Multiple downlink positioning techniques capability

Abstract

To provide an apparatus and method for configuring positioning signals based on frequency bands and corresponding positioning methods that user equipment (UE) supports.SOLUTION: UE includes: an interface that functions as a transceiver to receive positioning signals; a memory; and a processor, communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor: sends, via the interface to a network entity, a capability indication that includes a first positioning-method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods; and simultaneously processes one or more first positioning signals in accordance with the first combination of positioning methods to determine first position information for the UE.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Techniques for reporting one or more supported positioning method combinations and corresponding frequency bands, or processing capabilities corresponding to combinations of frequency bands.

Background Art

[0002]

[0001] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless services, fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE (registered trademark)) or WiMax (registered trademark)), fifth-generation (5G) services, and the like. 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 the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and variants of TDMA for mobile access such as the Global System for Mobile (GSM (registered trademark)).

[0003]

[0002] The 5th generation (5G) mobile standard requires, among other improvements, higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard by the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and one gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communication should be significantly extended compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be extended and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004]

[0003] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver configured to receive a positioning signal, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor sending, via the transceiver to a network entity, a capability indication including a first positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods, and simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first position information for the UE.

[0005]

[0004] Such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first band indication indicating a first frequency band to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band to which the second positioning method indication is applicable, where the processor is configured to simultaneously process one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second position information for the UE. The processor is configured to report to the network entity that the second position information for the UE includes one or more measurement values corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

[0006]

[0005] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capability corresponding to a first combination of positioning methods. The capability indication includes a first position processing capability indication corresponding to a first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods, and a second position processing capability indication corresponding to a second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication includes a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method configured such that the processor implements it without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. The first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

[0007]

[0006] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first combination of bands indication indicating a combination of first carrier aggregation frequency bands to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second combination of bands indication indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to the combined first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's first position processing capabilities corresponding to the first positioning method and the UE's second position processing capabilities corresponding to the second positioning method.

[0008]

[0007] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The first combination of positioning methods includes at least two of downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and multiple round-trip time (multi-RTT). The first combination of positioning methods includes AoD and DL-TDOA, the capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and the second combination of positioning methods includes multi-RTT and AoD. The processor is configured to report to the network entity that the first position information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

[0009]

[0008] In one embodiment, the method for determining location information includes sending, from a user equipment (UE) to a network entity, a capability indication including a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods, and simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first location information for the UE.

[0010]

[0009] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first band indication indicating a first frequency band to which the first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. The method includes simultaneously processing one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second location information for the UE, and reporting to the network entity that the second location information for the UE includes one or more measurement values corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

[0011]

[0010] Similarly, or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication indicates the UE's location processing capability corresponding to the first combination of positioning methods. The capability indication includes a first location processing capability indication corresponding to the first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods, and a second location processing capability indication corresponding to the second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication includes a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method configured such that the UE implements it without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. The first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

[0012]

[0011] Similarly, or alternatively, an implementation form of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first combination of bands indication indicating a combination of first carrier aggregation frequency bands to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second combination of bands indication indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to the combined first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's first position processing capabilities corresponding to the first positioning method and the UE's second position processing capabilities corresponding to the second positioning method.

[0013]

[0012] Similarly, or alternatively, an implementation form of such a method may include one or more of the following features. The first combination of positioning methods includes at least two of downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and multiple round-trip times (multi-RTT). The first combination of positioning methods includes AoD and DL-TDOA, the capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and the second combination of positioning methods includes multi-RTT and AoD. The method includes reporting to a network entity that the first position information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods. The network entity is a location server.

[0014]

[0013] In one embodiment, the UE includes a capability means for sending to a network entity a capability indication including a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods, and a positioning means for simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first position information for the UE.

[0015]

[0014] Such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first band indication indicating a first frequency band to which the first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band to which the second positioning method indication is applicable, where the positioning means includes means for simultaneously processing one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second position information for the UE. The UE includes means for reporting to the network entity that the second position information for the UE includes one or more measurement values corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

[0016]

[0015] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capability corresponding to the first combination of positioning methods. The capability indication includes a first position processing capability indication corresponding to the first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods, and a second position processing capability indication corresponding to the second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication includes a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method configured such that the UE implements it without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. The first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

[0017]

[0016] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first combination of bands indication indicating a combination of first carrier aggregation frequency bands to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second combination of bands indication indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to the combined first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's first position processing capabilities corresponding to the first positioning method and the UE's second position processing capabilities corresponding to the second positioning method.

[0018]

[0017] Similarly, or alternatively, such an implementation form of the UE may include one or more of the following features. The first combination of positioning methods includes at least two of downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and multiple round-trip times (multi-RTT). The first combination of positioning methods includes AoD and DL-TDOA, the capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and the second combination of positioning methods includes multi-RTT and AoD. The UE includes means for reporting to the network entity that the first position information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

[0019]

[0018] In one embodiment, the non - transitory, processor - readable storage medium causes the UE's processor to send a capability indication including a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods to a network entity, and to simultaneously process one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first position information for the UE, and includes processor - readable instructions for doing so.

[0020]

[0019] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first band indication indicating a first frequency band to which the first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band to which the second positioning method indication is applicable, where the instructions include instructions for causing the processor to simultaneously process one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second position information for the UE. The instructions include instructions for causing the processor to cause the network entity to report that the second position information for the UE includes one or more measurements corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

[0021]

[0020] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capability corresponding to the first combination of positioning methods. The capability indication includes a first position processing capability indication corresponding to the first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods and a second position processing capability indication corresponding to the second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication includes a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method configured such that the UE implements it without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. The first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

[0022]

[0021] Similarly, or alternatively, an implementation form of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features. The capability indication includes a first combination of bands indication indicating a combination of first carrier aggregation frequency bands to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. The capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second combination of bands indication indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's position processing capabilities corresponding to the combined first positioning method and second positioning method. The first combination of positioning methods includes a first positioning method and a second positioning method, and the capability indication indicates the UE's first position processing capabilities corresponding to the first positioning method and the UE's second position processing capabilities corresponding to the second positioning method.

[0023]

[0022] Similarly, or alternatively, an implementation form of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features. The first combination of positioning methods includes at least two of downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and multiple round-trip times (multi-RTT). The first combination of positioning methods includes AoD and DL-TDOA, and the capability indication includes a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and the second combination of positioning methods includes multi-RTT and AoD. The instructions include instructions for causing the processor to cause the network entity to report that the first position information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024]

Figure 1

[0023] Schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system.

Figure 2

Figure 3

[0025] Block diagram of the components of an exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 4

[0026] Block diagram of the components of an exemplary server shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 5

[0027] Block diagram of an exemplary user equipment.

Figure 6

[0028] Signaling and process flow for reporting positioning capabilities, determining, and reporting location information.

Figure 7

[0029] Schematic diagram of the content of a support message indicating supported positioning methods and corresponding frequency bands and processing capabilities.

Figure 8

[0030] Schematic diagram of the content of a support message indicating combinations of supported positioning methods and corresponding frequency bands and processing capabilities.

Figure 9

[0031] Block flow diagram of a method for determining location information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025]

[0032] This specification describes techniques for reporting one or more supported positioning method combinations and corresponding frequency bands, or a combination of frequency bands and corresponding processing capabilities. A user equipment (UE) can provide information regarding the frequency bands supported by the UE that support simultaneous processing, i.e., combinations of positioning methods that can be implemented simultaneously, and the corresponding positioning methods. The UE can also, alternatively or in addition, provide information regarding the combinations of frequency bands supported by the UE that support simultaneous processing, i.e., combinations of positioning methods that can be implemented simultaneously, and the corresponding positioning methods. The UE can also provide an indication of the UE's processing capabilities for positioning methods when a frequency band or combination of frequency bands is in use. The UE may be able to provide different capabilities for methods based on the band or combination of bands. A server may be able to use the information provided by the UE to select (and in some cases, change) the positioning signal configuration to increase the UE's positioning processing capabilities. A combination of frequency bands may be requested (e.g., by the UE or the server) to help increase the UE's positioning processing capabilities. However, other configurations may be used.

[0026]

[0033] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not recited. The utilization of the positioning processing capabilities of the user equipment may be improved. The power used for the UE's positioning can be used more efficiently, for example, by reducing the wasted energy that gives the UE positioning signals that the UE would not process at least fully. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure need provide any, let alone all, of the recited capabilities.

[0027]

[0034] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, such as, for example, emergency reporting, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, identifying the location of a friend or family member. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring wireless signals transmitted from various devices, including satellite vehicles (SVs), and terrestrial wireless sources in wireless networks such as base stations and access points. The standardization of 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods, which can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a similar manner as LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for location determination.

[0028]

[0035] The description may refer to a series of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be implemented by a specific circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. The series of actions described herein may be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause the associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be implemented in several different forms, all of which are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0029]

[0036] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. Generally, such a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). The UE can be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variants thereof. Generally, the UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can be connected to an external network such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi (registered trademark) network (e.g., based on IEEE802.11, etc.).

[0030]

[0037] The base station can operate according to one of several RATs that it is communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and can alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a general Node B (g Node B, gNB), etc. Further, in some systems, the base station can provide purely an edge node signaling function, and in other systems, it can provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0031]

[0038] The UE can be implemented by any of several types of devices, including but not limited to printed circuit (PC) cards, compact flash (registered trademark) devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wireline phones, smartphones, tablets, consumer asset tracking devices, asset tags, etc. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN can send signals to the UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term traffic channel (TCH) as used herein can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0032]

[0039] The terms "cell" or "sector" as used herein can, depending on the context, correspond to one of a plurality of cells of a base station or to the base station itself. The term "cell" can refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., on a carrier), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing neighboring cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier can support multiple cells, and different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that provide access to different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" can refer to a part of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) over which the logical entity operates.

