE. The base station may determine a reference signal time difference based on receiving the uplink reference signals from the target UE and neighboring UE. The time difference of arrival measurements are not dependent on synchronization times across wireless nodes. The accuracy of the position estimate may be improved. Messaging overhead for uplink and downlink reference signal positioning may be reduced. Other capabilities may be provided, and every implementation according to this disclosure need not provide any, much less all, of the described capabilities. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]

[0012] FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. [Diagram 2]

[0013] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3]

[0014] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. 1; [Figure 4]

[0015] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary server shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5]

[0016] 1 illustrates an example technique for determining a location of a mobile device using information obtained from multiple base stations. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates an example technique for determining a location of a mobile device using information obtained from multiple base stations. [Figure 7]

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an example round-trip message flow between a user equipment and a base station. [Figure 8]

[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example sidelink assisted downlink time difference of arrival based positioning method. [Figure 9]

[0019] FIG. 13 is a message timing diagram of an example sidelink assisted downlink time difference of arrival based positioning method. [Figure 10]

[0020] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example sidelink assisted uplink time difference of arrival based positioning method. [Figure 11]

[0021] FIG. 13 is a message timing diagram of an example sidelink assisted uplink time difference of arrival based positioning method. [Figure 12]

[0022] FIG. 13 is an example message flow diagram of a sidelink assisted downlink time difference of arrival based positioning method; [Figure 13]

[0023] FIG. 13 illustrates an example message flow diagram of a sidelink assisted uplink time difference of arrival based positioning method. [Figure 14]

[0024] FIG. 13 is a block flow diagram of a method for determining time difference of arrival in sidelink assisted positioning. [Figure 15]

[0025] FIG. 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for providing sidelink assistance data. [Figure 16]

[0026] FIG. 13 is a block flow diagram of a method for determining time difference of arrival in sidelink assisted uplink positioning. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013]

[0027] Techniques for a sidelink-assisted time difference of arrival (TDOA) based positioning method are described herein. The ability of certain UEs, such as reduced capability user equipment (UE) (RedCap UE), limited bandwidth UE, or other low tier UEs such as NR Light UE, to detect or provide reference signals transmitted from or to non-serving base stations may be limited. The distance between the UE and the base station may further reduce the ability of the UE to communicate with distant stations. In general, the limitations of RedCap UEs may be based on limited bandwidth capabilities, a reduced number of receive (Rx) antennas, and / or limited baseband processing capabilities. These limitations may reduce the ability of RedCap UEs to detect positioning reference signals (PRS), or other reference signals, transmitted by non-serving stations. The transmit power of RedCap UEs may also be limited, and thus sounding reference signals (SRS) for positioning may not be detected by non-serving stations. The sidelink-aided positioning methods provided herein may reduce the impact of poor quality PRS and / or SRS measurements from non-serving stations and improve the reliability of RSTD-based positioning.

[0014]

[0028] In one embodiment, the sidelink-aided positioning method may be used to mitigate the effects of synchronization errors across different wireless nodes in a communication network. For example, a first wireless node, such as a serving base station (gNB), may transmit a PRS to other wireless nodes, such as a RedCap UE and other UEs. The other UEs may have increased capabilities compared to the RedCap UE, and the range between the transmitting wireless node and the other UEs is known. In response to receiving the PRS, the other UEs may be configured to transmit a sidelink signal to the RedCap UE and signal a time delay based on a time difference between receiving the PRS and transmitting the sidelink signal. The RedCap UE may be configured to determine and report an RSTD based on the received PRS and the sidelink signal received from the other UEs. In one example, the RedCap UE may transmit an SRS that may be received by a serving wireless node (e.g., a gNB). The RedCap UE may also transmit a sidelink signal to the other UEs. The other UEs may have increased capabilities compared to the RedCap UE, and the range between each of the other UEs and the serving wireless node is known. The other UE may transmit an SRS and signal a time difference based on the time the sidelink signal is received from the RedCap UE and the time the SRS is transmitted. The serving wireless node, or other network server, may be configured to determine an RSTD for the RedCap UE based on the SRS received from the RedCap UE and the SRS received from the other UEs. These techniques and configurations are examples and other techniques and configurations may be used.

[0015]

[0029] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a radio access network (RAN) 135, here a fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. The UE 105 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, or other device. The 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may also be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of the NG-RAN and 5GC is ongoing in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from the 3GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, for example, a 3G RAN, a 4G long-term evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)), such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou, or some other local or regional SPS, such as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0016]

[0030] 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR Node Bs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and next-generation eNode Bs (ng-eNBs) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and each configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may act as the first point of contact for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions.

[0017]

[0031] FIG. 1 provides a generalized view of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. In particular, while one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater number (or fewer) of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Additionally, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0018]

[0032] 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., the UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate a location for the UE 105 at a location-enabled device, such as the UE 105, gNBs 110a, 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurements received at the UE 105 for such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNBs (gNodeBs) 110a, 110b are examples and in various embodiments may each be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions.

[0019]

[0033] The UE 105 may comprise and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a secure user plane location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), or by some other name. Additionally, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an asset tracker, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, but not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 105 to communicate with an external client 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or enable the external client 130 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0020]

[0034] The UE 105 may comprise a single entity, or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of the location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height or depth above ground, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or as a designation of some point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in urban form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location, for example, comprising a distance and a direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin in a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, with respect to a city, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the values ​​of local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level), if desired.

[0021]

[0035] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported with any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of the groups of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmission / reception point (TRP), such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for the D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may take place between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0022]

[0036] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and the gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communication access to the 5G C140 for the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may act as a serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0023]

[0037] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0024]

[0038] The BSs, such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector in a cell of a BS may comprise a TRP, but the multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., may share a processor but have separate antennas). The communication system 100 may include a macro TRP, or the communication system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro TRPs, pico TRPs, and / or femto TRPs. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals having an association with a femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0025]

[0039] As mentioned, FIG. 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may comprise base stations comprising evolved node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may comprise an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN+EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 in FIG. 1 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0026]

[0040] The gNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNBs 114 may communicate with an AMF 115, which communicates with an LMF 120, for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, for example, through wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105, for example, received from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning function (including derivation of the location of UE105) may be performed in UE105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNB110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB114 and / or assistance data provided to UE105 by, e.g., LMF120).

[0027]

[0041] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return a location response (e.g., including a location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations, one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0028]

[0042] As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (sometimes referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, and NRPPa messages are transferred between the gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and the LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115. As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (sometimes referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP, where LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP) and between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based location methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNBs 110a, 110b or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114.

[0029]

[0043] In a UE-assisted location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or the WLAN APs. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0030]

[0044] In a UE-based location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (which may, for example, be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted location method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, or other base station or AP).

[0031]

[0045] In a network-based location method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (TOA) measurements for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0032]

[0046] The information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using the NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0033]

[0047] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other location method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0034]

[0048] As mentioned, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., that are used to support and interact with mobile devices, such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1) in the 5GC 150. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for a 5G network, except that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may instead be applied to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs, in some cases.

[0035]

[0049] As mentioned, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS beams sent by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) that are within range of the UE whose position is to be determined (e.g., UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some instances, use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114) to calculate the UE's position.

[0036]

[0050] 2, UE 200 is an example of UE 105 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including one or more wireless transceivers 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position (motion) device 219. The processor 210, memory 211, sensor(s) 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and position (motion) device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., camera 218, position (motion) device 219, and / or one or more of sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Processor 210 may comprise multiple processors, including general purpose / application processor 230, digital signal processor (DSP) 231, modem processor 232, video processor 233, and / or sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, sensor processor 234 may comprise a processor, e.g., for radar, ultrasonic, and / or lidar, etc. Modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (even more SIMs). For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identity Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connectivity.The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 210 to perform a function. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function. The description may refer to the UE 200 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of the UE 200 performing the function. The processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in place of the memory 211. The functionality of the processor 210 is described more fully below.

[0037]

[0051] 2 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensor(s) 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PMD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0038]

[0052] The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Also or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the general purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0039]

[0053] The UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 270, one or more magnetometers 271, and / or one or more environmental sensors 272. The IMU 270 may comprise one or more inertial sensors, for example, one or more accelerometers 273 and / or one or more gyroscopes 274 (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions). The magnetometer(s) may provide measurements for determining an orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, for example, to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensor(s) 272 may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals whose indications may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or general-purpose processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0040]

[0054] The sensor(s) 213 may be used in relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-aided location determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether to report any useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on information acquired / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-aided location determination enabled by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to the UE 200 for relative positioning information.

