Priority of positioning signal

Abstract

To provide user equipment (UE) for giving priority to a positioning reference signal, and provide a method.SOLUTION: In a wireless communication system, user equipment (UE) determines whether or not a processing of a first reference signal having a positioning reference signal is preferentially performed to a priority level reference having a second reference signal and / or a priority level reference channel. In order to determine the processing is preferentially performed, the wireless communication system comprises at least one of steps of determining whether or not the first reference signal (a first downlink reference signal) has to be measured instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap; determining whether or not the first downlink reference signal has to be measured instead of a downlink channel without the measurement gap; determining whether or not the first reference signal having a first uplink reference signal has to be transmitted instead of a second uplink reference signal; and determining whether or not the first uplink reference signal has to be transmitted instead of the transmission on the priority reference channel.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

Background Art

[0001]

[0001] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including the first-generation analog wireless telephone service (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)), and fifth-generation (5G) services. Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (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), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and mobile access variations of TDMA such as the Global System for Mobile (GSM (registered trademark)).

[0002]

[0002] The fifth-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-scale 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 current 4G standards. Further, signaling efficiency should be extended and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards.

[0003]

[0003] 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, 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 or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs), and terrestrial wireless sources in a wireless network 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.

Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] An exemplary user equipment (UE) includes a receiver configured to wirelessly receive an inbound communication signal from a network entity, and a transceiver including a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an outbound communication signal to the network entity, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor being configured to determine whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein, to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion, the processor is configured to determine whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, the first reference signal comprising a first downlink reference signal, the second reference signal comprising a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or being configured to determine whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or being configured to determine whether to transmit a first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or being configured to determine whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority criterion channel, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises an uplink channel, at least one of which is true.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]

Figure 1

[0005] A schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system.

Figure 2

[0006] A block diagram of the components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 3

[0007] Block diagram of the components of an exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 4

[0008] Block diagram of the components of an exemplary server shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 5

[0009] Block diagram of an exemplary user equipment.

Figure 6

[0010] Diagram of the priority signaling and process flow of a positioning reference signal.

Figure 7A

[0011] Schematic diagram of a control message with a processing priority indication.

Figure 7B

[0012] Schematic diagram of another control message with a processing priority indication.

Figure 8

[0013] Timing diagram of a positioning reference signal, a search window for the positioning reference signal, and other signaling.

Figure 9

[0014] Timing diagram of a positioning reference signal, another reference signal, and another signal on another channel.

Figure 10

[0015] Block flow diagram of a method for prioritizing a positioning reference signal.

Figure 11

[0016] Block flow diagram of another method for prioritizing a positioning reference signal.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0006]

[0017] This specification discusses techniques for prioritizing positioning reference signals. One or more factors may be considered to determine whether a higher priority should be given to positioning reference signals, downlink, and / or uplink over other signals or channels. For example, explicit and / or implicit indications of priority may be analyzed. The positioning procedures (techniques) to be implemented using positioning reference signals may affect the priority of processing the positioning reference signals. The structure of the positioning reference signals (e.g., the amount of symbols per slot, the number of repetitions, or the gap between consecutive repetitions) may affect the priority of processing (e.g., measurement) of the positioning reference signals. The priority of the positioning signals across channels may be given during the search window for searching for the positioning signals. When the positioning signals have priority and collide with symbols of other reference signals or channel information, non-colliding portions of the other signals or channels may be processed (e.g., measured), or none of the other signals or channel information may be processed. These are examples, and other examples may be implemented.

[0007]

[0018] The items and / or techniques described in this specification may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. The reliability of location determination may be improved. The processing of positioning reference signals may appropriately preempt the processing of competing information. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation form according to the present disclosure has to provide any, let alone all, of the discussed capabilities.

[0008]

[0019] The description may refer, for example, to a series of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be performed by a particular 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 at runtime within a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed by an associated processor, cause the 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 including the present disclosure.

[0009]

[0020] 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 (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network. 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, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi (registered trademark) network (e.g., based on IEEE802.11, etc.), are also possible for the UE.

[0010]

[0021] The base station can operate according to one of several RATs with which 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), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), 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.

[0011]

[0022] The UE can be implemented by any of several types of devices including, but not limited to, a printed circuit (PC) card, a Compact Flash (registered trademark) device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wireline phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an 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., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a 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.

[0012]

[0023] As used herein, the term "cell" or "sector" 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., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a 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 portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area over which a logical entity operates.

[0013]

[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary wireless communication system 110 includes user equipment (UE) 112, UE 113, UE 114, base transceiver stations (BTS) 120, 121, 122, 123, network 130, core network 140, and external client 150. Core network 140 (e.g., 5G core network (5GC)) may include backend devices including, among other things, access and mobility management function (AMF) 141, session management function (SMF) 142, server 143, and gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 144. AMF 141, SMF 142, server 143, and GMLC 144 are communicatively coupled to each other. Server 143 may be, for example, a location management function (LMF) that supports the positioning of UEs 112-114 (e.g., using techniques such as Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA and / or uplink (UL) OTDOA, round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), etc.).

[0014]

[0025] The LMF may also be referred to as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value-Added LMF (VLMF). One or more of Server 143 (e.g., LMF) and / or one or more other devices of System 110 (e.g., one or more of UEs 112-114) may be configured to determine the locations of UEs 112-114. Server 143 may communicate directly with BTS 121 (e.g., gNB) and / or one or more other BTSs and may be integrated with BTS 121 and / or one or more other BTSs. The SMF 142 may act as the first contact of a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. Server 143 (e.g., LMF) may be co-located with or integrated with a gNB or a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP), or may be disposed remotely from the gNB and / or the TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or the TRP. Server 143 (e.g., LMF) may be part of Core Network 140 as shown, or may be independent of (not part of) Core Network 140.

[0015]

[0026] The AMF 141 may act as a control node that processes signaling between UEs 112-114 and Core Network 140 and provides QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF 141 may support the mobility of UEs 112-114, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UEs 112-114.

[0016]

[0027] The system 110 is capable of wireless communication in that the components of the system 110 can communicate directly or indirectly with each other (at least sometimes using a wireless connection) via, for example, BTSs 120 - 123 and / or network 130 (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 data packets, change the format, etc. The illustrated UEs 112 - 114 are smartphones, tablet computers, and vehicle-based devices, but UEs 112 - 114 do not have to be any of these configurations, and other configurations of UEs can be used, so these are just examples. The illustrated UEs 112, 113 are mobile wireless communication devices including mobile phones (including smartphones) and tablet computers (however, they can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection). The illustrated UE 114 is a vehicle-based mobile wireless communication device (however, UE 114 can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection). Other UEs can include wearable devices (such as smartwatches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headsets, etc.). Whether currently existing or developed in the future, still other UEs can be used. Further, other wireless devices (regardless of whether they are mobile) can be implemented within the system 110 and communicate with each other and / or with UEs 112 - 114, BTSs 120 - 123, network 130, core network 140, and / or external client 150. For example, such other devices can include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc.The core network 140 can communicate with an external client 150 (e.g., a computer system) to enable the external client 150 to request and / or receive location information regarding, for example, UEs 112 to 114 (e.g., via the GMLC 144).