[0033]

[0040] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) 135, a fifth generation (5G) next generation RAN (NG) (NG-RAN), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 can be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle, or other devices. The 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). The standardization of the NG-RAN and the 5GC is in progress in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)). Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from the 3GPP. The RAN 135 can be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G long term evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 can be configured and coupled in the same manner as the UE 105 to transmit and / or receive signals with other similar entities in the system 100, but such signaling is not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of the figure. Similarly, the description focuses on the UE 105 for simplicity. The communication system 100 can utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SV) 190, 191, 192, 193 for some other regional or local satellite positioning systems (SPS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the 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.

[0034]

[0041] As shown in FIG. 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR Node B (gNB) 110a, 110b and Next Generation eNode B (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, Session Management Function (SMF) 117, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, and are each configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and are each communicatively coupled to and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as a base station (BS). 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 contact of a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. The BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate using short-range technologies such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Bluetooth-low energy (BLE), Zigbee (registered trademark), etc.). One or more of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may provide communication coverage for its respective geographic area, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be divided into a plurality of sectors as the function of the base station antenna.

[0035]

[0042] 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 replicated or omitted as necessary. Specifically, only one UE 105 is shown, but many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in communication system 100. Similarly, communication system 100 may include a greater number (or a smaller number) of SVs (i.e., more or fewer 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 that connect the various components in communication system 100 include data and signaling connections that may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Further, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted as desired for the desired functionality.

[0036]

[0043] FIG. 1 shows a 5G-based network, but similar network implementation forms and configurations can be used for other communication technologies such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementation forms described in this specification (whether they are for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) can be used to transmit (or broadcast) a directional synchronization signal, receive and measure a directional signal at a UE (e.g., UE105), and / or provide location assistance to UE105 (via GMLC125 or other location servers), and / or calculate the location for UE105 at a location-corresponding device such as UE105, gNB110a, 110b, or LMF120 based on the measurement quantity received at UE105 for such a directionally transmitted signal. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, the Location Management Function (LMF) 120, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, the SMF117, the ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and the gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and in various embodiments can be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions respectively.

[0037]

[0044] The components of system 100 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (using at least sometimes a wireless connection) via, for example, BS110a, 110b, 114 and / or network 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). In indirect communication, the communication can be changed during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change the header information of a data packet, change the format, etc. UE105 can include a plurality of UEs and can be a mobile wireless communication device, but can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. UE105 can be any of a variety of devices, such as, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but UE105 does not have to be any of these configurations, so these are only examples and other configurations of UEs can be used. Other UEs can include wearable devices (such as, for example, a smartwatch, smart jewelry, smart glasses or a headset, etc.). Other UEs can be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. Further, other wireless devices (regardless of whether mobile) can be implemented within system 100 and can communicate with each other and / or with UE105, BS110a, 110b, 114, core network 140, and / or external client 130. For example, such other devices can include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. Core network 140 can communicate with external client 130 (such as, for example, a computer system) to enable external client 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding UE105 (for example, via GMLC125).

[0038]

[0045] UE105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks, and / or for various purposes, and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, WiFi communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi (registered trademark) communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobiles), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), e.g., V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE802.11p, etc.)). The V2X communication can be Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication)). The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may transmit signals modulated simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal can be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signal, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal can be sent on a different carrier and can carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 can communicate with each other through sidelink (SL) communication between UEs by transmitting through one or more sidelink channels such as the Physical Sidelink Synchronization Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), or the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH).

[0039]

[0046] UE105 may comprise a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), secure user plane location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), and / or may be referred to as such, or may be called by some other name. Further, UE105 may correspond to a cell phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, PDA, consumer asset tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, asset tracker, health monitor, security system, smart city sensor, smart meter, wearable tracker, or some other portable or mobile device. Generally, but not necessarily, UE105 may support wireless communication using one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA (registered trademark)), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE802.11 WiFi (also called Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX (registered trademark)), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN135 and 5GC140). UE105 may support wireless communication using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable UE105 to communicate with an external client 130 (e.g., via elements of 5GC140 not shown in FIG. 1 or, in some cases, via GMLC125), and / or may enable the external client 130 to receive location information regarding UE105 (e.g., via GMLC125).

[0040]

[0047] UE105 may include a single entity or may include 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 / or separate wireline or wireless modems. An estimated value of the location of UE105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate or position fix, which may be geographical and thus may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., altitude above sea level, ground level or ground depth, floor level or storey level) and may provide the location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE105. Alternatively, the location of UE105 may be represented as an urban location (e.g., as a postal address or as a designation of some point or small area within a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of UE105 may be represented as an area or volume within which UE105 is expected to be located (defined either geographically or in urban form) with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of UE105 may be represented as a relative location, for example, with distance and direction from a known location. The relative location may be defined, for example, in terms of relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined with respect to some origin at a known location that may be defined by reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or building plan, either geographically or with respect to an urban area. In the descriptions contained herein, the use of the term location may encompass any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the values of the local x, y, and optionally z coordinates and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0041]

[0048] UE105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of various techniques. UE105 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 using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as Long-Term Evolution Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark) (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of the groups of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of one or more transmit / receive points (TRPs), such as one or more of gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside of such geographic coverage area or may otherwise not 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 where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of the TRP. One or more of the groups of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of the TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside of such geographic coverage area or may otherwise not 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 where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of the TRP.

[0042]

[0049] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR node Bs called gNBs 110a and 110b. Pairs of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 can 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 can provide wireless communication access to the 5GC 140 for the UE 105 that uses 5G. In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the serving gNB for the UE 105 is the gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) can serve as the serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location, or can serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0043]

[0050] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include an ng-eNB 114, also called a next-generation evolved node B. The ng-eNB 114 can be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 via, in some cases, one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 can 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 can transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, and can be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs.

[0044]

[0051] BS110a, 110b, and 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include a TRP, and multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). System 100 may include only macro TRPs, or 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 geographical area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and enable unrestricted access by terminals subscribed to the service. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a pico cell) and enable unrestricted access by terminals subscribed to the service. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a femto cell) and enable restricted access by terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0045]

[0052] As described above, FIG. 1 shows nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as an LTE protocol or an IEEE802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE105, the RAN may include an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) that includes a base station with an evolved Node B (eNB). The core network for EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). EPS may include E-UTRAN + EPC, where E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN135 in FIG. 1 and EPC corresponds to 5GC140.

[0046]

[0053] gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 can communicate with AMF 115, which in turn communicates with LMF 120 for positioning functions. AMF 115 can support the mobility of UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting the signaling connection to UE 105, and in some cases, the data and voice bearers for UE 105. LMF 120 can communicate directly with UE 105, for example, through wireless communication, or directly with BSs 110a, 110b, 114. LMF 120 can support the positioning of UE 105 when UE 105 accesses NG-RAN 135, and can support positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., Downlink (DL) OTDOA or Uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, 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 positioning methods. LMF 120 can process location service requests for UE 105 received, for example, from AMF 115 or GMLC 125. LMF 120 can be connected to AMF 115 and / or GMLC 125. LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value-Added LMF (VLMF). The node / system implementing LMF 120 may 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), as an addition or alternative. At least part of the positioning function (including the derivation of the location of UE 105) can be implemented at UE 105 (using, for example, signal measurements obtained by UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 and / or assistance data provided to UE 105 by, for example, LMF 120).The AMF 115 can act as a control node that processes signaling between the UE 105 and the core network 140 and can provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF 115 can support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover, and can participate in supporting the signaling of the connection to the UE 105.

[0047]

[0054] The GMLC 125 can support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and can forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or can forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. The location response from the LMF 120 (for example, including a location estimate for the UE 105) can be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 can then return the location response (for example, including a location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120 is shown, in some implementations, only one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0048]

[0055] As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 can communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa) that can be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa can 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 LMF 120 and the gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and / or between the LMF 120 and the ng-eNB 114 via the AMF 115. As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 can communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) that can be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 can also or alternatively communicate using the New Radio Positioning Protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP) that can be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, the LPP messages and / or NPP messages can be transferred between the LMF 120 and the UE 105 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNBs 110a, 110b or the serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP messages and / or NPP messages can be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using the 5G Location Service Application Protocol (LCS AP) and can be transferred between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using the 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP protocol and / or NPP protocol can be used to support the positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol can be used to support the positioning of UE 105 using a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (when used together with measurements obtained, for example, by gNB 110a, 110b or ng-eNB 114), and / or can be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information such as parameters that define the directional SS transmission from gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 can be located at the same location as or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or can be disposed away from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0049]

[0056] In the UE-assisted positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements can include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or a WLAN AP. The location measurements can also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for SVs 190-193.

[0050]

[0057] In the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain location measurements (which can be the same as or similar to the location measurements for the UE-assisted positioning method, for example), and can calculate the location of the UE 105 (with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as LMF 120, or broadcast by gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, or other base stations or APs).

[0051]

[0058] In a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurement values (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or arrival time (ToA) measurements for signals transmitted by UE 105), and / or may receive measurement values obtained by UE 105. One or more base stations or APs may send the measurement values to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0052]

[0059] Information provided by gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 to LMF 120 using NRPPa may include directional SS transmission and timing and configuration information for location coordinates. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP messages and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.

[0053]

[0060] The LPP message or NPP message sent from the LMF120 to the UE105 may instruct the UE105 to perform any of various actions according to the desired function. For example, the LPP message or NPP message may include an instruction for the UE105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP message or NPP message may instruct the UE105 to obtain one or more measurements of a directional signal transmitted within a specific 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 a WiFi AP) (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements). The UE105 may send back the measurement quantities to the LMF120 in the LPP message or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF115.

[0054]

[0061] As described, the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, but the communication system 100 can be implemented to support other communication technologies such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., which are used to support and interact with mobile devices such as UE105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 can be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 can 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 can support IEEE802.11 WiFi access for the UE105 and can include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF can 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 can be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in EPS, the NG-RAN 135 can be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 can 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 similar to the GMLC 125. In such EPS, the E-SMLC can use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send location information to the eNBs in the E-UTRAN and receive location information from those eNBs, and can use LPP to support positioning of the UE105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE105 using directional PRS can be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for the 5G network, but the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 can, in some cases, be applied instead to other network elements such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0055]

[0062] As described above, in some embodiments, the positioning function may be implemented using at least in part a directional SS beam sent by a base station (such as gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114) within the range of a UE (such as UE105 in FIG. 1) whose position is to be determined. The UE may, in some examples, use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114, etc.) to calculate the position of the UE.