[0041]

[0055] The IMU 270 may be configured to provide measurements of the direction and / or speed of motion of the UE 200 that may be used in relative location determination. For example, the one or more accelerometers 273 and / or one or more gyroscopes 274 of the IMU 270 may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of the UE 200's motion. The instantaneous direction and displacement of the motion may be integrated to track the location of the UE 200. For example, the reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometer(s) 273 and gyroscope(s) 274 obtained after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

[0042]

[0056] The magnetometer(s) 271 may determine magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) 271 may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. Also or alternatively, the magnetometer(s) 271 may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) 271 may provide a means for sensing a magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0043]

[0057] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a transmitter 242 and a receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting the wireless signals 248 to and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals. Thus, the transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobile (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), PC5, IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The New Radio may use mm-wave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 250 may include a transmitter 252 and a receiver 254 configured for wired communication with the NG-RAN 135, for example, to send communications to and receive communications from the gNB 110a.The transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0044]

[0058] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include two or more of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general purpose processor 230 in response to an action from the user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, speakers, microphones, digital-to-analog circuits, analog-to-digital circuits, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuits (including two or more of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Also or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0045]

[0059] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signals 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the wireless SPS signals 260 into wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 to estimate the location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized with the SPS receiver 217 to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals and / or to calculate the estimated location of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals captured from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general purpose processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special purpose processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing the measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0046]

[0060] The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or video images. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also or alternatively, a video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data, for example, for presentation on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 216.

[0047]

[0061] A position (motion) device (PMD) 219 may be configured to determine the location, and possibly the movement, of the UE 200. For example, the PMD 219 may be in communication with and / or include a portion or all of the SPS receiver 217. Also or alternatively, the PMD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the wireless signals 248) for trilateration, to assist in the acquisition and use of SPS signals 260, or both. The PMD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques to determine the location of the UE 200 (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)) and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PMD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense and provide an indication of an orientation and / or movement of the UE 200, which the processor 210 (e.g., general purpose processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine a movement (e.g., a velocity vector and / or an acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PMD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or movement.

[0048]

[0062] 3, an example of a TRP 300 of a BS (e.g., gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114) comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, the memory 311, the transceiver 315, and the SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (e.g., may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interface and / or SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The SPS receiver 317 may be configured similarly to the SPS receiver 217 to be able to receive and capture SPS signals 360 via an SPS antenna 362. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the like. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium, which may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), and the like. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code, including instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 310 to perform functions. Although the description may refer to the processor 310 performing functions, this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware.The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the TRP 300 performing the function (and thus one of the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114). The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is described more fully below.

[0049]

[0063] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a transmitter 342 and a receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink or downlink channels, and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink or uplink channels, and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting the wireless signals 348 to and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals. Thus, the transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a transmitter 352 and a receiver 354 configured for wired communication, e.g., with the network 140, e.g., to send communications to and receive communications from the LMF 120.The transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0050]

[0064] 3 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein describes the TRP 300 being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0051]

[0065] 4, an example of the LMF 120 comprises a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to one another by a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interfaces) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform functions. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing functions as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 performing the functions. The description may refer to the server 400 (or LMF 120) performing functions as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of the server 400 (e.g., LMF 120) that perform the functions. The processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411.The functionality of the processor 410 is described more fully below.

[0052]

[0066] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a transmitter 442 and a receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobile (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a transmitter 452 and a receiver 454 configured for wired communication with the NG-RAN 135, for example, to send communications to and receive communications from the TRP 300.The transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0053]

[0067] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also or alternatively, the description herein describes the server 400 being configured to perform or performing several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0054]

[0068] One or more of many different techniques may be used to determine the location of an entity such as the UE 105. For example, known location techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, RSTD (e.g., OTDOA, also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Extended Cell Identity (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the range between the two entities. The range, a known location of a first one of the entities, and an angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known location of the other entity may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In RSTD techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and another entity may be used to determine the relative range from the other entity, which may be combined with the known location of the other entity to determine the location of the one entity. The angle of arrival and / or departure may be used to help determine the location of the entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal, combined with the range between the devices (determined using the signal, e.g., the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices, may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction, such as due north. The angle of arrival or departure may be a zenith angle directly upward from the entity (i.e., relative to a radial direction outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the serving cell's identity, timing advance (i.e., the difference between receive time and transmit time at the UE), estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of a signal at the UE from a base station, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In RSTD, the difference in the arrival times at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known locations of the sources and known offsets in the transmit times from the sources, are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0055]

[0069] Referring to FIG. 5, an example wireless communication system 500 according to various aspects of the disclosure is illustrated. In the example of FIG. 5, a UE 504, which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third party application, etc.) to calculate an estimate of its location. The UE 504 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3, which may correspond to any combination of the base stations described herein, using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 500 (e.g., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 504 may determine, or assist in determining, its location in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 504 may specify its location using a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate system, although the aspects disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining location using a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while FIG. 5 shows one UE 504 and three base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3, it will be appreciated that there may be more UEs 504 and more or fewer base stations.

[0056]

[0070] To support position estimation, the base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 may be configured to broadcast positioning reference signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.) to UEs in their coverage areas to allow the UE 504 to measure characteristics of such reference signals. For example, the Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning method is a multilateration method in which the UE 504 measures time differences, known as reference signal time differences (RSTD), between particular reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by different pairs of network nodes (e.g., base stations, base station antennas, etc.) and either reports these time differences to a location server, such as the server 400 (e.g., the LMF 120), or calculates a location estimate from these time differences itself.

[0057]

[0071] In general, the RSTD is measured between a reference network node (e.g., base station 502-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and one or more neighbor network nodes (e.g., base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. 5). The reference network node remains the same for all RSTDs measured by the UE 504 for any single positioning use of OTDOA and will generally correspond to the serving cell for the UE 504 or another nearby cell with good signal strength at the UE 504. In one aspect, if the measured network node is a cell supported by a base station, the neighbor network node will typically be a cell supported by a different base station than the base station for the reference cell and may have good or poor signal strength at the UE 504. The location calculation may be based on the measured time difference (e.g., RSTD) and knowledge of the network node locations and relative transmission timing (e.g., as to whether the network nodes are precisely synchronized or whether each network node transmits with some known time difference relative to the other network nodes).

[0058]

[0072] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) may provide OTDOA assistance data to the UE 504 for a reference network node (e.g., base station 502-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and neighbor network nodes (e.g., base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. 5) relative to the reference network node. For example, the assistance data may provide a center channel frequency for each network node, various reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity of positioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier (ID), reference signal bandwidth), network node global ID, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA. The OTDOA assistance data may indicate a serving cell for the UE 504 as the reference network node.

[0059]

[0073] In some cases, the OTDOA assistance data may also include an "expected RSTD" parameter that provides the UE 504 with information regarding the RSTD value that the UE 504 is expected to measure at its current location between the reference network node and each neighbor network node, along with the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD, along with the associated uncertainty, may define a search window for the UE 504 within which the UE 504 is expected to measure the RSTD value. The OTDOA assistance information may also include a reference signal configuration information parameter that enables the UE 504 to determine when reference signal positioning occasions occur for signals received from various neighbor network nodes relative to a reference signal positioning occasion for the reference network node, and to determine reference signal sequences transmitted from various network nodes to measure signal time of arrival (ToA) or RSTD.

[0060]

[0074] In one aspect, a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) may send assistance data to the UE 504, but alternatively, the assistance data can originate directly from the network node (e.g., base station 502) itself (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.). Alternatively, the UE 504 can detect neighbor network nodes on its own without using assistance data.

[0061]

[0075] The UE 504 may measure and (optionally) report the RSTD between reference signals received from pairs of network nodes (e.g., based in part on assistance data, if provided). Using the RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, and the known position(s) of the transmit antenna for the reference and neighboring network nodes, the network (e.g., server 400, LMF 120, base station 502) or the UE 504 may estimate the location of the UE 504. More specifically, the RSTD for neighbor network node "k" relative to reference network node "Ref" may be given as (ToAk-ToARef), where the ToA values ​​may be measured modulo one subframe duration (1 ms) to remove the effects of measuring different subframes at different times. In the example of Figure 5, the measured time differences between the reference cell of base station 502-1 and the cells of neighboring base stations 502-2 and 502-3 are represented as τ2-τ1 and τ3-τ1, where τ1, τ2, and τ3 represent the ToA of the reference signal from the transmit antenna(s) of base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3, respectively. The UE 504 may then convert the ToA measurements for different network nodes into RSTD measurements and (optionally) send them to the server 400 / LMF 120. Using (i) the RSTD measurements, (ii) the known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, (iii) the known location(s) of the physical transmit antenna(s) for the reference network node and neighboring network nodes, and / or (iv) directional reference signal characteristics such as the direction of transmission, the location of the UE 504 may be determined (by either the UE 504 or the server 400 / LMF 120).