[0017]

[0028] UEs 112 to 114 or other devices can 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.). V2X communication can be Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication)). The system 110 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can 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 a pilot, overhead information, data, etc.

[0018]

[0029] BTSs 120 - 123 can communicate wirelessly with UEs 112 - 114 in system 110 via one or more antennas. BTSs may also be referred to as base stations, access points, g-node Bs (gNBs), access nodes (ANs), node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), etc. For example, each of BTSs 120, 121 can be a gNB or a transmitting point gNB, BTS 122 can be a macrocell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), and BTS 123 can be 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®, Bluetooth-low energy (BLE), Zigbee®). One or more of BTSs 120 - 123 can be configured to communicate with UEs 112 - 114 via multiple carriers. Each of BTSs 120, 121 can provide communication coverage for their respective geographical areas, e.g., cells. Each cell can be divided into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antenna.

[0019]

[0030] Each of BTSs 120 - 123 includes one or more transmit / receive points (TRPs). For example, each sector within a cell of a BTS may include a TRP, and multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). System 110 may include only macro TRPs, or system 110 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).

[0020]

[0031] UEs 112 - 114 may be referred to as terminals, access terminals (ATs), mobile stations, mobile devices, subscriber units, etc. UEs 112 - 114 may include various devices such as those enumerated above and / or other devices. UEs 112 - 114 may be configured to connect indirectly 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 LTE Direct (LTE - D), WiFi Direct (registered trademark) (WiFi - D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of the groups of UEs 112 - 114 that utilize D2D communication may be within the geographical coverage area of a TRP such as one of BTSs 120 - 123. Other UEs in such a group may be outside of such a geographical coverage area or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from a base station. A group of UEs 112 - 114 that communicate via D2D communication may utilize a one - to - many (1:M) system in which each UE can transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRPs of BTSs 120 - 123 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0021]

[0032] Referring also to FIG. 2, UE200 is an example of one of UE112-114, 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 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (e.g., which may be configured for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or the sensors 213) may be omitted from the UE200. The processor 210 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 210 may 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 230-234 may include a plurality of devices (e.g., a plurality of processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include, for example, RF (radio frequency) sensing (using, e.g., one or more cellular wireless signals transmitted, as well as reflections used to identify, map, and / or track objects), and / or a processor for ultrasonic waves, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs).For example, a certain SIM (Subscriber Identification Module or Subscriber Identity Module) can be used by the partner brand manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM can be used by the end user of the UE200 for connection. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that can include, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM). The memory 211 stores software 212, which, when executed, can be processor-readable processor-executable software code that includes instructions configured to cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but can be configured to cause the processor 210 to perform functions when compiled and executed, for example. This description may refer only to the processor 210 that performs the functions, but this includes other implementations such as when the processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 210 that performs the functions as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors 230 to 234 that perform the functions. The description may refer to the UE200 that performs the functions as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the UE200 that perform the functions. The processor 210 can include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 211. The functions of the processor 210 are discussed more fully below.

[0022]

[0033] The configuration of the UE200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example of the present disclosure including the claims, and does not limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of the UE includes one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, and the wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, the wireless transceiver, and the sensor 213, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, the PD 219, and / or one or more of the wired transceivers.

[0023]

[0034] The UE200 may include a modem processor 232 that can perform baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Similarly, or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0024]

[0035] UE 200 may include sensor 213, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as, for example, 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., responsive to the acceleration of UE 200 as a whole in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., a three-dimensional gyroscope). Sensor 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., a three-dimensional magnetometer) for determining an orientation (e.g., with respect to magnetic north and / or true north) for any of various purposes, such as, for example, 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. Sensor 213 may generate analog signals and / or digital signals whose indications are stored in memory 211 and are processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0025]

[0036] 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 server 143. For example, based on the information acquired / measured by sensor 213, UE200 can notify / report to server 143 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.

[0026]

[0037] The IMU can be configured to provide measurement results 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 each detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of UE200. The measurement results 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, for example, the SPS receiver 217 at a certain moment (and / or by some other means), and the measurement results from the accelerometers and gyroscopes 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.

[0027]

[0038] 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 may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field to, for example, the processor 210.

[0028]

[0039] 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, wireless transceiver 240 may transmit wireless signal 248 (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels), and may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for converting signals from wireless signal 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signal 248. Thus, wireless transmitter 242 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or wireless receiver 244 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. 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 (registered trademark) (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP (registered trademark) LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee. New Radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. Wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with network 130 to send communications to network 130 and receive communications from network 130.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.

[0029]

[0040] 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.

[0030]

[0041] An SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring an SPS signal 260 via an SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the wireless SPS 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. A general-purpose processor 230, a memory 211, a 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 instructions (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 positioning engine for use in processing the measurement results to estimate the position of the UE 200.

[0031]

[0042] UE200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still images or videos. The camera 218 may include, 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.

[0032]

[0043] 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 as appropriate in cooperation with the processor 210 and the memory 211 to implement at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, but 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 217, and / or other components of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0033]

[0044] Referring also to FIG. 3, an example of the TRP300 of the BTSs 120 to 123 includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 can be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which can be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown devices (for example, a wireless interface) can be omitted from the TRP300. The processor 310 can include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 can include a plurality of processors (for example, 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 can include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which, when executed, can 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 can be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform functions when compiled and executed.

[0034]

[0045] This description may refer only to the processor 310 that implements the functions, which includes other implementation forms such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 310 that implements the functions as an abbreviation of one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 that implements the functions. This description may refer to the TRP 300 that implements the functions as an abbreviation of one or more appropriate components of the TRP 300 that implements the functions (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) (and thus of one of the BTSs 120 to 123). In addition to, and / or instead of, the memory 311, the processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions. The functions of the processor 310 are discussed more fully below.

[0035]

[0046] Transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, wireless transceiver 340 may transmit 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 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for converting signals from wireless signal 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signal 348. Thus, wireless transmitter 342 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or wireless receiver 344 may include a plurality of receivers that may be individual components or combined / integrated components. 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, etc.The wired transceiver 350 can be utilized for communicating with the network 130 to send communications to the server 143, for example, and / or one or more other network entities and then receive communications therefrom, and can include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for, for example, a network interface for wired communication. The wired transmitter 352 can include a plurality of transmitters that can be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 can include a plurality of receivers that can be individual components or composite / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 can be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0036]

[0047] The configuration of the TRP300 shown in FIG. 3 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and does not limit the present disclosure, and other configurations can be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP300 is configured to perform or perform some functions, but one or more of these functions can be executed by the server 143 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the server 143 and / or the UE 200 can be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0037]

[0048] Referring also to FIG. 4, a server 400, which is an example of server 143, 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, e.g., optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., 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 can be processor-readable processor-executable software code configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. 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 a 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.

[0038]

[0049] Transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 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 wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for converting from the wireless signal 448 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless 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, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., for a network interface, that may be utilized to communicate with the network 130 to send and then receive communications to / from the TRP300 and / or one or more other network entities.The wired transmitter 452 may include a plurality of transmitters that can be individual components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include a plurality of receivers that can be individual components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0039]

[0050] Although the description herein may sometimes refer only to the processor 410 that implements the function, this includes other implementations such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 411). The description herein may sometimes refer to the server 400 that implements the function as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 that implement the function (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411).