[0056]

[0063] Referring also to FIG. 2, UE200 is an example of one of UE105 and 106, and includes a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensors 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 can be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (for example, which can be configured for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (such as one or more of the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or the sensors 213) can be omitted from the UE200. The processor 210 can include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 can include a plurality of processors, including a general-purpose / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230 to 234 can include a plurality of devices (such as a plurality of processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 can include processors for, for example, radar, ultrasonic, and / or lidar, etc. The modem processor 232 can support dual SIM / dual connection (or even more SIMs). For example, one SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module) can be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of a partner brand, and another SIM can be used by an end user of the UE200 for connection.Memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM). Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable processor-executable software code that, when executed, includes instructions configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured to cause processor 210 to perform functions when, for example, compiled and executed. This description may refer only to processor 210 performing functions, which includes other implementations such as when processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to processor 210 performing functions as an abbreviation for one or more of processors 230 - 234 that perform functions. The description may refer to UE 200 performing functions as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 that perform functions. Processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of memory 211. The functions of processor 210 are discussed more fully below.

[0057]

[0064] The configuration of UE 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and does not limit the present invention, 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 sensors 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0058]

[0065] UE200 may include a modem processor 232 that can perform baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by transceiver 215 and / or SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 can perform baseband processing of signals to be up-converted for transmission by transceiver 215. Similarly, or alternatively, the baseband processing can be performed by processor 230 and / or DSP 231. However, other configurations can be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0059]

[0066] UE200 may include a sensor 213 that includes one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. The inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., that respond as a whole to the acceleration of UE200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., a three-dimensional gyroscope). The sensor 213 may include, for example, one or more magnetometers (e.g., a three-dimensional magnetometer) for determining an orientation for any of various purposes (e.g., with respect to magnetic north and / or true north) to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensors may include, 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. The sensor 213 can generate analog and / or digital signals that are processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230, whose instructions are stored in memory 211, to support one or more applications, such as an application targeted at positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0060]

[0067] Sensor 213 can be used in relative position measurement, relative positioning, motion determination, etc. The information detected by sensor 213 can be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based positioning, and / or sensor-assisted positioning. Sensor 213 can be useful for determining whether UE200 is fixed (stationary) or moving, and / or whether to report any useful information regarding the mobility of UE200 to LMF120. For example, based on the information acquired / measured by the sensor, UE200 can notify / report to LMF120 that UE200 has detected motion or UE200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based positioning, or sensor-assisted positioning enabled by sensor 213). In another example, sensors / IMUs can be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices with respect to UE200 for relative positioning information.

[0061]

[0068] The IMU can be configured to provide measurements regarding the direction and / or speed of movement of UE200 that can be used in relative positioning. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU can respectively detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of UE200. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational speed of UE200 can be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of movement as well as the displacement of UE200. To track the position of UE200, the instantaneous direction of movement and displacement can be integrated. For example, the reference position of UE200 can be determined using the SPS receiver 217 at a certain moment (and / or by some other means), and the measurements from the accelerometer and gyroscope obtained after this moment can be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of UE200 based on the relative movement (direction and distance) of UE200 with respect to the reference position.

[0062]

[0069] The magnetometer can determine the strength of the magnetic field in different directions, which can be used to determine the orientation of the UE200. For example, the orientation can be used to provide a digital compass for the UE200. The magnetometer can be a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in two orthogonal dimensions. Alternatively, the magnetometer can be a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer can provide means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field to, for example, the processor 210.

[0063]

[0070] Transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250, each configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 transmits a wireless signal 248 (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receives (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels), and includes a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for converting signals from the wireless signal 248 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal and from a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with a TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), 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. New Radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 250 may include, for example, a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication with network 135.The wired transmitter 252 may include a plurality of transmitters that can be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include a plurality of receivers that can be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical connection and / or an electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0064]

[0071] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration 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 enable 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 actions from the user. Similarly, an application hosted by 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, for example, an audio input / output (I / O) device comprising a speaker, a microphone, a digital-to-analog circuit, an analog-to-digital circuit, an amplifier, and / or a gain control circuit (including two or more of any of these devices). Other configurations of the audio I / O device may be used. Also, or alternatively, the user interface 216 may comprise one or more touch sensors responsive to touch and / or pressure, for example, on the keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0065]

[0072] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring an SPS signal 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the wireless signal 260 into a wired signal, such as an electrical signal or an optical signal, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to wholly or partially process the collected SPS signal 260 for estimating the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signal 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 wholly or partially process the acquired SPS signal and / or to calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurement results) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing the positioning operation. The general-purpose processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location determination engine for processing the measurement results for estimating the position of the UE 200.

[0066]

[0073] UE200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still images or videos. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or a CMOS imager), a lens, analog-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of the signal representing the captured image 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 the signal representing the captured image. The video processor 233 may decode / restore the stored image data, for example, for presentation on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 216.

[0067]

[0074] The positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative location of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may communicate with the SPS receiver 217 and / or include some or all of it. The PD 219 may operate in cooperation with the processor 210 and the memory 211 as appropriate to implement at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may only refer to the PD 219 being configured to implement according to a positioning method or only implementing according to a positioning method. Similarly, or alternatively, the PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the signals 248) for trilateration, assist in the acquisition and use of the SPS signal 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the self-reported location of the UE (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)) to determine the location of the UE 200 and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and ground positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, etc.) that can sense the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200 and provide an indication thereof, and the processor 210 (e.g., the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement of the UE 200 (e.g., the velocity vector and / or the acceleration vector). The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and / or error of the determined location and / or movement. The functions of the PD 219 may be provided in various ways and / or configurations by, for example, the general-purpose / application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 262, and / or other components of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0068]

[0075] Referring also to FIG. 3, an example of the TRP300 of BS110a, 110b, 114 includes a computing platform comprising a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured for, e.g., optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., wireless interface) may be omitted from the TRP300. 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), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including the general purpose / application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and / or sensor processor shown in FIG. 2). The memory 311 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 311 stores software 312, which, when executed, may be processor-readable processor-executable software code including instructions 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 to cause the processor 310 to perform functions when compiled and executed. This description may refer only to the processor 310 performing the functions, which includes other implementations such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 310 performing the functions as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 performing the functions. The description may refer to the TRP300 performing the functions as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the TRP300 performing the functions (and thus of one of BS110a, 110b, 114).In addition to, and / or instead of, memory 311, processor 310 may include memory with stored instructions. The functionality of processor 310 is more fully discussed below.

[0069]

[0076] Transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connection and wired connection respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may transmit a wireless signal 348 (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels), and / or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels), and include a transmitter 342 and a receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for converting signals from the wireless signal 348 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal and from a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 348. Thus, the transmitter 342 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 344 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with UE200, with one or more other UEs, and / or with one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), 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. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for a wired communication, e.g., for a network interface, that may be utilized to communicate with the network 135 to send and then receive communications to / from the LMF120 and / or one or more other network entities.The transmitter 352 may include a plurality of transmitters that can be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 354 may include a plurality of receivers that can be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0070]

[0077] The configuration of the TRP 300 shown in FIG. 3 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and does not limit the present invention, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 is configured to perform or perform some 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).

[0071]

[0078] Referring also to FIG. 4, a server 400, which is an example of the LMF120, 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 can be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which can be configured for, for example, optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless interface) can be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 can include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 can comprise a plurality of processors (e.g., including the general-purpose / application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and / or sensor processor shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that can include, for example, random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM). The memory 411 stores software 412, which, when executed, can be processor-readable processor-executable software code including instructions 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 can be configured to cause the processor 410 to perform functions when compiled and executed. This description may refer only to the processor 410 performing the functions, which includes other implementations such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing the functions as a shorthand for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 performing the functions. The description may refer to the server 400 performing the functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing the functions. The processor 410 can include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411.The functions of the processor 410 are more fully discussed below.

[0072]

[0079] Transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450, each configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may transmit a wireless signal 448 (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more uplink channels), and include a transmitter 442 and a receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for converting the wireless signal 448 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal and from a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 448. Thus, the transmitter 442 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 444 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with UE200, with one or more other UEs, and / or with one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), 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. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for a wired communication, e.g., for a network interface, that may be utilized to communicate with the network 135 to send and receive communications to / from the TRP300 and / or one or more other network entities.The transmitter 452 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 454 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0073]

[0080] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and does not limit the present invention, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also, or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform or perform some 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).

[0074]

[0081] Positioning techniques

[0082] In the case of terrestrial positioning of a UE in a cellular network, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) often operate in a "UE-assisted" mode where measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are made by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the position of the UE based on the measurements and the known locations of the base stations. Since these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the position of the UE, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car navigation or smartphone navigation, and instead, they generally rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0075]

[0083] The UE may use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) for high-precision positioning using precise point positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) technology. These technologies use assistance data such as measurements from a ground station. LTE Release 15 enables data to be encrypted so that only UEs subscribed to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. Therefore, a subscribed UE cannot easily "decrypt the encryption" for other UEs by passing on the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. Passing on would need to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0076]

[0084] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a base station almanac (BSA) that contains multiple "entries" or "records" in one record per cell, where each record contains a geographical cell location but may also contain other data. Identifiers of "records" among the multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE can be used to calculate the position of the UE.

[0077]

[0085] In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position and thus avoids sending measurement values to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (more generally, the base station)). The BSA information can be encrypted. However, since the BSA information changes at a much lower frequency than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it may be easier to make the BSA information available to UEs that are not subscribed and have not paid for the decryption key (compared to PPP or RTK information). The transmission of reference signals by the gNB potentially makes the BSA information accessible to cloud sourcing or wardriving and enables the generation of BSA information based essentially on on-site and / or over-the-top observations.