[0062]

[0076] Still referring to FIG. 5, when the UE 504 obtains a location estimate using the OTDOA measured time differences, necessary additional data (e.g., network node locations and relative transmission timing) may be provided to the UE 504 by a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120). In some implementations, a location estimate for the UE 504 may be obtained (e.g., by the UE 504 itself or by the server 400 / LMF 120) from the OTDOA measured time differences and from other measurements made by the UE 504 (e.g., measurements of signal timing from Global Positioning System (GPS) or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites). In these implementations, known as hybrid positioning, the OTDOA measurements may contribute to obtaining a location estimate for the UE 504, but may not completely determine the location estimate.

[0063]

[0077] Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA) is a positioning method similar to OTDOA, but based on uplink reference signals (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Uplink Positioning Reference Signal (UL PRS), SRS signal for positioning) transmitted by the UE (e.g., UE 504). Furthermore, transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming in the base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 and / or UE 504 can enable wideband bandwidth at the cell edge for increased accuracy. Beam refinement can also leverage channel reciprocity procedures in 5G NR.

[0064]

[0078] In NR, there is no requirement for precise timing synchronization across the network. Instead, it is sufficient to have coarse time synchronization across the gNB (e.g., within the cyclic prefix (CP) duration of an OFDM symbol). Coarse timing synchronization is generally sufficient for round trip time (RTT)-based methods, and the sidelink-assisted method described herein is therefore a practical positioning method in NR.

[0065]

[0079] Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary wireless communication system 600 according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. In the example of FIG. 6, a UE 604 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third party application, etc.) to calculate an estimate of its location. The UE 604 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein) using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of the RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 600 (i.e., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 604 may determine, or assist in determining, its location in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 604 may specify its location using a two-dimensional coordinate system, although the aspects disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining location using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while FIG. 6 shows one UE 604 and three base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, it will be appreciated that there may be more UEs 604 and more base stations.

[0066]

[0080] To support position estimation, base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UEs 604 in their coverage areas to allow the UEs 604 to measure characteristics of such reference RF signals. For example, the UEs 604 may measure the ToAs of particular reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by at least three different base stations and may use an RTT positioning method to report these ToAs (and additional information) back to a serving base station (e.g., base station 602-2) or another positioning entity (e.g., server 400, LMF 120).

[0067]

[0081] In one aspect, the UE 604 is described as measuring a reference RF signal from the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, but the UE 604 may measure a reference RF signal from one of the multiple cells supported by the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3. When the UE 604 measures a reference RF signal transmitted by a cell supported by the base station 602-2, at least two other reference RF signals measured by the UE 604 to perform the RTT procedure are from cells supported by base stations 602-1, 602-3 different from the first base station 602-2 and may have good or poor signal strength at the UE 604.

[0068]

[0082] To determine the position (x,y) of the UE 604, an entity that determines the position of the UE 604 may calculate the position (x,y) of the UE 604. k ,y k), where k=1, 2, 3 in the example of FIG. 6. When one of the base stations 602-2 (e.g., the serving base station) or the UE 604 determines the location of the UE 604, the locations of the involved base stations 602-1, 602-3 may be provided to the serving base station 602-2 or the UE 604 by a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) with knowledge of the network geometry. Alternatively, the location server may determine the location of the UE 604 using the known network geometry.

[0069]

[0083] Either the UE 604 or each of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 can measure the distance (d k , where k=1, 2, 3). In one aspect, determining the RTT 610-1, 610-2, 610-3 of signals exchanged between the UE 604 and any base station 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 is performed to determine the distance (d k ) RTT techniques can measure the time between sending a signaling message (e.g., a reference RF signal) and receiving a response. These methods can utilize calibration to remove processing and hardware delays. In some environments, it may be assumed that the processing delay for the UE 604 and the processing delay for the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 are the same. However, such an assumption may not be true in practice.

[0070]

[0084] each distance d k Once x,y is determined, the UE 604, base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, or a location server (e.g., server 400, LMF 120) can determine the position (x,y) of the UE 604 by using various known geometric techniques, such as, for example, trilateration. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that the position of the UE 604 is ideally at the common intersection of three semicircles, each of which has a radius dk and center (x k ,y k ) where it can be seen that k=1, 2, 3.

[0071]

[0085] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of a linear direction (which may be, for example, in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or possibly an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a range of directions (e.g., for the UE 604 from the location of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3). The intersection of the two directions at or near a point (x,y) may provide another estimate of the location for the UE 604.

[0072]

[0086] A position estimate (e.g., for UE 604) may be called by other names, such as a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A position estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A position estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that is expected to contain the location with some specified or default confidence level).

[0073]

[0087] UEs may be classified as reduced capability UEs (RedCap UEs), such as bandwidth-limited UEs (e.g., wearables such as smart watches, glasses, rings, etc.). Other UEs may have more capabilities compared to RedCap UEs and may be called premium UEs (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.). RedCap UEs generally have lower baseband processing capabilities, fewer antennas, lower operating bandwidth capabilities, and lower uplink transmit power compared to premium UEs. Different UE tiers may be differentiated, usually by UE category or by UE capabilities. UEs of some tiers may also report their type (reduced capability or premium) to the network. Alternatively, some resources / channels may be dedicated to some types of UEs.

[0074]

[0088] As can be appreciated, the accuracy of positioning a RedCap UE (e.g., NR-light UE) may be limited. For example, the RedCap UE may operate on a reduced bandwidth, such as 5-20 MHz, for wearables and relaxed IoT (i.e., IoT devices with relaxed parameters such as lower throughput, relaxed latency requirements, lower energy consumption, etc.), which results in lower positioning accuracy. As another example, the receiver processing power of the RedCap UE may be limited by its lower cost RF / baseband. Thus, the reliability of the measurement and positioning calculation will be reduced. Furthermore, such a RedCap UE may not be able to receive multiple PRSs from multiple TRPs, further reducing the positioning accuracy. As yet another example, the transmit power of the RedCap UE may be reduced, which means that there will be lower quality uplink measurements for RedCap UE positioning.

[0075]

[0089] However, RedCap UEs, such as wearables, are often operated in the vicinity of premium UEs. Thus, this disclosure provides techniques for a RedCap UE to leverage sidelink communications with one or more premium UEs to improve RSTD and other positioning measurements.

[0076]

[0090] Referring to FIG. 7, an example round-trip message flow 700 between two wireless nodes, such as a user equipment 705 and a base station 710, is shown. The UE 705 is an example of a UE 105, 200, and the base station 710 may be a gNB 110a-b or a ng-eNB 114. In general, an RTT positioning method utilizes the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the range between the two entities. The range, a known location of a first one of the entities, and an angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also referred to as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. The example message flow 700 may be initiated by the base station 710 with an RTT session configuration message 702. The base station may utilize LPP / NRPPa messaging to configure the RTT session. At time T1, the base station 710 may transmit a DL PRS 704, which is received by the UE 705 at time T2. In response, the UE 705 may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) message for positioning (e.g., UL-SRS) 706 at time T3, which is received by the base station 710 at time T4. The distance between the UE 705 and the base station 710 may be calculated as follows:

[0077]

number

[0078] Here, c = the speed of light.

[0079]

[0091] In operation, the UE 705 may be a RedCap UE that is capable of receiving the DL PRS 704 but does not have sufficient transmit power to allow a serving base station (e.g., base station 710) to receive the UL SRS 706. The sidelink-aided downlink positioning methods described herein may be used to overcome this limitation. In another example, a RedCap UE may have enough uplink power to provide its serving station with the UL SRS 706, but insufficient power for more distant stations to receive the SRS. The sidelink-aided uplink positioning methods described herein may be used to overcome this limitation.

[0080]

[0092] Referring to FIG. 8, a block diagram 800 of an example sidelink-assisted downlink time difference of arrival based positioning method is shown. The diagram 800 shows multiple wireless nodes in the communication system 100, such as a base station 802 (e.g., a TRP 300 such as a gNB or any of the base stations described herein), a first UE 804, a second UE 806, and a RedCap UE 808 (also referred to as an NR-light UE). The base station 802 may have multiple antennas, such as a panel of antennas 812 (e.g., an antenna array on a particular side of the base station 802), corresponding to the cells and / or TRPs supported by the base station 802. In the example of FIG. 8, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 are shown as smartphones (e.g., premium UEs), and the RedCap UE 808 is shown as a smart watch. However, these are examples and do not limit the present disclosure.