[0040]

[0051] Positioning techniques

[0052] 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, which instead generally rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0041]

[0053] 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 ground stations. 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 may inadvertently "decrypt the encryption" for other UEs by transferring the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. The transfer would need to be repeated each time the assistance data changes.

[0042]

[0054] 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 may be used to calculate the location of the UE.

[0043]

[0055] In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position and thus avoids sending measurements 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 a gNB (more generally, a 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 essentially enables the generation of BSA information based on on-site and / or over-the-top observations.

[0044]

[0056] 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 a positioning system interface, e.g., the interface of an LMF. At the initialization of a 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 may report its processing capabilities as the duration of DL PRS symbols in time units (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process every T time amount (e.g., Tms) in the case of a 272 PRB (physical resource block) allocation. 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.

[0045]

[0057] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) can be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of UEs 112 to 114. 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 other entities (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 can be combined with the known positions of the other entities to determine the position of that one entity. The angle of arrival and / or angle of departure can 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 a 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 a relative azimuth angle with respect to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be a 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 location 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 location of the sources and the known offset of the transmission times from the sources, to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0046]

[0058] 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 an LMF). 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 one or more common or individual RTT response messages (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 (i.e., UE T 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.

[0047]

[0059] UE-centered RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that (when commanded 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.

[0048]

[0060] 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.

[0049]

[0061] 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 distances 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.

[0050]

[0062] In some cases, additional information can be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a direction (which can be in a horizontal plane or in 3D) 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.

[0051]

[0063] In positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (Positioning Reference Signal) signals, to determine the distance from a UE to a TRP, 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 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 called a 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, PRS signals from more distant TRPs may be buried by PRS signals from closer TRPs, and as a result, signals from more distant TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting (reducing the power of a PRS signal to, for example, 0 and thus not transmitting the PRS signal) some PRS signals. In this way, weaker PRS signals (at the UE) can be more easily detected by the UE without interference from the weaker PRS signal and the stronger PRS signal. The term RS, and its variants (e.g., PRS, SRS), may refer to one reference signal or two or more reference signals.

[0052]

[0064] The positioning reference signal (PRS) includes downlink PRS (DL PRS) and 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 in a frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is an aggregate of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs with PRS resources 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. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. Also, the DL PRS Point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and 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 (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol such that for comb N, every Nth resource element becomes a PRS resource element). The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a specific TRP transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station (identified by a cell ID). The PRS resource ID within the PRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where the base station may transmit one or more beams).Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a PRS resource, or simply a resource, may also be referred to as a beam. This has no implication regarding whether the base station and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0053]

[0065] 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, a 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 multiple 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).

[0054]

[0066] The PRS resource can also be defined by the virtual co-location and the starting PRB parameters. The virtual co-location (QCL) parameters can define any virtual co-location 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 or an SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block from the serving cell or a non-serving cell. The DL PRS can be configured to be of QCL type C with an SS / PBCH block from the serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resource with respect to reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0055]

[0067] A PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources that, across slots, has the same period, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor. Each time when all the repetitions of all the PRS resources of the PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted, it is called an "instance". Therefore, 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". The DL PRS configuration including the DL PRS transmission schedule can be provided to the UE to assist (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0056]

[0068] 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.

[0057]

[0069] 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 transmitting separate UL-SRSs for positioning for each TRP. The TRPs participating in multi-RTT usually search for the UEs currently camped on that TRP (served UEs, the TRP is the serving TRP), and also search for UEs 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 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 be present close to each other in time, and as a result, 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 an acceptable limit. 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 the positioning signal is transmitted by the UE and the PRS and SRS regarding the positioning signal are carried close to each other in time, it is known that RF signal congestion may occur (such as causing excessive noise, etc.) especially when a large number of UEs attempt positioning simultaneously, and / or calculation congestion may occur at the TRP attempting to measure a large number of UEs simultaneously.

[0058]

[0070] 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, or by one or more devices other than the TRP300 that receives the signal from the UE200.

[0059]

[0071] 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).

[0060]

[0072] A location estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names such as a location estimate, location, position, location fix, fix, etc. A location estimate can be geodetic and have coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), or it can be civic and have a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A location estimate can further be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude). A location estimate can include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume in which the location is expected to be included at some specified or default reliability level).

[0061]

[0073] Priority of Positioning Reference Signals

[0074] Historically in LTE and NR, a UE does not process DL PRS that collides with another DL signal or channel transmitted to the UE without a measurement gap (a measurement gap is the time when the UE should receive and measure PRS rather than other signals or channels). Each channel is a logical connection between entities such as a TRP and a UE. The term "channel" may also refer to the information carried on the channel in this specification. The discussion in this specification provides techniques for prioritizing PRS processing over other DL signals and channels even without a measurement gap so that a PRS that collides with (e.g., is expected to collide with or actually collides with) another signal or channel can be processed.

[0062]

[0075] Referring to FIG. 5 and further to FIGS. 1 - 4, UE500 includes a processor 510, an interface 520, and a memory 530 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 540. UE500 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, and thus, UE200 may be an example of UE500. Interface 520 may include one or more of the components of transceiver 215, such as wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246, or wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246, or wireless transmitter 242, wireless receiver 244, and antenna 246. Memory 530 may be configured similarly to memory 211, which includes software having processor - readable instructions configured to cause processor 510 to perform functions, for example. Although the description may refer only to processor 510 performing functions, this includes other implementations such as when processor 510 executes software and / or firmware (stored in memory 530). The description may refer to UE500 performing functions as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of UE500 (such as processor 510 and memory 530) that perform the functions. Processor 510 includes a PRS priority unit 550 configured to determine and implement the priority of PRS as discussed herein (optionally with memory 530 and, as appropriate, interface 520). The PRS priority unit 550 is discussed further below, and this description may refer to processor 510 generally or UE500 generally as performing any of the functions of the PRS priority unit 550. The operation of the PRS priority unit 550 is discussed herein with reference to FIG. 6, which shows signaling and process flow 600 for determining and implementing the priority of PRS. Flow 600 includes the illustrated steps but is only an example, such that steps may be added, rearranged, and / or deleted.

[0063]

[0076] The PRS priority unit 550 is configured to determine whether a PRS (DL PRS or UL PRS, also known as SRS for positioning) has a higher priority than another reference signal and / or another channel (i.e., other than the channel on which the PRS is carried). The PRS priority unit 550 may determine whether the PRS has a higher priority based on one or more factors, and may determine whether the PRS has a higher priority than a combination of other reference signals, a combination of other channels, or a combination of one or more other reference signals and one or more other channels. Examples of other reference signals are DMRS (demodulation RS) for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel), DMRS for PDCCH (physical downlink control channel), DMRS for PBCH (physical broadcast channel), PTRS (phase tracking RS) for PDSCH, CSI-RS (channel state information-reference signal), and RIM (radio access network (RAN) information management) RS. Examples of channels include PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH. The PRS priority unit 550 may determine the priority of the PRS related to the PRS resource, PRS resource set, frequency layer, and / or TRP.