[0078]

[0086] Positioning techniques can be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria such as positioning accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of location-related data and the availability of that data at the positioning system interface, e.g., the interface of the LMF120. At the initialization of the positioning system, the latency for the availability of location-related data is called time to first fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after TTFF. The reciprocal of the time elapsed between the availability of two consecutive location-related data is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which location-related data is generated after the first fix. Latency can depend, for example, on the processing capabilities of the UE. For example, the UE can report its processing capabilities as the duration of the DL PRS symbol in time units (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process every T time amount (e.g., Tms) in the case of 272 PRB (physical resource block) allocations. Other examples of capabilities that can affect latency are the number of TRPs the UE can process PRS, the number of PRSs the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0079]

[0087] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of UEs 105, 106. For example, known positioning techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification information (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between two entities. This distance, along with the known position of the first of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth angle) between the two entities, can be used to determine the position of the second of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known positions of the other entities can be used to determine the position of that one entity. In the TDOA technique, the difference in the travel time between one entity and another can be used to determine the relative distance from the other entity, and those relative distances, combined with the known positions of the other entities, can be used to determine the position of that one entity. Angle of arrival and / or angle of departure may be used to assist in determining the position of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal can be used, in combination with the distance between devices (determined using the signal, e.g., signal travel time, signal received power, etc.) and the known position of one of the devices, to determine the position of the other device. The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be the relative azimuth angle with respect to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be the relative zenith angle with respect to directly above the entity (i.e., relative to the direction radially outward from the center of the earth).E-CID uses the identification information of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the reception time and the transmission time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighboring cell signals, and optionally the angle of arrival (e.g., of the signal at the UE from the base station or vice versa) to determine the position of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the arrival times of signals from different sources at the receiving device is used, along with the known position of the source and the known offset of the transmission time from the source, to determine the position of the receiving device.

[0080]

[0088] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and generally at least three base stations are required, so the serving base station). One or more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low-reuse resources (e.g., the resources used by the base station to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as LMF120). The UE records the arrival time (also called receive time, reception time, time of reception, or ToA) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE from the DL signal received from its serving base station), and transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station), and in the payload of each RTT response message, the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx) may be included. The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response therefrom. The difference T between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station Tx→Rx is the time difference T reported by the UE Rx→Tx By comparing with, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, and the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time.

[0081]

[0089] UE-centered RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that (when instructed by, for example, the serving base station) the UE transmits uplink RTT measurement signals received by a plurality of base stations in the vicinity of the UE. Each participating base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station in the RTT response message payload.

[0082]

[0090] In both the network-centered and UE-centered procedures, the side performing the RTT calculation (the network or the UE), although not always, generally transmits the first message or signal (e.g., the RTT measurement signal), and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals that may include the difference between the ToA of the first message or signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message or signal.

[0083]

[0091] The multi-RTT technique can be used to determine a location. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may transmit one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., other TSPs such as base stations and / or UEs) may receive the signal from the first entity and respond to this received signal. The first entity receives responses from the multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine the distance to the second entities, and may use the multiple distances and the known locations of the second entities to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0084]

[0092] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a direction (which may be in a horizontal plane or in three dimensions), or in some cases a range of directions (e.g., for a UE from the location of a base station). The intersection of two directions can provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0085]

[0093] In positioning techniques that use PRS (Positioning Reference Signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), to determine the distance from the UE to the TRP, the PRS signals transmitted by multiple TRPs are measured, and the signal arrival time, the known transmission time, and the known positions of the TRPs are used. For example, RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference) is determined for the PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and can be used in the TDOA technique to determine the location (position) of the UE. The positioning reference signal may be referred to as PRS or a PRS signal. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other. As a result, the PRS signal from a more distant TRP may be buried by the PRS signal from a closer TRP, and as a result, the signal from a more distant TRP may not be detected. PRS muting can be used to help reduce interference by muting some of the PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal to, for example, 0, and thus not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, the weaker PRS signals (at the UE) can be more easily detected by the UE without interference from the weaker and stronger PRS signals.

[0086]

[0094] The positioning reference signal (PRS) includes a downlink PRS (DL PRS) and an uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be referred to as sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning). The PRS may comprise a PRS resource or a set of PRS resources for a frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is an aggregate of sets of DL PRS resources from one or more TRPs having common parameters configured by the higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources within the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources within the frequency layer. Also, the DL PRS Point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), the DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set having the same Point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency layer having the same Point A. The frequency layer also has the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same value of comb size.

[0087]

[0095] The TRP can be configured to transmit DL PRS for each schedule, for example, by an instruction received from a server and / or by software in the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP can transmit DL PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at a certain interval from the first transmission. The TRP can be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a set of PRS resources across one TRP, and the resources have the same period, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Each of the PRS resource sets comprises a plurality of PRS resources, and each PRS resource comprises a plurality of resource elements (REs) that can be in a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot. An RB is a set of REs spanning an amount of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and an amount of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 in the case of a 5G RB). Each PRS resource is configured using an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource can occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol within the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource with respect to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs can repeat across slots, and each transmission is called a repetition, and as a result, there can be a plurality of repetitions within the PRS resource. The DL PRS resources within a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource IDs within a DL PRS resource set are associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (however, a TRP can transmit one or more beams).

[0088]

[0096] The PRS resource can also be defined by pseudo-collocation and start PRB parameters. The pseudo-collocation (QCL) parameters can define any pseudo-collocation information of the DL PRS resource with other reference signals. The DL PRS can be configured to be of QCL type D with a DL PRS from a serving cell or a non-serving cell or an SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block. The DL PRS can be configured to be of QCL type C with an SS / PBCH block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The start PRB parameter defines the start PRB index of the DL PRS resource with respect to reference point A. The start PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0089]

[0097] A PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources with the same period, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor over a slot. One time when all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is called an "instance". Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within the PRS resource set, and as a result, when the specified number of repetitions are transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources, the instance is completed. An instance is sometimes called an "opportunity". A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule can be provided to the UE to assist (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0090]

[0098] The multiple frequency layers of the PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth that is larger than any one of the layer bandwidths. Multiple frequency layers that meet criteria such as being quasi-collocated (QCLed), having the same antenna port, of (continuous and / or discrete) component carriers can be stitched to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL PRS and UL PRS), resulting in increased arrival time measurement accuracy. When QCLed, different frequency layers behave similarly, making it possible for PRS stitching to result in a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth, sometimes referred to as the aggregated PRS bandwidth or the aggregated PRS frequency bandwidth, provides better time domain resolution (e.g., for TDOA). The aggregated PRS includes a set of PRS resources, and each PRS resource of the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component can be transmitted on different component carriers, bands, or frequency layers or on different parts of the same band.

[0091]

[0099] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that the RTT uses positioning signals transmitted by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in the RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP may transmit DL-PRS signals received by the UE, and the UE may transmit SRS (sounding reference signal) signals received by a plurality of TRPs. The sounding reference signal may sometimes be referred to as SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, cooperative positioning may be used, and the UE transmits a single UL-SRS for positioning received by a plurality of TRPs, rather than separate UL-SRSs for positioning for each TRP. The TRPs participating in multi-RTT usually search for the UE currently camped on that TRP (the served UE, the TRP is the serving TRP), and also search for the UE camped on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). The neighboring TRPs may be TRPs of a single BTS (e.g., gNB), or may be TRPs of one BTS and TRPs of a separate BTS. In RTT positioning including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS regarding the positioning signal in PRS / SRS used to determine the RTT (and thus used to determine the distance between the UE and the TRP) may exist close to each other in time, such that errors due to the movement of the UE and / or the clock drift of the UE and / or the clock drift of the TRP are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in PRS / SRS regarding the positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within about 10 ms of each other. When the SRS regarding positioning is transmitted by the UE and the PRS and SRS regarding positioning are carried close to each other in time, it has been found that when a large number of UEs attempt positioning simultaneously, congestion of high-frequency (RF) signals may occur (such as causing excessive noise, etc.), and / or congestion of calculations may occur at the TRP attempting to measure a large number of UEs simultaneously.

[0092]

[0100] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, based on the distance to the TRP300 and the known location of the TRP300, the RTT and the corresponding distances to each of the TRP300 and the location of the UE200 are determined. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE200 measures the positioning signal, provides the measurement value information to the TRP300, and the TRP300 determines the RTT and the distance. The TRP300 provides the distance to a location server, such as the server 400, and the server determines the location of the UE200, for example, based on the distances to different TRP300s. The RTT and / or the distance can be determined by the TRP300 that receives the signal from the UE200, in combination with one or more other devices, such as one or more other TRP300s and / or the server 400, by this TRP300, or by one or more devices other than the TRP300 that receives the signal from the UE200.

[0093]

[0101] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. The NR-native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning methods, UL-only positioning methods, and DL+UL positioning methods. The downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. The uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. The combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0094]

[0102] The location estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names such as location estimate, location, position, location fix, fix, etc. The location estimate can be geodetic and have coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or it can be civic and have a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The location estimate can further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The location estimate can include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included at some specified or default level of confidence).

[0095]

[0103] Downlink PRS processing

[0104] (Particularly, related to LTE), due to potential complexity and the volume of positioning signals, restrictions may be placed on the positioning signals to limit PRS processing (including data buffering). For example, in the case of NR, each TRP may have multiple beams and thus may have multiple PRS resources. For example, each TRP may configure up to 64 beams and thus up to 64 PRS resources for FR2 (frequency range 2 which is the millimeter wave band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz) and up to 8 PRS resources for FR1 (frequency range 1 from 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz). The fast Fourier transform (FFT) size used for NR may be 4K, which is twice the FFT size used for LTE. Further, there may be up to 12 symbols per slot with a repetition of 32 slots (each slot may be, in some cases, 8 times smaller than an LTE subframe). Thus, NR PRS can be 1000 times more complex than LTE. Therefore, one or more restrictions may be placed on the location processing capabilities of various UEs to constrain the complexity for positioning (e.g., determining the location of a UE for determining positioning information (e.g., distance (e.g., pseudorange), one or more PRS measurements, location of the UE, etc.) by one or more positioning methods) and to facilitate PRS processing (e.g., reducing processing including reducing data buffering). For example, the location processing capabilities that can be specified include the maximum number of frequency layers (e.g., 1 or 4), the maximum number of TRPs per frequency layer, the maximum number of PRS resource sets per TRP per frequency layer, the maximum number of PRS resources per PRS resource set, the maximum number of DL PRS resources per UE, the maximum number of TRPs for all frequency layers per UE, the maximum number of PRS resources per frequency layer, etc.).