[0081]

[0093] As further shown in FIG. 8, the first UE 804, the second UE 806, and the RedCap UE 808 receive DL PRS 820 transmitted from the base station 802. The RedCap UE 808 is configured to receive sidelink communications, such as a first sidelink signal 804a and a second sidelink signal 806a, from the UEs 804, 806 on their respective sidelinks. The wireless sidelink signals 804a, 806a may be NR sidelinks and may support a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or other sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH) between the UEs 804, 806 and the RedCap UE 808. A sidelink channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) may be configured within the PSSCH transmission. In one example, the RedCap UE 808 may be configured to provide an UL signal 822 to the base station 802.

[0082]

[0094] In operation, the RedCap UE 808 may utilize sidelink signals transmitted by one or more of the UEs 804, 806 to obtain sidelink-aided downlink (DL) RSTD measurements. For example, referring to FIG. 9, a message timing diagram 900 for an example sidelink-aided DL-TDOA positioning method is shown. In one example, the base station 802 is a serving cell for the RedCap UE 808 and may be configured to transmit a DL PRS 820, or other reference signal, at time T1. The first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may receive the DL PRS 820 at times T2 and T3, as shown in the diagram 900. The first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may camp on the base station 802, or other cell, since the sidelink-aided positioning method described herein does not rely on time synchronization between the stations. The RedCap UE 808 also receives the DL PRS 820 at time T6 (timing labels T1-T8 in diagram 900 do not necessarily indicate chronological order). The first UE 804 is configured to transmit a first sidelink signal 804a to the RedCap UE 808 at time T4, which may be based on a defined first Rx-Tx delay value 902 (i.e., T4-T2). The second UE 806 is configured to transmit a second sidelink signal 806a to the RedCap UE 808 at time T5, which may be based on a defined second Rx-Tx delay value 904 (i.e., T5-T3). The RedCap UE 808 is configured to receive the first and second sidelink signals at times T7 and T8, respectively, and determine arrival times of the DL PRS 820 and the first and second sidelink signals 804a and 806a. The first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may report their respective Rx-Tx delay values ​​902, 904 to the RedCap UE 808, the base station 802, or other network entity (e.g., the LMF 120 or other network server).

[0083]

[0095] In one embodiment, the range between the base station 802 and the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may be known. For example, via OTDOA, RSTD, RTT or other NR-based or RAT-independent positioning methods (e.g., high precision PRS or other hybrid positioning methods). In one example, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may obtain location based on a satellite navigation system such as the SPS receiver 217. Thus, the respective propagation times T2-T1 and T3-T1 are known. The RedCap UE 808, or other network entity, may be configured to determine the RSTD between the signal transmitted by the base station 802 (e.g., DL PRS 820) and the signal transmitted by the first UE 804 (e.g., first sidelink signal 804a) as follows:

[0084]

[0096]

[0085]

number

[0086]

[0097]

[0087]

number

[0088] Where: T6 is the Rx time of the DL PRS transmitted by the base station; T7 is the Rx time of the sidelink signal transmitted by UE1; T2-T1 is the estimated propagation time between the base station and UE1, T4-T2 is the reported Rx-Tx delay time for UE1.

[0089]

[0098] The RSTD between the signal transmitted by the base station 802 and the signal transmitted by the second UE 806 may follow the same approach based on the second sidelink signal, thus:

[0099]

[0090]

number

[0091]

[0100]

[0092]

number

[0093] Where: T6 is the Rx time of the DL PRS transmitted by the base station; T8 is the Rx time of the sidelink signal transmitted by UE2; T3-T1 is the estimated propagation time between the base station and UE2, T5-T3 is the reported Rx-Tx delay time for UE2.

[0094]

[0101] In a UE-based positioning use case, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may report their respective propagation times (e.g., T2-T1, T3-T1) and Rx-Tx delay times (e.g., T4-T2, T5-T3) to the RedCap UE 808 via a sidelink channel, such as a PSSCH, PSCCH, or other sidelink channel. In a UE-assisted positioning use case, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may report their respective propagation times (e.g., T2-T1, T3-T1) to a network entity (e.g., the LMF 120) via an LPP, RRC, or other messaging format, and may report their Rx-Tx delay times (e.g., T4-T2, T5-T3) to the RedCap UE 808 via a sidelink channel, such as a PSSCH, PSCCH, or other sidelink channel. In another example, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 may report the Rx-Tx delay time (e.g., T4-T2, T5-T3) to a network server (e.g., LMF 120), and the network server may provide the propagation time (e.g., T2-T1, T3-T1) and the Rx-Tx delay time (e.g., T4-T2, T5-T3) to the RedCap UE 808 via network signaling such as LPP, RRC, SIB, DCI, etc.

[0095]

[0102] Although diagram 900 includes one base station and three UEs, the illustrated RSTD method and corresponding equations may be used with a combination of multiple base stations and multiple UEs. The sidelink-assisted DL positioning method of diagram 900 does not rely on timing synchronization between wireless nodes, and the first UE 804 and the second UE 806, as well as the RedCap UE 808, may be associated with different serving cells. Furthermore, independence from synchronization time may increase the accuracy of DL-RSTD positioning.

[0096]

[0103] Referring to FIG. 10, a block diagram 1000 of an example sidelink-assisted uplink time difference of arrival based positioning method is shown. The diagram 1000 shows multiple wireless nodes in a communication system 100, such as a base station 1002 (e.g., a TRP 300 such as a gNB or any of the base stations described herein), a first UE 1004, a second UE 1006, and a RedCap UE 1008. The base station 1002 may have multiple antennas, such as a panel of antennas 1003 (e.g., an antenna array on a particular side of the base station 1002), corresponding to a cell and / or a TRP supported by the base station 1002. In the example of FIG. 10, the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 are shown as smartphones (e.g., premium UEs), and the RedCap UE 1008 is shown as a smart watch. However, these are examples and do not limit the present disclosure.

[0097]

[0104] As further shown in FIG. 10, the first UE 1004, the second UE 1006, and the RedCap UE 1008 are configured to transmit uplink signals, such as UL-SRS signals, that may be received by one or more base stations. For example, the RedCap UE 1008 may be configured to transmit a UL SRS 1010, the first UE 1004 may be configured to transmit a UL-SRS, and the second UE 1006 may be configured to transmit a UL SRS 1006a, which may be received by the base station 1002. The RedCap UE 1008 is configured to transmit sidelink communications to the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 via one or more sidelink signals, such as a first sidelink signal 1012 and a second sidelink signal 1014. The sidelink signals 1012, 1014 may utilize NR sidelink protocols and channels, such as a PSCCH, PSSCH, PSBCH, or other sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH) between the UEs 1004, 1006 and the RedCap UE 1008. Sidelink CSI-RS may be configured within the PSSCH transmission.

[0098]

[0105] In operation, the RedCap UE 1008 may transmit sidelink signals to one or more of the UEs 1004, 1006 to provide sidelink-assisted uplink (UL) RSTD measurements. For example, referring to FIG. 11, a message timing diagram 1100 for an exemplary sidelink-assisted UL-TDOA positioning method is shown. In one example, the RedCap UE 1008 is configured to transmit UL SRS and sidelink signals. For example, the RedCap UE 1008 may transmit a first sidelink signal 1012 to the first UE 1004 at time T1 and a second sidelink signal 1014 to the second UE 1006 at time T2. The RedCap UE 1008 may also transmit a UL SRS 1010 at time T4 (timing labels T1-T10 in the diagram 1100 do not necessarily indicate chronological order). The RedCap UE 1008 may be configured to determine and report to the base station 1002, or other network entity, such as the LMF 120, a time difference between a sidelink transmission time and a UL SRS transmission time, such as a first delta SRS-sidelink delay 1106a (e.g., T4-T1) and a second SRS-sidelink delay 1106b (e.g., T4-T2). The first UE 1004 may receive the first sidelink signal 1012 at time T3 and transmit the UL SRS 1004a at time T6, which may be based on the defined first Rx-Tx delay value 1102. The second UE 1006 may receive the second sidelink signal 1014 at time T5 and transmit the UL SRS 1006a at time T7, which may be based on the defined second Rx-Tx delay value 1104. The first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 may report their respective Rx-Tx delay time values ​​1102, 1104 to the base station 1002 or other network entity (e.g., the LMF 120). The base station 1002 may receive the UL SRS 1010, 1004a, 1006a at times T8, T9 and T10, respectively, and may be configured to determine RSTD values ​​and report them to a network entity, such as the LMF 120.