[0064]

[0077] UE500 is configured to provide a processing priority based on the priority indicated by the prioritization unit 550. If the PRS has a higher processing priority (also referred to herein as having a higher priority), UE500 processes (e.g., measures and possibly reports) the PRS instead of the corresponding reference signal and / or channel of lower priority that collides with the PRS outside the measurement gap. The lower priority reference signal or channel that collides with the higher priority PRS is not processed, e.g., discarded or ignored by the processor 510 or may not be provided to the processor 510. Similarly, the lower priority PRS that collides with the higher priority reference signal or channel is not processed, e.g., discarded or ignored by the processor 510 or may not be provided to the processor 510. The processor 510 may include a portion of the interface 520 to the extent that, for example, the interface 520 makes a decision as to whether to process or forward the information for further processing. Thus, the processor 510 is a logical representation and not necessarily a physical representation, and the processor 510 includes components for processing regardless of its physical location within the UE500.

[0065]

[0078] UE500 may provide a higher priority at the PRS resource level. For example, the beam corresponding to a resource in a resource set of multiple resources may be more important for the PRS than the data, and thus UE500 may give the PRS a higher priority with respect to the data of that beam. UE500 may provide different priorities to different PRS resources within the PRS resource set.

[0066]

[0079] UE500 may provide a higher priority at the PRS resource set level. For example, if the resource set has a low period (such that the resource set occurs rarely), any collision may be more significant than in the case of a resource set with a higher period, and thus UE500 may provide a higher priority to the low-period resource set to help ensure that the resource set is processed. Alternatively, a high-period resource set may have a high period because the content of the resource set is important and should be processed frequently, and thus UE500 may provide a high priority (e.g., a higher priority than data) to the high-period resource set. UE500 may provide a higher priority than data to some resource sets in a frequency layer and a lower priority than data to some resource sets in a frequency layer.

[0067]

[0080] UE500 may provide a higher priority based on a frequency layer, for example, to provide a priority to a frequency layer corresponding to a frequency range. For example, a first frequency layer (FL1) may correspond to FR1 (frequency range 1 from 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz), and a second frequency layer (FL2) may correspond to FR2 (frequency range 2 which is a millimeter wave band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). The second frequency layer FL2 may have less data and thus a lower likelihood of collision and be opportunistic, and thus UE500 may give a lower priority to the second frequency layer and a higher priority to the first frequency layer due to the lower likelihood of collision in FL2. As another example, one FL may be configured for data and another FL may be configured for PRS. For example, one FL may have a higher priority for data than for PRS, and the other FL may have a higher priority for PRS than for data.

[0068]

[0081] UE500 may provide priority to a specific TRP, for example, used in RSTD positioning. To help ensure that the reference signal, whose timing is to be compared with the timing of other signals to determine the time difference, is received and processed, UE500 provides a higher priority to the PRS for the reference TRP (for example, over that for another signal (such as a reference signal, data signal) and / or over that for another channel), which may help ensure that the reference signal for the reference TRP is received. Otherwise, the time difference may be determined incorrectly or may even become impossible to determine.

[0069]

[0082] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority in any of various ways, for example, based on one or more of various factors (such as resource, resource set, frequency layer, TRP). For example, the priority unit 550 may be configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the location reference signal based on explicit or implicit instructions, based on the timing behavior of the PRS (DL-PRS and / or UL-PRS), based on the positioning technique to be implemented, and / or based on the structure of the PRS. UE500 may provide the priority capability of UE500 to the server 400 in the UE priority capability message 612 at stage 610 of flow 600. UE500 may provide the message 612 to the server 400 directly as shown in FIG. 6 or indirectly via one or more intermediaries such as TRP300. The message 612 may indicate the capability of UE500 to support the priority of PRS processing. The capabilities may be reported in a band-specific or FR-specific manner, for example, each capability may be reported for each band / frequency range. The UE priority capability message 612 may be provided before and / or after stage 620 discussed below and may be provided multiple times, for example, intermittently (such as periodically, semi-persistently, or on demand).

[0070]

[0083] One or more factors by which the UE 500 can determine PRS priority can be indicated by the PRS configuration information received by the UE 500. For example, at stage 620 of flow 600, the server 400 sends a PRS configuration message 622 to the UE 500. Although this description refers to PRS in the present specification, this term includes various forms of positioning signals, and thus, the PRS configuration message 622 provides a positioning signal configuration. The PRS configuration message 622 can be sent directly from the server 400 to the UE 500 or via one or more intermediaries such as the TRP 300. The PRS configuration message 622 can include, for example, the scheduled timing of periodic PRS, the period, the slot offset, the bandwidth offset, the number of ports, the repetition factor, the number of PRS symbols within a slot, the information element type, one or more explicit priority indications, search window information (e.g., duration, start time, end time), and / or whether aperiodic PRS and / or aperiodic PRS measurement report requests should be expected. For example, the UE 500 can provide PRS resources configured with a specific type of IE (e.g., 3GPP release 17 type IE) with a higher processing priority than other channels having symbols that collide with the PRS. At stage 630, the UE 500 can determine the priority of the PRS with respect to one or more other reference signals and / or one or more channels, as will be particularly discussed hereinafter in this specification. At stage 640, the UE 500 can process the PRS according to the determined priority, for example, perform measurements, determine positioning information (e.g., one or more ranges, locations, etc.), generate and / or transmit an SRS for positioning, etc., and directly or indirectly provide the positioning information 642 to the server 400 as appropriate.

[0071]

[0084] The PRS priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of PRS processing based on one or more explicit indications of priority, for example, included in the PRS configuration message 622 received by the UE 500. For example, the PRS configuration message 622 may provide an indication that the PRS should receive a higher priority than one or more other reference signals and / or one or more channels, for example, in a single field or a single bit. For example, the PRS configuration message 622 may include high / low priority bits indicating whether the UE 500 should assign a high or low priority to the corresponding PRS with respect to one or more indicated other reference signals and / or one or more channels. The single bit may be known to be applied to one or more other reference signals and / or one or more channels (e.g., programmed in the UE 500 according to an industry standard). The meaning of the single bit may be fixed or may be dynamically configurable by control signaling, for example, by MAC-CE (Medium Access Control - Control Element) or DCI (Downlink Control Information) signaling, or by upper layer signaling such as LPP (LTE Positioning Protocol) or RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling. The update of the meaning of the single bit may be provided by MAC-CE signaling, which is faster than LPP or RRC signaling. As two examples of the dynamic meaning of the single bit, the signaling may be received by the UE 500 such that the meaning of a value of 1 of the single bit is that the PDSCH has a higher processing priority than the PRS, or that the PRS has a higher processing priority than the PDSCH and PDCCH. For example, the control signaling may be received to command the UE 500 regarding the meaning of the single bit, for example, at the time of receipt of the control signaling and valid until further notice or for a specified time or until a specified future time, and control signaling to change this meaning of the single bit may be received later.