[0096]

[0105] To facilitate PRS processing, for example, to free up potential processing capabilities for processing PRS, measurement gaps can be scheduled for the UE (although in some cases only one measurement gap may be scheduled at a time). For example, the UE may request a measurement gap configuration so that the UE can measure DL PRS outside of the UE's active DL BWP (bandwidth part). A server, such as the LMF, can schedule one or more measurement gaps, for example, in response to a request from the UE or independently of any such request (e.g., if there is none). The measurement gap that may be requested by the UE is a time when the UE does not receive data or control information and thus does not need to perform data or control processing. Thus, the UE can determine location information by dedicating the processing capabilities that would otherwise be used for data and / or control processing to PRS positioning processing. The location information can be the location of the UE (location) or other information that can be used to determine the location of the UE (e.g., one or more distances and / or one or more PRS measurements (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, Rx-Tx)). Using the measurement gap, the UE can measure DL PRS outside of the active DL BWP or using a numerology different from that of the active DL BWP, where numerology is the configuration of the waveform parameter subcarrier spacing and the cyclic prefix size. Without a measurement gap, the UE would measure DL PRS within the active DL BWP using the same numerology as the active BWP. Further, the UE is not expected to process DL PRS in the same OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) symbol in which other DL signals and channels are transmitted to the UE or to process DL PRS on any symbol indicated as uplink by the serving TRP.

[0097]

[0106] Positioning method for each positioning frequency band

[0107] Referring to FIG. 5 and further referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the UE 500 includes a processor 510, an interface 520, and a memory 530 that are communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 540. The UE 500 may include the components shown in FIG. 5 and may include one or more other components such as any of the components shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the UE 200 may be an example of the UE 500. For example, the processor 510 may include one or more of the components of the processor 210. The interface 520 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 215, such as a wireless transmitter 242 and an antenna 246, or a wireless receiver 244 and an antenna 246, or a wireless transmitter 242, a wireless receiver 244, and an antenna 246. Similarly or alternatively, the interface 520 may include a wired transmitter 252 and / or a wired receiver 254. The memory 530 may be configured similarly to the memory 211, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 510 to perform functions.

[0098]

[0108] The description in this specification may refer only to the processor 510 that implements the functions, but this includes other implementation forms such as when the processor 510 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 530). The description in this specification may refer to the UE 500 that implements the functions as an abbreviation of one or more appropriate components of the UE 500 that implement the functions (for example, the processor 510 and the memory 530). The processor 550 includes (optionally, together with the memory 530) a positioning signal processing unit 550 and a positioning method (and capability) reporting unit 560. The positioning signal processing unit 550 is configured to process positioning signals according to the supported positioning methods to generate position information (for example, position, distance, PRS measurement values, etc.). The positioning method (and capability) reporting unit 560 is configured to obtain (for example, generate / occur and / or select) the supported positioning methods and optionally the corresponding position processing capabilities, and send these instructions via the interface 520 to an appropriate destination such as a network entity such as the TRP 300 or the server 400. The description may refer to the processor 510 or the UE 500 that implements the functions performed by the unit 550 or the unit 560.

[0099]

[0109] The UE 500 can be configured to support multiple positioning methods, including simultaneous processing of multiple positioning methods. Simultaneous processing of multiple positioning methods, for example, simultaneous processing of signals for two or more of AoD, AoA, TDOA, or multi-RTT methods, involves processing one or more signals using two or more positioning methods in parallel (the overall processing of each signal using two methods overlapping in time, regardless of whether the respective operations of different methods have been performed simultaneously so far). For example, the processor 510 (and appropriately the memory 530) can process positioning signals (e.g., PRS) according to two or more positioning methods that overlap in time (such as the positioning methods described herein) to determine location information. By processing the positioning signals according to the positioning methods, the processor 510 may or may not determine the location of the UE 500, for example, not the location itself but the determination information that can be used to determine the location. For example, the processor 510 (which may include PD219) can process one or more PRS to determine one or more distances to one or more sources of the (one or more) positioning signals and / or to determine one or more PRS measurements. The UE 500 can support simultaneous processing of multiple positioning methods in that, for example, the UE 500 can have multiple positioning methods triggered during a single positioning session, the UE 500 can perform at least respective portions of multiple positioning methods simultaneously (e.g., simultaneously (e.g., in parallel) and / or at different times (e.g., interleaved) within the same time window with operations of different methods), and / or the UE 500 can report the results of at least respective portions of multiple positioning methods together (e.g., simultaneously, in a single message). For example, the UE 500 may report one or more RSTD measurements for the TDOA positioning method and / or one or more RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) measurements for the AoD positioning method.

[0100]

[0110] Referring to FIG. 6 and further to FIGS. 1 - 5, the signaling and process flow for reporting positioning capabilities, determining location information, and reporting includes the illustrated steps. Flow 600 is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure. Flow 600 can be varied, for example, by steps being added, deleted, rearranged, repeated, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step being divided into multiple steps, examples of such changes are further described below.

[0101]

[0111] In step 610, positioning capabilities are requested from and thereby provided to UE 500. Server 400 may send a positioning capability request 611 for the positioning capabilities of UE 500 to UE 500. Request 611 may be sent using LPP (LTE positioning protocol) to request from UE 500 an indication of what positioning methods UE 500 supports and, in some cases, what location processing capabilities UE 500 has for the positioning method and / or combination of positioning methods.

[0102]

[0112] UE 500 responds to the positioning capability request 611 by sending a capability message 612 to server 400 indicating one or more positioning methods supported by UE 500 for one or more corresponding frequency bands and, in some cases, location processing capabilities corresponding to at least some of the indicated positioning methods. The capability message 612 may similarly include other information (e.g., regarding other capabilities). Also or alternatively, UE 500 may send a capability message 614 to TRP 300, and TRP 300 may send a capability message 616 to server 400. Thus, flow 600 may include sending the capability message 612 and / or may include sending the capability messages 614, 616.

[0103]

[0113] The capability messages 612, 614, 616 may have various formats and / or contents, and it is possible that not all of the capability messages 612, 614, 616 have the same format or content. Referring also to FIG. 7, the capability message 700 is an example of the capability messages 612, 614, 616 and includes a frequency band field 710, a positioning method field 720, and may also include a position processing capability field 730. The frequency band field 710 includes one or more frequency band indications of one or more frequency bands, for each of which the UE 500 supports one or more positioning methods, that is, the UE 500 may perform one or more operations of each positioning method and provide the obtained position information. Here, the capability message 700 includes frequency band indications 712, 714 indicating that the UE 500 supports one or more positioning methods for each of band 1 and band 2. These bands are positioning signal bands separate from (but in some cases overlapping with) the communication frequency bands used for data and control information. For example, band 1 may be FR1 and band 2 may be FR2.

[0104]

[0114] The positioning method field 720 includes one or more indications of positioning methods supported by the UE 500 for processing positioning signals to determine location information. In this example, the positioning method field 720 is used to indicate whether the UE 500 supports one or more of four possible positioning methods, namely, the DL-TDOA positioning method, the AoD positioning method, the AoA positioning method, or the multi-RTT method. This is an example, and the positioning method field 720 may be used to indicate whether the UE 500 supports more or fewer positioning methods and / or a different set of positioning methods (i.e., one or more of the listed positioning methods are omitted and / or one or more other positioning methods are included). Here, for the positioning method field 720 indicating support for any of the four positioning methods, the positioning method field 720 includes positioning method indications 721, 722, 723, 724, 725 that are 4-bit character strings. Each bit indicates whether the corresponding positioning method is supported, where a value of 0 indicates not supported and a value of 1 indicates supported. In this example, the 4 bits correspond to the four methods of DL-TDOA, AoD, AoA, and multi-RTT, respectively. Each of the 4-bit character strings indicates one or more of the four possible positioning methods configured for the UE 500 to support for each of the respective frequency bands indicated by the respective frequency band indications 712, 714. Thus, the frequency band indications 712, 714 indicate the respective frequency bands for which the corresponding positioning method indications 721 - 725 are applicable.

[0105]

[0115] Each positioning method indication in the positioning method field 720 may indicate an individual positioning method configured to be supported by the UE 500, or a combination of positioning methods configured to be supported by the UE 500 simultaneously. The capability message may include an explicit indication that multiple positioning methods are supported for simultaneous processing. Also or alternatively, the indication that multiple positioning methods are supported may be an implicit indication that the UE supports simultaneous processing of the indicated positioning methods. In the example shown in FIG. 7, for band 1, the positioning method indication 721 of 0100 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD positioning method alone, the positioning method indication 722 of 1000 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the DL-TDOA positioning method alone, and the positioning method indication 723 of 1100 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the DL-TDOA positioning method and the AoD positioning method simultaneously. For band 2, the positioning method indication 724 of 0001 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the multi-RTT positioning method alone, and the positioning method indication 725 of 0101 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD positioning method and the multi-RTT positioning method simultaneously. Thus, the capability message 700 may indicate a combination of positioning methods (in this example, the same combination of positioning methods for band 1 and band 2) configured to be supported by the UE 500 (e.g., the processor 210 that may implement PD219) for simultaneously processing positioning signals to determine location information.