[0099]

[0106] In one embodiment, the range between the base station 1002 and the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 may be known, for example, via OTDOA, RSTD, RTT, or other NR-based or RAT-independent positioning methods (e.g., high-precision PRS or other hybrid positioning methods). In one example, the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 may obtain location based on a satellite navigation system, such as the SPS receiver 217. Thus, the respective UL SRS propagation times T10-T7 and T9-T6 are known. The base station 1002, or other network entity, may be configured to determine the RSTD between a signal transmitted by the RedCap UE 1008 (e.g., UL SRS 1010) and the UL SRS 1004a received from the first UE 1004, which is based at least in part on the first sidelink signal 1012. In one example, the RSTD associated with the first UE 1004 is calculated as follows:

[0100]

[0107]

[0101]

number

[0102]

[0108]

[0103]

number

[0104] Where: T8 is the Rx time of the UL PRS transmitted by the RedCap UE, T9 is the Rx time of the UL PRS transmitted by UE1; [Delta SRS-Sidelink] is a first delta SRS-Sidelink delay 1106a (i.e., T-T) indicating the time delay between transmitting the first sidelink and transmitting the UL PRS; T9-T6 is the estimated propagation time between the base station and UE1; T6-T3 is the reported Rx-Tx delay value 1102 time for UE1.

[0105]

[0109] To the base station 1002, the RSTD between the signal transmitted from the RedCap UE 1008 and the signal transmitted from the second UE 1006 may follow the same approach based on the second sidelink signal 1014, and thus:

[0110]

[0106]

number

[0107]

[0111]

[0108]

number

[0109] Where: T8 is the Rx time of the UL PRS transmitted by the RedCap UE, T10 is the Rx time of the UL PRS transmitted by UE2; [Delta SRS-Sidelink] is a second SRS-Sidelink delay 1106b (i.e., T-T) indicating the time delay between transmitting the second sidelink and transmitting the UL PRS; T10-T7 is the estimated propagation time between the base station and UE2, T7-T5 is the reported Rx-Tx delay value 1104 for UE2.

[0110]

[0112] The base station 1002 needs to measure the reception times for the UL SRS 1010, 1004a, 1006a, which may be accomplished without tight synchronization requirements across UEs. The first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006 and / or the base station 1002 may be configured to report the respective signal propagation times and Rx-Tx delay time values ​​1102, 1104 to a positioning entity, such as the LMF 120. The signal propagation times (e.g., T9-T6, T10-T7) may be estimated via NR positioning methods and / or other RAT-independent methods. In one example, the RedCap UE 1008 may report the delta SRS-sidelink values ​​1106a-b to a positioning server via the base station 1002. In one example, the delta SRS-sidelink values ​​1106a-b may be based on a grant from a serving gNB (e.g., base station 1002), which may report the delta SRS-sidelink values ​​1106a-b to a positioning entity and / or to the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006, eliminating the requirement for the RedCap UE 1008 to report those values.

[0111]

[0113] Although diagram 1100 includes one base station and three UEs, the illustrated TDOA method and corresponding equations may be used with a combination of multiple base stations and multiple UEs. The sidelink-assisted UL positioning method of diagram 1100 does not rely on timing synchronization between wireless nodes, and the first UE 1004 and the second UE 1006, as well as the RedCap UE 1008, may be associated with different serving cells. Furthermore, independence from synchronization time may increase the accuracy of the UL-TDOA positioning.

[0112]

[0114] Referring to FIG. 12, an example message flow diagram 1200 of a sidelink-assisted DL TDOA-based positioning method is shown. The message flow may be utilized in a communication system 100 including a target UE 1202, a first cooperating UE 1204, a second cooperating UE 1206, a gNB 1208, and an LMF 1210. The target UE 1202 and the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 may include some or all of the features of the UE 200, which is an example of the target UE 1202 and the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206. In one example, the target UE 1202 may be a reduced capability UE. The gNB 1208 may include some or all of the features of the TRP 300, which is an example of the gNB 1208. The LMF 1210 may include some or all of the features of the server 400, which is an example of the LMF 1210. The message flow 1200 may utilize one or more network protocols, such as LPP / NRPP, RRC, DCI, and MAC-CE messaging, to transfer positioning information, such as ToA values, estimated propagation times, Rx-Tx delay values, delta SRS-sidelink values, and other channel and station related assistance data.

[0113]

[0115] In one embodiment, the LMF 1210 may be configured to obtain location information for one or more stations in the network, such as the target UE 1202. The LMF 1210 may send a location request message 1212 to a serving station, such as the gNB 1208, to initiate a positioning procedure for the target UE 1202. The location request message 1212 or other messages from the LMF 1210 may include OTDOA assistance data to enable the gNB 1208 or the target UE 1202 to calculate a location. In one embodiment, the target UE 1202 may initiate a positioning procedure. The gNB 1208 may send one or more assistance data messages 1214 including positioning information to assist the target UE 1202 and other stations in obtaining reference signal measurements and determining a location. For example, the assistance data message may include PRS and SRS resource information, a neighbor list indicating nearby wireless nodes including other base stations and cooperating UEs, sidelink configuration information, Rx-Tx delay information, station location, muting pattern information, and other data related to OTDOA or other terrestrial positioning methods known in the art. The gNB 1208, and other stations in the network, may be configured to transmit one or more reference signals for positioning, such as a DL PRS 1216, which may be received by the target UE 1202 and one or more neighboring stations, such as the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206. In one example, upon receiving the DL PRS 1216, the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 may transmit one or more sidelink signals 1218a-b to the target UE 1202 via one or more sidelink channels (e.g., PSSCH, PSCCH, etc.). The timing of transmission of the sidelink signals 1218a-b may be based on the respective Rx-Tx delay values ​​902, 904, as illustrated in Figure 9. In an embodiment, the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 may be configured to report their respective Rx-Tx delay values ​​and estimated propagation delays (e.g., based on range to the gNB 1208) to the target UE 1202 via the sidelink signals 1218a-b.At stage 1220, the target UE 1202 may determine an RSTD value based on the received assistance data and the ToAs of the DL PRS 1216 and the sidelink signals 1218a-b. In an embodiment, the target UE 1202 may be configured to utilize the RSTD values ​​and assistance data received from the gNB 1208 and / or the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 to determine the RSTD value (e.g., equations (2) and (3)) and calculate a location. In one example, the location may be based on the multilateration technique described in FIG. 5.

[0114]

[0116] The target UE 1202 may be configured to report the ToA, RSTD, and other measurements to a network entity, such as the LMF 1210, via one or more LPP measurement report messages 1222. For example, the report messages 1222 may include the ToA, RSTD, and / or other measurements based on the DL PRS 1216 and sidelink signals 1218a-b received by the target UE 1202. In an embodiment, the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 may be configured to send Rx-Tx delay report messages 1224a-b to report respective Rx-Tx delay values ​​associated with receiving the DL PRS 1216 and transmitting the sidelink signals 1218a-b. The Rx-Tx delay report messages 1224a-b may also include estimated propagation delay values ​​(e.g., T2-T1, T3-T1) based on the range between the gNB 1208 and the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206. In an embodiment, the LMF 1210, or other network resources, may determine an estimated propagation delay value to reduce reporting requirements of the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206. At stage 1226, the LMF 1210 may be configured to calculate an RSTD value (e.g., equations (2) and (3)) and determine the location of the target UE 1202 using a multilateration technique as described in FIG. 5 based on the RSTD measurements and Rx-Tx delay report messages 1224a-b reported by the target UE 1202. The message flow 1200 is by way of example and not limitation, as other messages and messaging techniques may be used to implement the sidelink-assisted DL PRS positioning method.

[0115]

[0117] 13, an example message flow 1300 of a sidelink assisted UL TDOA based positioning method is shown. The message flow may be utilized in a communication system 100 including a target UE 1202, a first cooperating UE 1204, a second cooperating UE 1206, a gNB 1208, and an LMF 1210 as described in FIG. 12. The message flow 1300 may utilize one or more network protocols, such as LPP / NRPP, RRC, DCI, and MAC-CE messaging, to activate the UL SRS process and to transfer positioning information, such as ToA values, estimated propagation times, Rx-Tx delay values, delta SRS-sidelink values, and other channel and station related assistance data.