[0072]

[0085] An explicit indication of priority may comprise a plurality of indications of priority, each corresponding to a respective reference signal or channel, or a combination of reference signals, or a combination of channels, or a combination of one or more reference signals and one or more channels. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, control signal 700 includes nine fields, a DMRS field 711 for PDSCH, a DMRS field 712 for PDCCH, a DMRS field 713 for PBCH, a PTRS field 714 for PDSCH, a CSI-RS field 715, a RIM RS field 716, a PDSCH field 717, a PDCCH field 718, and a PBCH field 719. Control signal 700 is merely an example and does not limit the present disclosure, including the claims. The bits in each of fields 711-719 indicate whether the DL PRS has a higher priority treatment than the corresponding reference signal and channel, or the corresponding channel. Here, a value of 1 indicates that the DL PRS has a higher processing priority than the corresponding reference signal and / or channel, and a value of 0 indicates that the DL PRS has a lower processing priority than the corresponding reference signal and / or channel. A higher priority indication for a channel, e.g., PBCH shown in field 719, may override an indication of a signal on the channel, e.g., DMRS for PBCH in field 713. Thus, the value of DMRS field 713 for PBCH is 0 in this example, indicating that the PRS has a lower priority than the DMRS for PBCH, but since the value of PBCH field 719 is 1, the PRS has a priority overriding all PBCH signaling, and thus, in this example, instead of the DMRS for PBCH, where the PRS and the DMRS for PBCH collide, the PRS is processed by UE 500. In the illustrated exemplary control signal 700, all of fields 711-719 correspond to a single reference signal and channel, or a single channel, but a reference signal, channel, or a combination of one or more reference signals and one or more channels may be implemented.

[0073]

[0086] Multiple explicit indications may be provided, for example, for one or more other reference signals and / or for one or more channels, to indicate the processing priority of the SRS for positioning. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the control signal 750 includes four fields, a legacy SRS field 751, an SRS field 752 for communication, a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) field 753, and a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) field 754. The control signal 750 is merely an example and does not limit the present disclosure, including the claims. The bits in each of the fields 751-754 indicate whether the SRS for positioning has a higher priority processing than the corresponding reference signal or channel. Here, a value of 1 indicates that the SRS for positioning has a higher processing priority than the corresponding reference signal or channel, and a value of 0 indicates that the SRS for positioning has a lower processing priority than the corresponding reference signal or channel. In the illustrated exemplary control signal 750, all of the fields 751-754 correspond to a single reference signal or a single channel, but a reference signal, a channel, or a combination of one or more reference signals and one or more channels may be implemented.

[0074]

[0087] UE500 can determine the processing priority of SRS for positioning, for example, based on one or more explicit instructions in the PRS configuration message 622. The processing priority of SRS for positioning includes the priority for generating and / or transmitting SRS for positioning to the TRP300. For example, prioritizing the transmission of SRS for positioning may include generating SRS for positioning as well as legacy SRS and / or SRS for communication, and only transmitting the SRS for positioning, or only generating the SRS for positioning and transmitting the SRS for positioning. The message 622 may include one or more explicit instructions that one or more SRS resources for positioning and / or one or more SRS resource sets for positioning should have a higher (or lower) processing priority than legacy SRS or SRS for communication. Legacy SRS is SRS for positioning but has a different definition (for example, defined previously, that is, before the current SRS for positioning) and is given a lower priority than the (current) SRS for positioning. SRS for communication is SRS configured for one or more of various communication purposes, such as beam management, UL codebook-based communication, UL non-codebook-based communication, antenna switching / DL CSI collection.

[0075]

[0088] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of PRS processing based on, for example, one or more implicit indications of priority included in the PRS configuration message 622 received by the UE 500. For example, the UE 500 may be configured to analyze one or more information from the PRS configuration message 622 according to one or more rules, for example, according to industry standards, to determine the PRS processing priority. The UE 500 may be configured to find one or more information from the PRS configuration message 622 in a configuration information and a lookup table of PRS priorities to determine the PRS priority. The UE 500 may be configured to use, for example, an indication of an information element type in the PRS configuration message 622 to determine the processing priority of the PRS. The UE 500 may be configured to determine that a PRS resource composed of information elements of a specific version (for example, release) of an industry standard should have a processing priority that prevails over other channels (that is, channels that do not carry the PRS resource) that collide with the PRS resource of this specific version of the industry standard. The implicit indication of the PRS priority may or may not be configurable. For example, it may be permanently programmed into the UE 500 based on industry standards when the UE 500 is manufactured.

[0076]

[0089] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of the PRS process based on the timing behavior of the PRS. For example, the DL PRS may be sent by the TRP 300 and / or the UL PRS may be sent by the UE 500, either aperiodically (e.g., on demand), semi - persistently, or periodically, and such timing behavior may be indicated in the PRS configuration message 622. The UE 500 may be configured to give a higher processing priority to the DL PRS in response to the DL PRS being transmitted aperiodically, i.e., in response to the DL PRS being configured as an aperiodic DL PRS (e.g., higher than data, CSI - RS, or control signaling). The UE 500 may be configured to give a lower priority to the DL PRS than data, CSI - RS, or control signaling when the transmission of the DL PRS is semi - persistent or periodic (i.e., when the transmission of the DL PRS is semi - persistent or periodic, give a higher priority to data, CSI - RS, and control signaling). Similarly, the UE 500 may be configured to give a higher priority to the UL PRS transmitted aperiodically than to data and / or another type of signaling, and to give a lower priority to the UL PRS transmitted semi - persistently or periodically than to data and / or another type of signaling. The timing behavior may be related to the positioning technique to be implemented by the UE 500 using the PRS.

[0077]

[0090] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of the PRS processing based on the positioning method to be used. For example, the UE 500 may be configured to determine the PRS processing priority based on what positioning method should be used to process the DL PRS and / or to generate and / or transmit the SRS for positioning (e.g., the current positioning session type and thus what type of positioning method the PRS and / or SRS measurements for positioning should be used in). The UE 500 may be configured to determine the PRS processing priority based on whether the SRS for positioning is configured. The UE 500 may be configured to prioritize the PRS over other reference signals and / or channels in response to the SRS for positioning being configured and thus generated and sent as part of the selected positioning method. In the case of multi-RTT, the UE 500 may be configured such that whether the UE 500 gives a higher priority to the PRS depends on whether the SRS for positioning has a higher priority than the legacy SRS having this SRS for positioning and the legacy SRS having the same time domain behavior. Thus, the UE 500 may be configured to give a higher (lower) processing priority to the DL PRS in response to the SRS for positioning having a higher (lower) (for processing and transmission) priority than the legacy SRS having this SRS for positioning and the legacy SRS having the same time domain behavior (e.g., aperiodic, semi-persistent, or periodic).

[0078]

[0091] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of PRS processing based on the structure of the DL PRS. For example, the UE 500 may be configured to determine the priority of DL PRS and / or SRS for positioning over one or more other signals and / or over one or more channels based on the structure of the positioning signal. For example, the UE 500 may be configured to limit the amount of PRS processing for a threshold amount of processing of other reference signals, data, and / or control signaling. The UE 500 may be configured to limit PRS processing according to one or more threshold limits, for example, to help prevent PRS-dominant processing that potentially excludes other reference signals, data, and / or control information. For example, if the PRS resource has 32 repetitions over 12 symbols in a slot and has a priority over PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS, in a sequence of 32 slots, the UE 500 may be unable to process some PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS that may be unacceptable. The UE 500 may be configured to provide an upper limit, for example, on the number of symbols per slot for a PRS resource having a processing priority, for example, a higher priority than PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS. The UE 500 may limit the number of symbols per slot of a PRS resource having a processing priority to a threshold amount of symbols per slot. As another example, the UE 500 may limit the number of repetitions of a PRS resource having a processing priority to a threshold amount of repetitions per instance. As another example, the UE 500 may require a threshold gap (for example, a threshold of a minimum number of symbols) between consecutive repetitions of a PRS resource having a processing priority, for example, a higher priority than PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS. As another example, the UE 500 may prioritize the processing of PRS in response to the structure enabling reception by the UE 500 of a threshold rate of other signaling (for example, data signaling and / or signaling rate on one or more channels other than the channel used for PRS, at least).