[0106]

[0116] The positioning processing capability field 730 includes one or more indications of the positioning processing capabilities for each positioning method or combination of positioning methods supported by the UE 500 indicated by each of the positioning method indications. In this example, the positioning processing capability field 730 corresponds to the positioning method capabilities of the maximum number of frequency layers (X1), the maximum number of TRPs per frequency layer (X2), the maximum number of PRS resource sets per TRP per frequency layer (X3), the maximum number of PRS resources per PRS resource set (X4), the maximum number of DL PRS resources per UE (X5), the maximum number of TRPs for all frequency layers per UE (X6), and the maximum number of PRS resources per frequency layer (X7). The capability message 700 includes positioning processing capability indications 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736 that each include the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 corresponding to each of the positioning method indications 721 to 725. As shown, two or more positioning processing capability indications may correspond to the same positioning method indication, where the positioning processing capability indications 735, 736 both correspond to the positioning method indication 725. One or more of the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7, and even all of those values, may be the same among the plurality of positioning processing capability indications.

[0107]

[0117] The positioning processing capability indication corresponding to the supported combination of positioning methods may indicate the capabilities for the combination of positioning methods or for each of the positioning methods individually. For example, the values X13 to X73 may be the capabilities for the combination of the DL-TDOA method and the AoD method, or may be the capabilities for each of the DL-TDOA method or the AoD method individually. When the value of the positioning processing capability indication corresponds to a combination of positioning methods, the capabilities may be allocated to different positioning methods by a default assignment that is equally (or approximately equally) known by both the UE 500 and the server 400, for example. Whether the value of the positioning processing capability indication corresponds to a combination of positioning methods or to each positioning method may be known (e.g., programmable) by the UE 500 and the server 400, and / or may be indicated by the positioning processing capability indication.

[0108]

[0118] Multiple position processing capability indications corresponding to a single combination of supported positioning methods may indicate the capabilities for each of the positioning methods. For example, both position processing capability indications 735 and 736 correspond to a positioning method indication 725 indicating that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD method and the multi-RTT method simultaneously. The values X15 to X75 of the position processing capability indication 735 may be the values of the capabilities that the UE 500 will provide for the DL-TDOA positioning method, and the values X16 to X76 of the position processing capability indication 736 may be the capabilities that the UE 500 will provide for the AoD method, and the DL-TDOA method and the AoD method are implemented simultaneously.

[0109]

[0119] If there is a scheduled measurement gap, the values of the position processing capability indications in the position processing capability field 730 may be different. One or more of the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 may provide additional processing capabilities (optionally including additional buffering capabilities) when there is a measurement gap compared to when there is no measurement gap. Accordingly, the position processing capability indication may include the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 for when there is a measurement gap and when there is no measurement gap.

[0110]

[0120] Positioning methods in view of combinations of frequency bands

[0121] The processing of positioning signals (e.g., PRS, SL-SRS, etc. for positioning) may be affected by the combination of communication frequency bands currently in use. For example, the processing capability of the processor 510 may be affected differently depending on which communication frequency bands are currently in use. Accordingly, the available processing capacity of the processor 510 for processing positioning signals may be affected based on the communication frequency bands currently in use. Accordingly, the UE 500 may support different positioning methods and / or different combinations of positioning methods based on the current communication frequency bands, and / or may have different position processing capabilities based on the current communication frequency bands. The description herein may refer to PRS, but the description may be applicable to other forms of positioning signals (e.g., SL-SRS, etc. for positioning).

[0111]

[0122] At stage 620 of flow 600, a report of one or more supported frequency band combinations and one or more corresponding positioning methods is triggered and implemented. For example, at sub-stage 622, the trigger for the UE 500 to report the supported positioning method for a combination of communication frequency bands and the associated position processing capabilities can be that the UE 500 sends a request 624 to the server 400 for a positioning session. As another example, the trigger for the UE 500 to report the supported positioning method for a combination of communication frequency bands and the associated position processing capabilities can be that the server 400 starts a positioning session with the UE 500 by sending a positioning session start message 626 to the UE 500. Another trigger can be the expiration of a timer (implemented, for example, by the processor 510). Still other triggers are possible, for example, on-demand triggers for support indications or intermittent (e.g., periodic) triggers for support indications.

[0112]

[0123] In response to the trigger, the UE 500 sends a capability message 628 to the server 400 indicating one or more supported frequency band combinations and one or more corresponding supported positioning methods. The capability message 628 is sent using LPP signaling and can have various formats and / or contents. Referring also to FIG. 8, the capability message 800 is an example of the capability message 628 and indicates the positioning methods supported by the UE 500, the corresponding combination of communication frequency bands, and, optionally, the position processing capabilities corresponding to the indicated positioning method and frequency band combination. The capability message 800 includes a frequency band combination field 810 and a positioning method field 820 and may include a position processing capability field 830. (Although not shown in FIG. 6) Similar to the case of the capability message 700, the capability message 800 is sent from the UE 500 to the TRP 300 (using RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling) and then can be sent from the TRP 300 to the server 400 (using NRPPa (New Radio Positioning Protocol A) signaling).

[0113]

[0124] The combined frequency band field 810 includes an indication of one or more combinations of frequency bands, for each of which the UE 500 supports one or more positioning methods, that is, the UE 500 can perform one or more operations of each positioning method and provide the obtained position information. For example, the combined frequency band field 810 may include an indication of a combination of frequency bands included in a BandCombinationList defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). Here, the capability message 800 includes combined frequency band indications 812, 814, 816 indicating that the UE 500 supports one or more positioning methods for each of three combinations of frequency bands, namely, the combination of frequency band 1 (FB1) and frequency band 2 (FB2), the combination of FB1 and frequency band 3 (FB3), and the combination of frequency band 4 (FB4), frequency band 5 (FB5), and frequency band 6 (FB6). The labels FB1 to FB6 are general labels and do not imply any relationship between the bands (for example, FB1 is not necessarily contiguous with FB2, nor even close to it, and FB2 is not necessarily a higher frequency band than FB1). These combinations of bands can be intra-band continuous (continuous in frequency within the same larger band, for example, FR1), intra-band discontinuous (within the same larger band but separated by a certain amount of frequency), or inter-band (within one or more bands in one larger band and one or more other bands in another larger band, for example, FR2, probably separated by a certain amount of frequency). The combination of bands can be of two or more bands.

[0114]

[0125] The positioning method field 820 includes one or more indications of positioning methods supported by the UE 500 for processing positioning signals to determine location information. The positioning method field 820 is similar to the positioning method field 720 but has entries corresponding to each combination of frequency bands in the combination of frequency bands field 810. The positioning methods indicated in the positioning method field 820 can be used, for example, when processing communication information (data and / or control information) in a combination of frequency bands and / or can be specified (reserved) for use therein, and can be more limited than the positioning methods indicated in the positioning method field 720 of the capability message 700 by the processing capabilities and / or other UE resources used therein. In this example, the positioning method field 820 is used to indicate whether the UE 500 supports one or more of the DL-TDOA positioning method, the AoD positioning method, the AoA positioning method, or the multi-RTT method. This is an example, and the positioning method field 820 can be used to indicate whether the UE 500 supports more or fewer positioning methods and / or a different set of positioning methods (i.e., one or more of the listed positioning methods are omitted and / or one or more other positioning methods are included). Here, in the case of the positioning method field 820 indicating support for any of the four positioning methods, the positioning method field 820 includes positioning method indications 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, which are 4-bit character strings each indicating one or more of the four indicated positioning methods configured by the UE 500 for support of each combination of frequency bands indicated by the respective combination of frequency band indications 812, 814, 816. Thus, the combination of frequency band indications 812, 814, 816 indicates the respective frequency bands for which the corresponding positioning method indications 821 - 827 are applicable.

[0115]

[0126] Each positioning method indication in the positioning method field 820 may indicate an individual positioning method by which the UE 500 is configured to support a combination of positioning methods configured to be simultaneously supported by the UE 500. In the example shown in FIG. 8, for the combination of bands FB1 to FB2, the positioning method indication 821 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD positioning method alone, the positioning method indication 822 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the DL-TDOA positioning method alone, and the positioning method indication 823 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the DL-TDOA positioning method and the multi-RTT positioning method simultaneously. For the combination of bands FB1 to FB3, the positioning method indication 824 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the multi-RTT positioning method alone, and the positioning method indication 825 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD positioning method and the multi-RTT positioning method simultaneously. For the combination of bands FB4 to FB5 to FB6, the positioning method indication 826 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the DL-TDOA positioning method alone, and the positioning method indication 827 indicates that the UE 500 is configured to support the multi-RTT positioning method alone. Thus, the capability message 800 may indicate a combination of positioning methods by which the UE 500 is configured to simultaneously process positioning signals to determine location information.

[0116]

[0127] The location processing capability field 830 includes one or more indications of location processing capabilities for each of the positioning method indications, for each positioning method or combination of positioning methods supported by the UE 500. In this example, the positioning processing capability field 830 corresponds to the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 described above. The capability message 800 includes location processing capability indications 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, each including a value of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 corresponding to each of the positioning method indications 821 to 827. As shown, two or more location processing capability indications may correspond to the same positioning method indication, where the location processing capability indications 833, 834 both correspond to the positioning method indication 825. One or more, and even all, of the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 may be the same among the plurality of location processing capability indications. One or more of the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 in the capability message 800 may be more limited than the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 in the capability message 700, for example, due to reduced capacity for the positioning processing described herein when a combination of communication frequency bands is in use, and may provide, for example, one or more lower maximum values. The UE 500 may be limited to the capabilities provided by one of the location processing capability indications 831 to 836 (or other such indication) only when a respective combination of frequency bands is in use and is not simply supported by the UE 500.

[0117]

[0128] The positioning capability indication corresponding to a supported combination of positioning methods may indicate the capabilities for the combination of positioning methods or for each of the individual positioning methods. For example, the values X17 to X77 may be the capabilities for the combination of the DL-TDOA method and the multi-RTT method (as indicated by the positioning method indication 823), or may be the capabilities for each of the DL-TDOA method or the multi-RTT method individually. When the value of the positioning capability indication corresponds to a combination of positioning methods, the capabilities may be allocated to different positioning methods by a default allocation that is equally (or approximately equally) known to both the UE 500 and the server 400. Whether the value of the positioning capability indication corresponds to a combination of positioning methods or to each of the positioning methods may be known (e.g., programmable) by the UE 500 and the server 400, and / or may be indicated by the positioning capability indication.