[0116]

[0118] In one embodiment, the LMF 1210 may be configured to obtain location information for one or more stations in the network, such as the target UE 1202. The LMF 1210 may send a location request message 1312 to one or more base stations, such as the gNB 1208, configured to obtain the location of the target UE 1202. The location request message 1312 may also include assistance data, such as identities of neighboring UEs (e.g., cooperating UEs), OTDOA assistance data, and estimated propagation values ​​(e.g., based on range between the gNB and the UE). The gNB 1208 may configure SRS resources for the target UE 1202 and provide the SRS resource information and other assistance data via one or more SRS configuration messages 1314. In one embodiment, the SRS configuration information may include sidelink grant information indicating a delta SRS-sidelink value for the target UE 1202 for use with neighboring UEs. The target UE 1202 may be configured to transmit one or more sidelink signals 1316a-b to the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 via one or more sidelink channels. The target UE 1202 may transmit one or more UL SRSs 1318, which may be received by the gNB 1208 or other stations. The target UE 1202 may also send one or more delta SRS-sidelink report messages 1320 to provide the gNB 1208 and / or the LMF 1210 with delta SRS-sidelink values ​​1106a-b associated with the sidelink signals 1316a-b and UL SRSs 1318.

[0117]

[0119] The cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 are configured to transmit one or more UL SRSs 1322a-b, which are received by the gNB 1208. The cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 may also report the respective Rx-Tx delay values ​​1102, 1104 to the gNB 1208 or the LMF 1210 in one or more Rx-Tx delay messages 1322c-d. The gNB 1208 is configured to determine the ToA, RSTD, and other measurements based on the received UL SRSs 1318, 1322a-b, as described in equations (6) and (7). The gNB 1208 may provide one or more measurement reports 1324 including the RSTD values ​​to the LMF 1210, which may utilize a multilateration method to determine the location of the target UE 1202 in stage 1326. In one embodiment, the gNB 1208 may be configured to determine the location of the target UE 1202. The message flow 1300 is by way of example and not limitation, as other messages and messaging techniques may be used to implement the sidelink-assisted UL PRS positioning method.

[0118]

[0120] With reference to Figure 14 and with further reference to Figures 1-13, a method 1400 for determining time difference of arrival in sidelink-assisted downlink positioning includes the steps shown. However, the method 1400 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1400 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step being split into multiple steps.

[0119]

[0121] In step 1402, the method includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link. The UE 200, including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230, is a means for receiving the first reference signal. In one embodiment, the first reference signal may be a DL PRS 1216 transmitted by the gNB 1208 and received by the target UE 1202. The first radio access link may utilize a cellular wide area network (WAN) technology, such as LTE, 5G NR, or other RAT, as described in FIG. 1. Other reference signals (e.g., NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.) may be transmitted from other wireless nodes and received by the UE. The first time may be an arrival time of the first reference signal at the target UE.

[0120]

[0122] At stage 1404, the method includes receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node using a second radio access link. The UE 200 including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230 is a means for receiving the second reference signal. In one embodiment, the second reference signal may be a sidelink signal 1218a transmitted from a neighboring wireless node, such as the cooperating UE 1204. The second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol and may utilize a sidelink channel (e.g., a PSCCH, a PSSCH, or other sidelink channel). In one example, the second reference signal may be a CSI-RS configured within a PSSCH transmission.

[0121]

[0123] At stage 1406, the method includes receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based on at least a time when the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time when the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node. The UE 200 including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230 is a means for receiving the assistance data. In one embodiment, a wireless node on the network may be configured to provide the assistance data to the target UE. For example, the gNB 1208 may be configured to provide one or more assistance data messages 1214 including an Rx-Tx delay time and an estimated propagation delay associated with the cooperating UE. The assistance data message 1214 may be based on LPP signaling from the LMF 1210 or RRC signaling including one or more system information blocks (SIBs) including the assistance data. In one example, the cooperating UE may include the assistance data (e.g., Rx-Tx delay time) in one or more sidelink signals 1218a-b. 9, the RedCap UE 808 may be the first wireless node and the first UE 804 may be the second wireless node. The transmission delay time value may be an Rx-Tx delay value 902 based on a time delay between a time T2 when the first UE 804 receives the DL PRS 820 and a time T4 when the first UE 804 transmits the first sidelink signal 804a. Rx-Tx delay values ​​for other neighboring stations may also be included in the assistance data.

[0122]

[0124] At stage 1408, the method includes determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay value. The UE 200 including the general purpose processor 230 is a means for determining the time difference of arrival. In one embodiment, the RSTD may be calculated based on equations (2) and (3). For example, the first reference signal received at stage 1402 at the first time may be a reception time of the DL PRS (e.g., T6), and the second reference signal received at stage 1404 at the second time may be a reception time of the sidelink signal transmitted by the second wireless node (e.g., T7). The reported Rx-Tx delay time for the second wireless node may be included in the assistance data received at stage 1406 (e.g., T4-T2). In one embodiment, the estimated propagation time between the first wireless node and the second wireless node may be included in the assistance data received at stage 1406. The estimated propagation time may be included in other assistance data or may remain in the memory 211 as almanac data. The method 1400 provides the technical advantage of obtaining an RSTD value without the need for synchronization time between wireless nodes. In one example, the first wireless node may be a serving cell and the second wireless node may be camped on a different serving cell. The obtained RSTD value may be used in a multilateration positioning method as described in FIG. 5. Other positioning methods may also be used.

[0123]

[0125] With reference to Fig. 15 and with further reference to Figs. 1-13, a method 1500 for providing sidelink assistance data includes the steps shown. However, method 1500 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. Method 1500 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step split into multiple steps. Method 1500 may be utilized with both sidelink-aided DL PRS and UL SRS positioning procedures.

[0124]

[0126] At stage 1502, the method includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link. The UE 200, including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230, is a means for receiving the first reference signal. In a sidelink-assisted DL PRS embodiment, the first reference signal may be a DL PRS 1216 transmitted by the gNB 1208 and received by the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206. The first radio access link may utilize a WAN technology such as LTE, 5G NR or other RATs, as described in FIG. 1. Other reference signals (e.g., NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.) may be transmitted from other wireless nodes and received by the UE. The first time may be an arrival time of the first reference signal at the target UE. In a sidelink-assisted UL PRS embodiment, the first reference signal may be a sidelink signal 1316a-b transmitted by the target UE 1202. The first radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol and may utilize a sidelink channel (e.g., a PSCCH, a PSSCH, or other sidelink channel).

[0125]

[0127] At stage 1504, the method includes transmitting a second reference signal at a second time using a second radio access link. The UE 200, including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230, is a means for transmitting the second reference signal. In a sidelink-assisted DL PRS embodiment, the second reference signal may be a sidelink signal 1218a-b transmitted from the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 and received by the target UE 1202. The second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol and may utilize a sidelink channel (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH, or other sidelink channel). In one example, the second reference signal may be a CSI-RS configured within a PSSCH transmission. The second time may be based on a preconfigured Rx-Tx delay or a sidelink grant received from a serving cell. The UE may be configured to transmit the second reference signal at a second time that is independent of network timing requirements. For example, with reference to FIG. 8, when the first time is T2, the second time may be T4. In a sidelink-assisted UL PRS embodiment, the second reference signal may be a UL SRS 1322a-b transmitted from the cooperating UEs 1204, 1206 to the gNB 1208.

[0126]

[0128] At stage 1506, the method includes determining a transmission delay value based on the first time and the second time. The UE 200 including the general purpose processor 230 is a means for determining the transmission delay. The transmission delay is an Rx-Tx delay between receiving the first reference signal and transmitting the second reference signal. For example, referring to FIG. 9, in a sidelink-assisted DL PRS method, the transmission delay may be an Rx-Tx delay value 902, 904. In a sidelink-assisted UL PRS method, the transmission delay may be an Rx-Tx delay value 1102, 1104 shown in FIG. 11.

[0127]

[0129] At stage 1508, the method includes transmitting an indication of the transmission delay value. The UE 200 including the transceiver 215 and the general-purpose processor 230 is a means for transmitting the indication of the transmission delay. In an embodiment, the cooperating UE 1204, 1206 may be configured to provide one or more Rx-Tx delay messages determined at stage 1506 to a network entity, such as the LMF 1210 and / or the gNB 1208. For example, the transmission delay value may be included in an LPP message or may be forwarded via an RRC, MAC-CE, DCI, or other signaling protocol.