[0079]

[0092] The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine the priority of DL PRS processing based on the search window of the DL PRS. For example, referring also to FIG. 8, the PRS configuration message 622 may include one or more parameters (e.g., upper layer parameters) that define the expected reception duration 810 of the DL PRS and the search window 820 around the expected reception duration 810. The search window 820 is a scheduled duration that exceeds (is longer than) the expected reception duration 810 of the DL PRS and includes reception time uncertainty. For example, the search window 820 may be defined by a DL-PRS-expected RSTD-uncertainty parameter and an expected RSTD parameter. The priority unit 550 may be configured to give a higher processing priority to the DL PRS than one or more other (i.e., those not carrying the DL PRS) channels, such as the PDSCH having a transmission time 830 that overlaps with the expected reception duration 810 and the search window 820. The priority unit 550 may be configured to determine whether to give a higher priority to the DL PRS over the entire search window 820 or over a subset of the search window 820 corresponding to the expected reception duration 810 of the DL PRS. Whether the UE 500 gives a higher priority to the DL PRS over the entire search window 820 or only to the expected reception duration 810 of the DL PRS may be configurable and, for example, may be changeable based on control information received by the UE 500 via the interface 520 (e.g., received during MAC-CE or DCI signaling).

[0080]

[0093] Referring back to FIG. 6 and further to FIGS. 1 - 5, at stage 640, the UE 500 may process the PRS and other information in one or more ways according to the PRS priority determined at stage 630. For example, referring also to FIG. 9, the UE 500 may be configured to skip (e.g., discard and / or ignore) the processing of all information corresponding to lower - priority reference signals 910 or all information of lower - priority channel communications 920, where some portion of such reference signals 910 or such communications 920 collides with higher - priority PRS 930, e.g., symbols of higher - priority PRS. For example, the UE 500 may skip the processing of some information in slots affected by PDSCH communications (i.e., slots where at least one symbol collides with higher - priority PRS (e.g., is expected to collide or actually collides)), or some portion of the PRS resources or affected resource sets affected by reference signals such as CSI - RS (i.e., resources or resource sets where at least one symbol collides with higher - priority PRS). Similarly or alternatively, the UE 500 may be configured not to process (e.g., discard and / or ignore) only the portion 912 of the lower - priority reference signal that collides with higher - priority PRS 930 or only the portion 922 of the lower - priority channel communication that collides with higher - priority PRS 930, and to process any non - colliding portion of the lower - priority reference signal or lower - priority channel communication. These alternative forms may be applied to multiple reference signals, multiple channels, or a combination of one or more reference signals and one or more channels. If the UE 500 is configured to process non - PRS according to any of these alternative forms, the UE 500 may determine which alternative form to implement based on control information received by the UE 500 via interface 520, e.g., included in MAC - CE or DCI signaling.

[0081]

[0094] Operation

[0095] Referring to FIG. 10 and further to FIGS. 1 - 9, a method 1000 for prioritizing positioning reference signals includes the steps shown. However, method 1000 is merely an example and is not limiting. Method 1000 can be varied, for example, by having steps added, deleted, rearranged, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0082]

[0096] In step 1010, method 1000 includes determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal by a UE with respect to a priority criterion, where the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, and where the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal. For example, UE 500 can be configured to determine whether to give a higher processing priority to a DL PRS signal and / or an SRS for a positioning signal with respect to another reference signal and / or a channel, for example, by performing at least one of steps 1020, 1030, 1040, or 1050. That is, processor 510 can be configured to perform step 1020, or to perform step 1030, or to perform step 1040, or to perform step 1050, or to be configured in any combination thereof (for example, configured to perform step 1020 and configured to perform step 1040, or configured to perform step 1030 and configured to perform step 1040 and configured to perform step 1050, etc.). Processor 510 can optionally comprise, together with memory 530, means for determining whether to prioritize a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0083]

[0097] In stage 1020, method 1000 may include determining whether to measure a first reference signal instead of a second reference signal without a measurement gap, where the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal. For example, the priority unit 550 may determine whether to give a higher or lower processing priority to a DL PRS signal relative to another DL reference signal (which may or may not be a positioning reference signal), such as DMRS, PTRS, CIS-RS, or RIM RS. The processor 510 may optionally, together with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap.

[0084]

[0098] In stage 1030, method 1000 may include determining whether to measure a first downlink reference signal instead of a priority reference channel without a measurement gap, where the priority reference channel comprises a downlink channel. For example, the priority unit 550 may determine whether to process a DL PRS signal instead of processing signaling (e.g., measuring one or more signals) on a downlink channel such as PDSCH, PDCCH, or PBCH. The priority reference channel is a channel with respect to which the processing priority of the first reference signal can be determined (with reference to it) and can carry various types of signals, such as reference signals, data signals, etc. The processor 510 may optionally, together with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority reference channel without a measurement gap.

[0085]

[0099] In step 1040, method 1000 may include determining whether to transmit a first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal. For example, the priority unit 550 may determine whether to give a higher or lower processing priority to the SRS for positioning relative to another UL reference signal (which may or may not be a positioning reference signal), such as a legacy SRS or an SRS for communication. The processor 510 may optionally, together with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of the second reference signal.

[0086]

[0100] In step 1050, the method may include determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on a priority reference channel, where the priority reference channel comprises an uplink channel. For example, the priority unit 550 may determine whether to process the SRS for a positioning signal (e.g., transmit one or more signals) instead of processing signaling on an uplink channel such as a PUSCH or PUCCH. The processor 510 may optionally, together with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority reference channel.

[0087]

[0101] Implementations of method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal may comprise determining, based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal, whether to assign a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal. For example, UE 500 may determine whether to assign a higher processing priority to the first reference signal based on whether the first reference signal is aperiodic, or periodic, or semi-persistent. The first reference signal is a PRS and may be a UL PRS or a DL PRS. Processor 510 may optionally, together with memory 530 and / or interface 520, comprise means for determining, based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal, whether to assign a higher processing priority to the first reference signal. In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 comprises assigning a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic. For example, UE 500 may, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic, assign a higher processing priority to the first reference signal (e.g., indicating and / or being able to process the first reference signal instead of or prior to another reference signal or (designated) channel). In another exemplary implementation, determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion may be by determining, based on a first control communication received by the UE, whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being semi-persistent, or by determining, based on a second control communication received by the UE, whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being periodic, and may comprise at least one of these. Thus, for example, if the timing behavior of the DL PRS is semi-persistent or periodic, UE 500 may analyze one or more control signals to determine whether to assign a higher priority to the DL PRS signal or the SRS for the positioning signal.The processor 510 may, in some cases, together with the memory 530 and, in some cases, in combination with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246), comprise means for responding to the timing behavior of the first reference signal.