[0118]

[0129] Multiple positioning capability indications corresponding to a single combination of supported positioning methods may indicate the capabilities for each of the positioning methods. For example, both the positioning capability indications 833 and 834 correspond to the positioning method indication 825 indicating that the UE 500 is configured to support the AoD method and the multi-RTT method simultaneously. The value X19 to X79 of the positioning capability indication 833 may be the value of the capability that the UE 500 will provide for the DL-TDOA positioning method, and the value X1 10 ~X7 10 may be the capability that the UE 500 will provide for the AoD method, and the DL-TDOA method and the AoD method are implemented simultaneously.

[0119]

[0130] If there is a scheduled measurement gap, the value of the positioning capability indication in the positioning capability field 830 may be different. One or more of the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 may provide additional processing capabilities (optionally including additional buffering capabilities) during a measurement gap compared to when there is no measurement gap. Thus, the positioning capability indication may include the values of the positioning method capabilities X1 to X7 for when there is a measurement gap and when there is no measurement gap.

[0120]

[0131] Referring again to FIG. 6, and further to FIGS. 1-5, 7, and 8, at step 630, the UE 500 may send a request 632 to the TRP 300 to configure the UE 500 for a particular combination of communication frequency bands. Also or alternatively, the server 400 (as indicated by the dashed line 634) may request that the TRP 300 configure the UE 500 for a particular combination of communication frequency bands. For example, a request for a particular combination of communication frequency bands may be sent such that the UE 500 can receive, process, and / or support more positioning signals and / or support different positioning methods and / or support a desired combination of positioning methods and / or provide one or more better positioning processing capabilities (e.g., relative to current capabilities). The combination of frequency bands may be selected and requested to improve the utilization of the potential processing capabilities of the UE 500 (e.g., by changing the current combination of frequency bands to increase the processing effort of the UE 500 that can be used for positioning).

[0121]

[0132] At step 640, the UE 500 sends a current carrier aggregation (CA) status message 642 to the server 400. The current CA status message 642 indicates the combination of frequency bands currently in use by the UE 500 for communicating with the TRP 300. Alternatively, the TRP 300 may provide the current CA status of the UE 500 to the server 400. The current CA status may be provided by the UE 500 at step 620 along with the capability message 628. The current CA status message 642 may be sent repeatedly to the server 400, e.g., periodically (e.g., triggered on demand), since the current CA status may change. On-demand triggers for sending the current CA status message 642 may be, for example, a change in the CA status, the release of a positioning session (e.g., in response to message 626), a request 624 for a positioning session, etc.

[0122]

[0133] At stage 650, the server 400 may determine a PRS configuration for the UE 500 and send the PRS configuration 652 to the UE 500. The server 400 may use information (e.g., supported positioning methods and / or position processing capabilities) from the capability message 700 and / or the capability message 800 (and, when using the capability message 800, the current frequency band combination reported at stage 640) to determine the PRS configuration to be used (e.g., the type of PRS and / or the amount of PRS). The PRS configuration may be determined to improve the utilization of the potential processing capabilities of the UE 500 (e.g., to configure the PRS to increase the processing effort of the UE 500 that can be used for positioning). Also or alternatively, the PRS configuration may be selected to reduce the processing capabilities of the TRP 300 for sending PRS to the UE 500 that will not be (at least fully) processed by the UE 500 due to waste, e.g., insufficient capacity. The PRS configuration 652 may be sent directly from the server 400 to the UE 500 using LPP signaling and / or from the server 400 to the TRP 300 using NRPPa signaling and then from the TRP 300 to the UE 500 using LPP signaling.

[0123]

[0134] At stage 660, the TRP 300 may provide the PRS 662 to the UE 500, and the UE 500 may measure and simultaneously process the PRS to determine position information at sub-stage 664. For example, the UE 500 may simultaneously process the PRS 662 received at stage 660 according to the positioning capabilities indicated in the capability message 700 or the capability message 800 as appropriate, including whether there is a current measurement gap. The UE 500 may determine position information such as one or more PRS measurements, one or more distances (e.g., ranges to the TRP 300), or an estimated position of the UE 500 (e.g., based on one or more determined distances to one or more known locations of one or more corresponding positioning signal sources).

[0124]

[0135] In stage 670, UE 500 may provide the server 400 with the location information 672 determined in sub-stage 664 that the server 400 may use to determine the location of UE 500. For example, if the location information 672 includes the location of UE 500, the server 400 may use this as the location of UE 500, or may use this in combination with other information (e.g., one or more ranges, one or more PRS measurements) to determine the location of UE 500. As another example, the server 400 may use one or more of the distances and / or one or more PRS measurements of the location information 672 to determine the location of UE 500 without the location of the UE being provided in the location information 672. UE 500 may include, along with the location information 672, one or more indications that the location information 672 corresponds to a particular combination of positioning methods used to determine the location information 672.

[0125]

[0136] Referring to FIG. 9 and further to FIGS. 1-8, a method 900 of determining location information includes the illustrated stages. However, method 900 is merely an example and is not limiting. Method 900 may be varied, for example, by having stages added, deleted, rearranged, combined, implemented simultaneously, and / or by having a single stage divided into multiple stages.

[0126]

[0137] In stage 910, method 900 includes sending, from a user equipment (UE) to a network entity, a capability indication comprising a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports concurrent processing of a first combination of positioning methods. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530 and interface 520) sends a capability message 612 (and / or capability message 614) to report the positioning methods supported by the UE with a particular positioning method configured to support concurrent processing by UE 500 to determine location information. UE 500 (e.g., processor 510 (e.g., positioning method reporting unit 560), optionally in combination with memory 530 and interface 520) can send, for example, at least one of positioning method indications 721 - 725 of capability message 700 to server 400, and / or UE 500 can send at least one of positioning method indications 821 - 827 of capability message 800 to server 400. UE 500 can send a capability indication in response to a reporting trigger. The reporting trigger can be external to UE 500, e.g., a request received from server 400 (e.g., request 611 or request 626 shown in FIG. 6), or can be internal to UE 500 (e.g., requesting a positioning session or expiration of a timer, etc.). The reporting trigger can be on-demand (e.g., a received request for supported methods, a request for a positioning session by server 400 or UE 500), or can be scheduled, for example, (e.g., expiration of a timer). The capability indication can comprise more information than the first positioning method indication. Processor 510 can optionally comprise means for sending a capability indication, in conjunction with memory 530 and interface 520.

[0127]

[0138] At 920, method 900 includes simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to a first combination of positioning methods to determine first position information for the UE. For example, processor 510 (e.g., positioning signal processing unit 550) may simultaneously process one or more positioning signals according to a plurality of (two or more) positioning methods with the processing of the plurality of methods overlapping in time, as shown, for example, in sub-step 664. The processor 510 may optionally, in conjunction with memory 530, include means for simultaneously processing one or more positioning signals according to a combination of positioning methods to determine position information for the UE (e.g., location for UE 500 and / or one or more measurements (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, Rx-Tx)).

[0128]

[0139] Implementations of method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, the capability indication comprises a first band indication indicating a first frequency band to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) may include in a capability indication, e.g., in capability message 612, at least one of positioning method indications 721 - 725 corresponding to the first band indication. In another exemplary implementation, the simultaneous support indication comprises a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) may include, e.g., in the capability indication of capability message 612, band indications 712, 714 corresponding to a plurality of indications among positioning method indications 721 - 725. In another exemplary implementation, method 900 may include simultaneously processing one or more second positioning signals according to a second combination of positioning methods to determine second position information for the UE, and reporting to a network entity that the second position information for the UE comprises one or more measurements corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods. Processor 510 may optionally, in combination with memory 530, include means for simultaneously processing one or more second positioning signals according to a second combination of positioning methods. Processor 510 may optionally, in combination with memory 530 and interface 520 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), include means for reporting that the second position information comprises one or more measurements corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

[0129]

[0140] Similarly, or alternatively, method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, the capability indication indicates the UE's positioning processing capability corresponding to a first combination of positioning methods. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) may include a positioning processing capability indication 733 corresponding to the combination of methods in positioning method indication 723 in capability message 700, and / or a positioning processing capability indication 831 corresponding to the combination of methods in positioning method indication 823 in capability message 800. In another exemplary implementation, the capability indication comprises a first positioning processing capability indication corresponding to a first positioning method of a first combination of positioning methods and a second positioning processing capability indication corresponding to a second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) may include a positioning processing capability indication 733 and / or positioning processing capability indications 735, 736 corresponding to the combination of methods in positioning method indications 723, 725 in capability message 700, and / or a positioning processing capability indication 831 and / or positioning processing capability indications 834, 834 corresponding to the combination of methods in positioning method indications 823, 825 in capability message 800.