[0128]

[0130] With reference to Figure 16 and with further reference to Figures 1-13, a method 1600 for determining time difference of arrival in sidelink-assisted uplink positioning includes the steps shown. However, the method 1600 is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The method 1600 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step being split into multiple steps.

[0129]

[0131] At stage 1602, the method includes receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link. The TRP 300, including the transceiver 315 and the processor 310, is a means for receiving the first reference signal. In one embodiment, the first reference signal may be a UL SRS transmitted from a target UE. For example, referring to FIG. 13, the first reference signal may be a UL SRS 1318 transmitted by the target UE 1202 and received by the gNB 1208. The first radio access link may utilize a WAN technology such as LTE, 5G NR or other RAT, as described in FIG. 1. Other reference signals (e.g., NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.) may be transmitted from other wireless nodes and received by a station such as the gNB 1208. The first time may be an arrival time of the first reference signal at the gNB (e.g., time T8 shown in FIG. 11).

[0130]

[0132] At stage 1604, the method includes receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node. The TRP 300, including the transceiver 315 and the processor 310, is a means for receiving the second reference signal. In one embodiment, the second reference signal may be a UL SRS transmitted from a cooperating UE. For example, referring to FIG. 13, the second reference signal may be a UL SRS 1322a transmitted by the first cooperating UE 1204 and received by the gNB 1208. The second reference signal may utilize the first radio access link and may be a UL SRS or other reference signal (e.g., NRS, TRS, CRS, etc.), which may be transmitted from a wireless node proximate to the target UE that transmitted the first reference signal. For example, in a V2X network, the second wireless node may be a roadside unit (RSU) configured to communicate with a base station (e.g., over a Uu interface) and with a nearby UE over a sidelink (e.g., a PC5 interface). The second time may be the arrival time of the second reference signal at the gNB (e.g., time T9 shown in FIG. 11).

[0131]

[0133] At stage 1606, the method includes receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based on a time at which the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and a time at which the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal, where the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using a second radio access link. The TRP 300 including the transceiver 315 and the processor 310 is a means for receiving the assistance data. In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 13, the third reference signal may be a first sidelink signal 1316a transmitted by the target UE 1202 and received by the first cooperating UE 1204. The second radio access link may be based on a sidelink protocol and may utilize a sidelink channel (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH, or other sidelink channel). In one example, the third reference signal may be a CSI-RS configured within a PSSCH transmission. The transmission delay value in the assistance data may be an Rx-Tx delay message 1322c indicating the Rx-Tx delay value 1102. In an embodiment, the LMF 1210 may be configured to provide the Rx-Tx delay value to the gNB 1208.

[0132]

[0134] At stage 1608, the method includes determining a sidelink delay time value based on a time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and a time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal. The TRP 300, including the transceiver 315 and the processor 310, is a means for determining the sidelink delay time value. In one embodiment, the sidelink delay time value is based on a delta SRS-Sidelink value included in a delta SRS-Sidelink report message 1320 received from the target UE 1202. For example, with reference to FIG. 11, the sidelink delay time value may be a delta SRS-Sidelink value 1106a (i.e., T4-T1) based on a time difference between transmitting the first sidelink signal 1012 and transmitting the UL SRS 1010. In one embodiment, the sidelink delay time value may be based on a sidelink grant, and the gNB 1208 may be configured to determine the sidelink delay value based on the grant information. In one example, the LMF 1210 may provide an indication of the sidelink delay time value to the gNB 1208 in a positioning message.

[0133]

[0135] At stage 1610, the method includes determining a time difference of arrival based at least in part on the first time and the second time, the transmission delay value and the sidelink delay value. The TRP 300 including the processor 310 is a means for determining the time difference of arrival. In an embodiment, the gNB 1208 may be configured to determine the time difference of arrival, such as RSTD, in equations (6) and (7). For example, the T8 value may be the first time determined at stage 1602, and the T9 value may be the second time determined at stage 1604. The T6-T3 (i.e., Rx-Tx delay) may be the transmission delay time received at stage 1606, and the [delta SRS-sidelink] value may be the sidelink delay time value determined at stage 1608. The estimated propagation time (i.e., T9-T6) may be provided by the LMF 1210 or may be measured based on the RTT or other NR measurements with the second wireless node. In one example, the location of the second wireless node may be known (e.g., via satellite navigation or other precise point navigation methods) and the propagation time may be estimated based on the range to the second wireless node. The method 1600 provides the technical advantage of obtaining an uplink-based RSTD value without the need for synchronization time between wireless nodes. The obtained RSTD value may be used in a multilateration positioning method such as described in FIG. 5. Other positioning methods may also be used.

[0134]

[0136] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the scope of the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination of these. Features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0135]

[0137] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0136]

[0138] As used herein, the term RS (Reference Signal) may refer to one or more reference signals and may apply to any form of the term RS, e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc., as appropriate.

[0137]

[0139] Unless otherwise specified, as used herein, a statement that a feature or action is "based on" an item or condition means that the feature or action is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0138]

[0140] Also, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items ending with "at least one of" or "one or more of" indicates a disjunctive list, such as, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination of two or more features (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B means that the item may be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select whether A and / or B should be measured). Similarly, a recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether A and / or B should be measured).As another example, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of perform a function X or perform a function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X).

[0139]

[0141] Substantial variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) executed by a processor, or both. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed. Unless otherwise noted, functional or other components shown in the figures and / or described herein as connected or in communication with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication therebetween.

[0140]

[0142] The systems and devices described above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and thus many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0141]

[0143] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communications are carried wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not all communications are transmitted wirelessly, but is configured such that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device be exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0142]

[0144] In the description, specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of the example configurations (including implementation forms). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques are shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the above description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and configuration of elements.

[0143]

[0145] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as a signal). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0144]

[0146] Although several example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present disclosure. Also, some operations may be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0145]

[0147] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system.

[0146]

[0148] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0147]

[0149] Clause 1. A method of determining a time difference of arrival value comprising: receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node using the second wireless access link; receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node; and determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay time value.

[0148]

[0150] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first wireless node is a base station and the first reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal.

[0149]

[0151] Clause 3. The method of clause 1, wherein the second wireless node is a user equipment and the second reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0150]

[0152] Clause 4. The method of clause 1, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0151]

[0153] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5th generation new radio.

[0152]

[0154] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving one or more sidelink messages from the second wireless node including the assistance data.

[0153]

[0155] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving one or more messages including the assistance data from the first wireless node.

[0154]

[0156] Clause 8. The method of clause 1, wherein the assistance data includes an estimated propagation time based on a distance between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and determining the time difference of arrival value is based at least in part on the estimated propagation time.

[0155]

[0157] Clause 9. The method of clause 1, further comprising determining a location based at least in part on a time difference of arrival value.

[0156]

[0158] Clause 10. A method of providing sidelink assistance data, comprising: receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link, transmitting a second reference signal at a second time using a second wireless access link, determining a transmission delay value based on the first time and the second time, and transmitting an indication of the transmission delay value.

[0157]

[0159] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the first wireless node is a base station and the first reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal.

[0158]

[0160] Clause 12. The method of clause 10, wherein the second reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0159]

[0161] Clause 13. The method of clause 10, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0160]

[0162] Clause 14. The method of clause 10, wherein the second reference signal is an uplink sounding reference signal.

[0161]

[0163] Clause 15. The method of clause 10, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0162]

[0164] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5G new radio.

[0163]

[0165] Clause 17. The method of clause 10, wherein transmitting an indication of a transmission delay time value comprises transmitting one or more sidelink messages to a neighboring user equipment including the transmission delay time value.

[0164]

[0166] Clause 18. The method of clause 10, wherein transmitting an indication of the transmission delay value includes transmitting one or more uplink messages including the transmission delay value to the base station.

[0165]

[0167] Clause 19. A method of determining a time difference of arrival value comprising: receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node; receiving assistance data including a transmission delay value based on a time at which the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and a time at which the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal; where the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using the second radio access link; determining a sidelink delay value based on a time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and a time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal; and determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time, the transmission delay value and the sidelink delay value.

[0166]

[0168] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal.

[0167]

[0169] Clause 21. The method of clause 19, wherein the second wireless node is a user equipment and the second reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal.

[0168]

[0170] Clause 22. The method of clause 19, wherein the third reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0169]

[0171] Clause 23. The method of clause 19, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0170]

[0172] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5G new radio.

[0171]

[0173] Clause 25. The method of clause 19, wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving one or more sidelink messages including the assistance data from the second wireless node.