[0088]

[0102] Similarly or alternatively, an implementation of method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion may include determining whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something of the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a particular network entity. For example, processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, determine (and be provided with means for determining) whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal at the resource, resource set, frequency layer, or network entity (e.g., TRP) level. In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include analyzing an instruction in the configuration information that schedules the first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion. For example, UE 500 may analyze PRS configuration message 622 for one or more explicit or implicit indications as to whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to one or more other reference signals or one or more channels that are explicitly or implicitly indicated. For example, UE 500 may analyze one or more indications in control signal 700 and / or control signal 750 to determine the processing priority. Processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, be provided with means for analyzing the instruction. In another exemplary implementation, the instruction may include a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and analyzing the instruction may include analyzing each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal for each one of the plurality of priority criteria, each of the plurality of priority criteria including at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof (e.g., another reference signal and channel).For example, UE500 may analyze two or more instructions in control signal 700 and / or control signal 750 to determine a processing priority. The processor 510 may optionally, in combination with the memory 530, comprise means for analyzing each of a plurality of priority instructions.

[0089]

[0103] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criteria may comprise determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criteria based on a type of information element of the first reference signal. For example, the UE 500 may analyze the PRS configuration message 622 to determine an information element type (e.g., 3GPP Release 17) and then determine what priority (higher or lower) to give the first reference signal relative to what other reference signals and / or channels (e.g., using a lookup table of information element types and prioritization). The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, may comprise means for determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criteria based on a type of information element. In another example implementation, determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criteria may be based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by the UE corresponding to the first reference signal. For example, the UE 500 may use a currently selected positioning method, e.g., as selected explicitly or implicitly by the server 400 or as selected by the processor 510, to determine processing prioritization. The server 400 may implicitly select a positioning method, e.g., by indicating criteria such as location accuracy and / or timing of location determinations, and the processor 510 may select a positioning method that meets the indicated criteria. The server 400 may implicitly select a positioning method, e.g., by scheduling a particular type of DL PRS, and the processor 510 may select a positioning method based on the type of DL PRS. A timing configuration (e.g., periodic, semi-persistent, aperiodic) related to the positioning method may be used by the UE 500 to prioritize processing of a first reference signal relative to the priority criteria.The processor 510 may, in some cases in combination with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal based on the timing configuration related to the positioning procedure to be implemented. In another exemplary implementation, determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion may be based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning. For example, the UE 500 may give a higher priority to the PRS processing in response to receiving an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning (e.g., such that the UE 500 prioritizes the PRS processing during the time when the UE 500 provides the SRS for positioning). The processor 510 may, in some cases in combination with the memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning. In another exemplary implementation, the method 1000 may include prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to an instruction indicating that the UE provides a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than the sounding reference signal for communication. For example, the UE 500 may prioritize (e.g., indicate to process or process) the first reference signal (e.g., the SRS for the positioning signal) if the instruction indicates to process a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than the SRS signal for communication. The processor 510 may, in some cases in combination with the memory 530, comprise means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to an instruction indicating that the UE provides a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than the SRS for communication.

[0090]

[0104] Similarly or alternatively, an implementation of method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. For example, determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal relative to a priority criterion may be based on the structure of the first reference signal. For example, UE 500 may determine whether to prioritize the first reference signal based on whether prioritizing the first reference signal would, in view of the structure of the first reference signal, prevent other signals from being processed in an unacceptable manner. Processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal based on the structure of the first reference signal. In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include prioritizing processing of the first reference signal in response to the structure enabling reception by a UE at a threshold rate of other signaling. The threshold rate of other signaling may, for example, be signaling the content of one or more lower priority signals and / or one or more (lower priority) channels. Processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, comprise means for prioritizing processing of the first reference signal. In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include prioritizing processing of the first reference signal relative to a priority criterion in response to the structure having less than a threshold amount of symbols per slot, or having less than a threshold amount of repetitions per instance, or having at least a threshold gap (e.g., a minimum number of symbols) between consecutive repetitions. Thus, for example, UE 500 may process the first reference signal instead of or prior to other signaling if the structure of the first reference signal has less than a threshold amount of symbols per slot, or has less than a threshold amount of repetitions per instance, or has at least a threshold gap between consecutive repetitions (e.g., determine a measurement therefrom, derive a range therefrom, generate and / or send it (for SRS for positioning)).

[0091]

[0105] Similarly or alternatively, an implementation of method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, a particular positioning reference signal may be a first downlink positioning reference signal, and method 1000 may comprise prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal over a priority criterion during a search window over a first duration that exceeds a second duration scheduled for the first reference signal. For example, UE 500 may prioritize the processing of DL PRS not only during an expected reception duration 810, but also during a search window 820. Processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, comprise means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal. In another exemplary implementation, determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over a priority criterion during the first duration may be based on control information received by the UE. For example, the UE may prioritize the processing of DL PRS based on an instruction received by the UE, either only during an expected reception duration 810 or during a search window 820. Processor 510 may, optionally in combination with memory 530, comprise means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal.

[0092]

[0106] Similarly or alternatively, an implementation of method 1000 may include one or more of the following features. In an exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include reporting, to a network entity, a UE's ability to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion. For example, UE 500 may report to server 400 (or another network entity such as TRP 300), for example, in UE priority capability message 612, whether UE 500 supports PRS priority and, optionally, how UE 500 supports PRS priority. Processor 510 may include means, optionally with memory 530 and / or interface 520 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), for reporting a UE's ability to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion. In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include prioritizing the processing of a first reference signal by skipping the processing of any symbol of a second reference signal that collides with a particular positioning reference signal, or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel, and processing any symbol of a second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal, or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel. For example, processor 510 may discard or ignore any colliding symbols of a lower priority reference signal or (lower priority) channel signal and process other (non-colliding) symbols of a lower priority reference signal or (lower priority) channel signal (unless processing is desired for another reason). Processor 510 may include means, optionally in combination with memory 530, for skipping the processing of a second reference signal and / or a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel and means for processing them.In another exemplary implementation, method 1000 may include skipping the processing of the resources of the second reference signal, or skipping the processing of a set of resources of the second reference signal, in response to some portion of the resources of the second reference signal colliding with some portion of the first reference signal, or skipping the processing of a particular slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority reference channel in response to some symbol of the particular slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority reference channel colliding with some portion of the first reference signal. For example, the processor 510 may skip the processing (e.g., measurement or transmission) of some portion of the resources or set of resources if some portion of the resources or set of resources of another (DL or UL) reference signal collides with a positioning reference signal of higher priority, or may skip processing some portion of the slot if some portion of the slot of the signal corresponding to the priority reference channel collides with a positioning reference signal of higher priority. The processor 510 may, in some cases in combination with the memory 530, comprise means for skipping the processing of the resources of the second reference signal, means for skipping the processing of a set of resources of the second reference signal, and / or means for processing a particular slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority reference channel.

[0093]

[0107] Referring to FIG. 11 and further to FIGS. 1-10, a method 1100 for prioritizing positioning reference signals includes the steps illustrated. However, method 1100 is merely an example and is not limiting. Method 1100 may be varied, for example, by steps being added, deleted, rearranged, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by a single step being divided into multiple steps.