[0130]

[0141] Similarly, or alternatively, method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, a first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method, where the capability indication comprises a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method configured such that the UE implements the third positioning method without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. For example, UE 500 (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) may include a positioning method indication 721 or a positioning method indication 821, such as a positioning method indication that indicates a positioning method that processor 510 may implement without implementing another method (although it may be possible to implement this method together with another method, as indicated by, for example, positioning method indication 723 or positioning method indication 825). In another exemplary implementation, the first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

[0131]

[0142] Similarly, or alternatively, method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, the capability indication comprises a first combination of bands indication indicating a combination of first carrier aggregation frequency bands to which a first positioning method indication is applicable. For example, UE 500 may (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) include a combination of bands indication 812 for the frequency bands associated with positioning method indication 821. In another exemplary implementation, the capability indication comprises a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and a second combination of bands indication indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method indication is applicable. For example, UE 500 may (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) include combination of bands indications for a plurality of frequency bands each associated with at least one corresponding positioning method indication. For example, in capability message 800, combination of bands indications 812, 814, 816 are associated with respective ones of positioning method indications 821 - 827. In another exemplary implementation, the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method, where the capability indication indicates the UE's positioning processing capabilities corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. For example, UE 500 may (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) provide positioning processing capabilities for each combination of methods. For example, positioning processing capability indication 831 is applicable to the combination of methods indicated by positioning method indication 823, where the capabilities are equally applicable to each of the methods indicated by positioning method indication 823. In another exemplary implementation, the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method, where the capability indication indicates the UE's positioning processing capabilities corresponding to the combined first positioning method and second positioning method. For example, UE 500 may (e.g., processor 510, optionally in conjunction with memory 530) provide positioning processing capabilities for each combination of methods. For example, positioning processing capability indication 831 is applicable to the combination of methods indicated by positioning method indication 823, where the capabilities are applicable to the combined requirements of the methods indicated by positioning method indication 823.In another exemplary implementation, the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method, where the capability indication indicates a first position processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first positioning method and a second position processing capability of the UE corresponding to the second positioning method. For example, the UE 500 (e.g., the processor 510, optionally in conjunction with the memory 530) may provide a plurality of position processing capability indications for each combination of methods. For example, the position processing capability indications 833, 834 are applicable to the combination of methods indicated by the positioning method indication 825, where the capability of the position processing capability indication 833 is applicable to the first listed method in the combination indicated by the positioning method indication 825, and the capability of the position processing capability indication 834 is applicable to the second listed method in the combination indicated by the positioning method indication 825. The capability indication may be provided for each method in a combination of more than two methods. One or more of the capabilities of different capability indications may be different. If there are three or more methods in the combination of methods, the plurality of methods may have the same capabilities, but at least one method may have a different set of capabilities (i.e., at least one capability value is different from the capabilities of other sets).

[0132]

[0143] Similarly, or alternatively, the method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, the first combination of positioning methods comprises at least two of downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and multiple round-trip times (multi-RTT). Thus, the combination of positioning methods may include any two of these methods, or any three of these methods, or all four of these methods. In another exemplary implementation, the first combination of positioning methods comprises AoD and DL-TDOA, and the capability indication comprises a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods, and the second combination of positioning methods comprises multi-RTT and AoD.

[0133]

[0144] Similarly, or alternatively, method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, method 900 includes reporting to a network entity that first location information for a UE corresponds to a first combination of positioning methods. For example, UE 500 may include, along with location information 672, one or more indications that location information 672 corresponds to a combination of positioning methods used to determine location information 672. Processor 510 may, in some cases, be provided, in combination with memory 530 and interface 520 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), with means for reporting that the first location information corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods. In another exemplary implementation, the network entity is a location server.

[0134]

[0145] Other considerations

[0146] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to software and computer nature, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. The features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various places, including being distributed such that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations. Unless otherwise noted, the functional or other components shown connected or communicating with each other in the figures and / or discussed herein are communicatively coupled. That is, the components may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.

[0135]

[0147] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", and / or "including" as used herein specify the presence of the stated feature, integer, step, operation, element, and / or component, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0136]

[0148] Also, as used herein, "or" as used in the listing of items ending with "at least one of" or "one or more of" indicates a disjunctive listing such that, for example, the listing "at least one of A, B, or C" or the listing "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 combinations having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function related to at least one of A or B means that the item can be configured to perform a function related to A, or can be configured to perform a function related to B, or can be configured to perform a function related to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" means that the processor can be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or can be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or can be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which of A and B or both to measure). Similarly, a description of means for measuring at least one of A or B includes means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or means for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting which of A and B or both to measure).As another example, the recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform at least one of performing function X or performing function Y means that the item can be configured to perform function X, or can be configured to perform function Y, or can be configured to perform both performing function X and performing function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to perform at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor can be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or can be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or can be configured to perform both measuring X and measuring Y (and can be configured to select which of X and Y or both of them should be measured).

[0137]

[0149] Considerable variations can be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or certain 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 utilized.

[0138]

[0150] The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may appropriately omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components. 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, since technology evolves, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the present disclosure or the claims.

[0139]

[0151] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the phrase that a function or operation "is based on" an item or a state means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or state and may be based on one or more items and / or states in addition to the stated item or state.

[0140]

[0152] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communication is carried by electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves that are wireless, i.e., propagate through space rather than through a wired connection or other physical connection. A wireless communication network may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly and is configured such that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly. Further, the term "wireless communication device" or a similar term does not require that the function of the device be solely for communication, or that the function of the device be equally primarily for communication, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), for example, including at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver).

[0141]

[0153] In the description, specific details are provided so as to obtain a complete understanding of the exemplary 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 details in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description only provides exemplary configurations and does not limit the scope of the claims, applicability, or configurations. Rather, the previous description of the configurations provides an explanation for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made to the functions and configurations of the elements without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0142]

[0154] 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 particular fashion. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (such as a signal). In many implementations, the processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media includes, but is not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0143]

[0155] Although some exemplary configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system where other rules may supersede or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, some operations may be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the claims.

[0144]

[0156] The description that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to the description that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold. For example, the second threshold is one value that is higher than the first threshold in the resolution of the computing system. The description that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to the description that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold. For example, the second threshold is one value that is lower than the first threshold in the resolution of the computing system.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), a transceiver configured to receive positioning signals; Memory, a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; wherein the processor: sending, via the transceiver to a network entity, a capabilities indication comprising a first positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods; simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first location information for the UE; A UE configured to:

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the capability indication comprises a first band indication indicating a first frequency band in which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

3. The capability indication may be: a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band in which the second positioning method indication is applicable; and Equipped with 3. The UE of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to simultaneously process one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second location information for the UE.

4. 4. The UE of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to report to the network entity that the second location information for the UE comprises one or more measurements corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods.

5. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the capability indication indicates a location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first combination of positioning methods.

6. 6. The UE of claim 5, wherein the capability indication comprises a first location processing capability indication corresponding to a first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods and a second location processing capability indication corresponding to a second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods.

7. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication comprises a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method that the processor is configured to implement without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method. The UE of claim 1.

8. The UE of claim 7 , wherein the first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

9. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the capability indication comprises a first band combination indication indicating a first carrier aggregation frequency band combination to which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

10. The capability indication may be: a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; and a second band combination instruction indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method instruction is applicable; and The UE of claim 9, comprising:

11. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; The capability indication indicates a position processing capability of the UE corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method. The UE of claim 9.

12. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication indicates a location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first positioning method and the second positioning method combined; The UE of claim 9.

13. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication indicates a first location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first positioning method and a second location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the second positioning method. The UE of claim 9.

14. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the first set of positioning methods comprises at least two of: Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Angle of Departure (AoD), Angle of Arrival (AoA), and Multiple Round Trip Time (Multi-RTT).

15. the first combination of positioning methods comprises AoD and DL-TDOA; the capability indication comprises a second positioning method indication indicating that the processor supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; the second combination of positioning methods comprises Multi-RTT and AoD. The UE of claim 14.

16. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to report to the network entity that the first location information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

17. 1. A method for determining location information, comprising: sending a capability indication from a user equipment (UE) to a network entity, the capability indication comprising a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods; simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first location information for the UE; A method comprising:

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the capability indication comprises a first band indication indicating a first frequency band in which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

19. The capability indication may be: a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; and a second band indication indicating a second frequency band in which the second positioning method indication is applicable; and 20. The method of claim 18 comprising:

20. concurrently processing one or more second positioning signals according to the second combination of positioning methods to determine second location information for the UE; reporting to the network entity that the second location information for the UE comprises one or more measurements corresponding to the second combination of positioning methods; 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the capability indication indicates a location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first combination of positioning methods.

22. 22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the capability indication comprises a first location processing capability indication corresponding to a first positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods and a second location processing capability indication corresponding to a second positioning method of the first combination of positioning methods.

23. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication comprises a third positioning method indication indicating a third positioning method that the UE is configured to implement without simultaneously implementing the first positioning method or the second positioning method.

20. The method of claim 17.

24. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first positioning method, the second positioning method, and the third positioning method are all different positioning methods.

25. The method of claim 17 , wherein the capability indication comprises a first band combination indication indicating a first carrier aggregation frequency band combination to which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

26. The capability indication may be: a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; and a second band combination instruction indicating a combination of second carrier aggregation frequency bands to which the second positioning method instruction is applicable; and 26. The method of claim 25 comprising:

27. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; The capability indication indicates a position processing capability of the UE corresponding to each of the first positioning method and the second positioning method.

26. The method of claim 25.

28. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication indicates a location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first positioning method and the second positioning method combined; 26. The method of claim 25.

29. the first combination of positioning methods comprises a first positioning method and a second positioning method; the capability indication indicates a first location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the first positioning method and a second location processing capability of the UE corresponding to the second positioning method.

26. The method of claim 25.

30. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first set of positioning methods comprises at least two of: Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Angle of Departure (AoD), Angle of Arrival (AoA), and Multiple Round Trip Times (Multi-RTT).

31. the first combination of positioning methods comprises AoD and DL-TDOA; the capability indication comprises a second positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a second combination of positioning methods; the second combination of positioning methods comprises Multi-RTT and AoD.

20. The method of claim 17.

32. 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising reporting to the network entity that the first location information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

33. The method of claim 17 , wherein the network entity is a location server.

34. A user equipment (UE), capability means for sending to a network entity a capability indication comprising a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods; positioning means for simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first location information for the UE; A UE comprising:

35. 35. The UE of claim 34, wherein the capability indication comprises a first band indication indicating a first frequency band in which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

36. 35. The UE of claim 34, wherein the capability indication comprises a first band combination indication indicating a first carrier aggregation frequency band combination to which the first positioning method indication is applicable.

37. A processor in a user equipment (UE), sending to a network entity a capability indication comprising a first positioning method indication indicating that the UE supports simultaneous processing of a first combination of positioning methods; simultaneously processing one or more first positioning signals according to the first combination of positioning methods to determine first location information for the UE; A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for causing a

38. 38. The storage medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for causing the processor to report to the network entity that the first location information for the UE corresponds to the first combination of positioning methods.

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