[0172]

[0174] Clause 26. The method of clause 19, wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving one or more messages including the assistance data from a network server.

[0173]

[0175] Clause 27. The method of clause 19, wherein determining the sidelink delay time value includes receiving one or more messages from the first wireless node.

[0174]

[0176] Clause 28. The method of clause 19, wherein determining the sidelink delay time value includes receiving one or more messages from a network server.

[0175]

[0177] Clause 29. The method of clause 19, further comprising determining a range to a second wireless node.

[0176]

[0178] Clause 30. The method of clause 19, further comprising determining a location of the first wireless node based at least in part on the time difference of arrival value.

[0177]

[0179] Clause 31. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; receive a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node using the second wireless access link; receive assistance data including a transmission delay time value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node; and determine a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay time value.

[0178]

[0180] Clause 32. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the first wireless node is a base station and the first reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal.

[0179]

[0181] Clause 33. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the second wireless node is a user equipment and the second reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0180]

[0182] Clause 34. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0181]

[0183] Clause 35. The apparatus of clause 34, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5th generation new radio.

[0182]

[0184] Clause 36. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more sidelink messages from the second wireless node including assistance data.

[0183]

[0185] Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more messages from the first wireless node including the assistance data.

[0184]

[0186] Clause 38. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the assistance data includes an estimated propagation time based on a distance between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and the at least one processor is further configured to determine a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the estimated propagation time.

[0185]

[0187] Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a location based at least in part on the time difference of arrival value.

[0186]

[0188] Clause 40. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a first reference signal at a first time, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; transmit a second reference signal at a second time using a second wireless access link; determine a transmission delay time value based on the first time and the second time; and transmit an indication of the transmission delay time value.

[0187]

[0189] Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the first wireless node is a base station and the first reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal.

[0188]

[0190] Clause 42. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the second reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0189]

[0191] Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0190]

[0192] Clause 44. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the second reference signal is an uplink sounding reference signal.

[0191]

[0193] Clause 45. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0192]

[0194] Clause 46. The apparatus of clause 45, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5th generation new radio.

[0193]

[0195] Clause 47. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit one or more sidelink messages to nearby user equipment, the sidelink messages including a transmission delay time value.

[0194]

[0196] Clause 48. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit one or more uplink messages including the transmission delay time value to the base station.

[0195]

[0197] Clause 49. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor comprising: a first processor configured to receive a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; a second processor configured to receive a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node; and a third processor configured to receive a third reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node. 12. An apparatus configured to receive assistance data including a transmission delay value based on a time at which a second wireless node transmits a second reference signal, where a third reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a second radio access link; determine a sidelink delay value based on a time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and a time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal; and determine a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time, the transmission delay value and the sidelink delay value.

[0196]

[0198] Clause 50. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal.

[0197]

[0199] Clause 51. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the second wireless node is a user equipment and the second reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal.

[0198]

[0200] Clause 52. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the third reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

[0199]

[0201] Clause 53. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the first wireless access link utilizes a cellular wide area network technology and the second wireless access link is based on a sidelink protocol.

[0200]

[0202] Clause 54. The apparatus of clause 53, wherein the cellular wide area network technology includes 5th generation wireless.

[0201]

[0203] Clause 55. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more sidelink messages from the second wireless node including the assistance data.

[0202]

[0204] Clause 56. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more messages from the network server including the assistance data.

[0203]

[0205] Clause 57. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more messages from the first wireless node to determine the sidelink delay time value.

[0204]

[0206] Clause 58. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more messages from a network server to determine the sidelink delay time value.

[0205]

[0207] Clause 59. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a range to a second wireless node.

[0206]

[0208] Clause 60. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a location of the first wireless node based at least in part on the time difference of arrival value.

[0207]

[0209] Clause 61. An apparatus for determining a time difference of arrival value, comprising: means for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; means for receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node using the second radio access link; means for receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node; and means for determining a time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay time value.

[0208]

[0210] Clause 62. An apparatus for providing sidelink assistance data, comprising: means for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; means for transmitting a second reference signal at a second time using a second wireless access link, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; means for determining a transmission delay value based on the first time and the second time; and means for transmitting an indication of the transmission delay value.

[0209]

[0211] Clause 63. An apparatus for determining a time difference of arrival value, comprising: means for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; means for receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node, means for receiving assistance data including a transmission delay value based on a time at which the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and a time at which the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal, where the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using the second radio access link, means for determining a sidelink delay value based on a time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and a time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal, and means for determining the time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time, the second time, the transmission delay value and the sidelink delay value.

[0210]

[0212] Clause 64. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a time difference of arrival value, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; code for receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from the second wireless node using the second wireless access link; code for receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based at least on a time at which the first reference signal is received by the second wireless node and a time at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second wireless node; and code for determining the time difference of arrival value based at least in part on the first time and the second time and the transmission delay time value.

[0211]

[0213] Clause 65. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to provide sidelink assistance data, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; code for transmitting a second reference signal at a second time using a second wireless access link, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first wireless access link; code for determining a transmission delay time value based on the first time and the second time; and code for transmitting an indication of the transmission delay time value.

[0212]

[0214] Clause 66. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a time difference of arrival value, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving a first reference signal at a first time, where the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; code for receiving a second reference signal at a second time, where the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node; code for receiving a third reference signal at a time when the second wireless node receives the third reference signal; 11. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising: code for receiving assistance data including a transmission delay value based on a time of transmitting a quasi-signal, wherein a third reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a second radio access link; code for determining a sidelink delay value based on a time at which the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and a time at which the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal; and code for determining a time difference of arrival based at least in part on the first time and the second time, the transmission delay value and the sidelink delay value.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment, comprising: receiving a first reference signal at a first time, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; transmitting a second reference signal to a base station at a second time using a second radio access link; determining a transmission delay time value based on the first time and the second time; transmitting an indication of the transmission delay time value; A method comprising the above steps.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is a sidelink reference signal.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second reference signal is an uplink sounding reference signal.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first radio access link utilizes cellular wide area network technology, the second radio access link is based on a sidelink protocol, and optionally, the cellular wide area network technology includes 5G New Radio.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein transmitting the indication of the transmission delay time value includes transmitting one or more uplink messages including the transmission delay time value to the base station.

6. A method for determining a time difference of arrival value performed by a transmit / receive point, comprising: receiving a first reference signal at a first time, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; receiving a second reference signal at a second time, wherein the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node; Receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based on the time when the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and the time when the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal, wherein the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using a second wireless access link; Determining a sidelink delay time value based on the time when the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and the time when the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal; Determining the arrival time difference value based at least in part on the first time, the second time, the transmission delay time value, and the sidelink delay time value; A method comprising: **Claim 7** The method according to claim 6, wherein the first wireless node is a user equipment and the first reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal, and / or the second wireless node is a user equipment and the second reference signal is an uplink positioning reference signal. **Claim 8** The method according to claim 6, wherein the third reference signal is a sidelink reference signal. **Claim 9** Receiving the assistance data includes receiving one or more sidelink messages including the assistance data from the second wireless node, or receiving one or more messages including the assistance data from a network server. The method according to claim 6. **Claim 10** Determining the sidelink delay time value includes receiving one or more messages from the first wireless node, or receiving one or more messages from a network server. The method according to claim 6. **Claim 11** The method according to claim 6, further comprising determining a range to the second wireless node or determining a location of the first wireless node based at least in part on the arrival time difference value.

12. A memory, At least one transceiver, At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver A user equipment (UE) comprising, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: Receive a first reference signal at a first time, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; Transmit a second reference signal to a base station at a second time using a second radio access link; Determine a transmission delay time value based on the first time and the second time; Transmit an indication of the transmission delay time value A UE configured to perform the above.

13. The UE according to claim 12, further configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.

14. A memory, At least one transceiver, At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver A transmit / receive point (TRP) comprising, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: Receive a first reference signal at a first time, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted from a first wireless node using a first radio access link; Receive a second reference signal at a second time, wherein the second reference signal is transmitted from a second wireless node; Receiving assistance data including a transmission delay time value based on the time when the second wireless node receives a third reference signal and the time when the second wireless node transmits the second reference signal, wherein the third reference signal is transmitted from the first wireless node using a second wireless access link; Determining a sidelink delay time value based on the time when the first wireless node transmits the first reference signal and the time when the first wireless node transmits the third reference signal; Determining an arrival time difference value based at least in part on the first time, the second time, the transmission delay time value, and the sidelink delay time value; A TRP configured to perform the above.

15. The TRP according to claim 14, further configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11.

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