[0094]

[0108] In stage 1110, method 1100 includes determining at a server (e.g., LMF) whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion. For example, server 400 may determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion, for example, according to method 1000. Similar to the case of method 1000, the first reference signal comprises a PRS, and the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal and / or a priority criterion channel. The priority criterion channel may carry a reference signal, a data signal, a communication signal, etc., and thus is not limited to carrying, or required to carry, a reference signal. Processor 410 may, in some cases in combination with memory 411, and in some cases in combination with transceiver 415 (e.g., wireless receiver 444 and antenna 446, and / or wired receiver 454) to obtain relevant information, be provided with means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion (e.g., determining the processing priority of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion).

[0095]

[0109] In stage 1120, method 1100 includes transmitting from the server to the UE a priority indication indicating whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion. For example, processor 410 may transmit to UE 500 one or more messages indicating whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion as determined in stage 1110 via a transceiver (e.g., wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or wired transmitter 452). The priority indication may indicate prioritizing the first reference signal or the priority criterion, and may indicate under what conditions to do so. The priority indication may indicate different prioritizations corresponding to different conditions (e.g., different timing behaviors, different priority criterion channels, different combinations of such conditions, etc.). Processor 410 may transmit one or more messages to UE 500 via a transceiver (e.g., wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or wired transmitter 452) that may be provided with means for transmitting the priority indication to the UE.

[0096]

[0110] Implementation example

[0111] The implementation example is provided in the following numbered clauses.

[0097]

[0112] 1. A user equipment (UE),

[0113] A transceiver including a receiver configured to wirelessly receive an inbound communication signal from a network entity and a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an outbound communication signal to the network entity,

[0114] A memory,

[0115] And a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor being configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein, in order to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion, the processor

[0116] Is configured to determine whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or

[0117] Is configured to determine whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or

[0118] Is configured to determine whether to transmit a first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or

[0119] configured to determine whether to transmit a first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on a priority reference channel, wherein the priority reference channel comprises an uplink channel a UE that is at least one of

[0098]

[0120] The UE of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to assign a processing priority higher than the priority reference to the first reference signal based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal

[0099]

[0121] The UE of clause 2, wherein the processor is configured to assign a processing priority higher than the priority reference to the first reference signal in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic

[0100]

[0122] 4. The processor

[0123] configured to respond to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being semi - persistent by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a first control communication received via a transceiver, or

[0124] configured to respond to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being periodic by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a second control communication received via a transceiver The UE of clause 2, which is at least one of

[0101]

[0125] The UE of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something related to the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity

[0102]

[0126] 6. The UE of clause 1, configured such that a processor analyzes an instruction in configuration information for scheduling a first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0103]

[0127] 7. The instruction comprises a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and the UE of clause 6, configured such that a processor analyzes each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to each of the plurality of priority criteria, each of the plurality of priority criteria comprising at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof.

[0104]

[0128] 8. The UE of clause 1, configured such that a processor determines whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion based on the type of information element of the first reference signal.

[0105]

[0129] 9. The UE of clause 1, configured such that a processor determines whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by a processor corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0106]

[0130] 10. The UE of clause 1, configured such that a processor determines whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion based on whether the processor has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning.

[0107]

[0131] 11. The UE of clause 10, configured such that a processor prioritizes processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to an instruction indicating that the processor transmits a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than a sounding reference signal for communication.

[0108]

[0132] 12. The UE of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal.

[0109]

[0133] 13. The UE of clause 12, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure enabling reception by a UE with a threshold rate of other signaling.

[0110]

[0134] 14. The UE of clause 12, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure having less than the threshold amount of symbols per slot.

[0111]

[0135] 15. The UE of clause 12, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure having less than the threshold amount of repetitions per instance.

[0112]

[0136] 16. The UE of clause 12, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure having at least a threshold gap between consecutive repetitions.

[0113]

[0137] 17. The UE of clause 1, wherein the first reference signal is a first downlink reference signal, and the processor is configured to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion during a search window having a first duration that exceeds a second duration scheduled for the first reference signal.

[0114]

[0138] 18. The UE of clause 17, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion during the first duration based on control information received by the transceiver.

[0115]

[0139] 19. The UE of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to report, via the transceiver, the UE's capability to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0116]

[0140] 20. The UE of clause 1, wherein, to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion, the processor is configured to skip the processing of some symbols of a second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal, or some symbols of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel, and to process some symbols of a second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal, or some symbols of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel.

[0117]

[0141] 21. To prioritize the processing of a first reference signal, the processor

[0142] is configured to skip the processing of the resources of a second reference signal in response to some part of the resources of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or

[0143] is configured to skip the processing of the resource set of a second reference signal in response to some part of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or

[0144] is configured to skip the processing of a specific slot of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel in response to some symbols of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel colliding with some part of the first reference signal and is at least one of these, the UE of clause 1.

[0118]

[0145] 22. A user equipment (UE)

[0146] comprising a transceiver configured to receive a wireless inbound communication signal from a network entity and a transmitter configured to transmit a wireless outbound communication signal to the network entity

[0147] Means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein the means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion is

[0148] Means for determining whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or

[0149] Means for determining whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or

[0150] Means for determining whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or

[0151] Means for determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority criterion channel, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises an uplink channel, A UE comprising at least one of the above.

[0119]

[0152] 23. The UE according to clause 22, comprising means for determining whether to assign a higher processing priority to the first reference signal than the priority criterion based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal.

[0120]

[0153] 24. The UE according to clause 23, comprising means for assigning a higher processing priority to the first reference signal than the priority criterion in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic.

[0121]

[0154] 25. The UE shall,

[0155] based on the first control communication received via the transceiver, determine whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal, thereby means for responding to the semi-persistent timing behavior of the first reference signal, or

[0156] based on the second control communication received via the transceiver, determine whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal, thereby means for responding to the periodic timing behavior of the first reference signal The UE according to clause 23, comprising at least one of them.

[0122]

[0157] 26. The UE shall, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity, have means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or the resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or the frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something related to the first reference signal. The UE according to clause 22.

[0123]

[0158] 27. The UE according to clause 22, having means for analyzing an instruction in the configuration information for scheduling the first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criteria.

[0124]

[0159] 28. The instruction comprises a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and the UE has means for analyzing each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal for each of the plurality of priority criteria, and each of the plurality of priority criteria comprises at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof. The UE according to clause 27.

[0125]

[0160] The UE according to clause 22, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the type of information element of the first reference signal.

[0126]

[0161] The UE according to clause 22, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the timing configuration related to the positioning procedure to be implemented by the positioning means of the UE corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0127]

[0162] The UE according to clause 22, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning.

[0128]

[0163] The UE according to clause 31, comprising means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to an instruction indicating that the UE transmits a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than the sounding reference signal for communication.

[0129]

[0164] The UE according to clause 22, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal.

[0130]

[0165] The UE according to clause 33, comprising means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure enabling reception by the UE with a threshold rate of other signaling.

[0131]

[0166] The UE according to clause 33, comprising means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion in response to the structure having a quantity less than the symbol threshold amount for each slot.

[0132]

[0167] 36. The UE of clause 33 comprises means for prioritizing the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure having less than a threshold amount that repeats for each instance.

[0133]

[0168] 37. The UE of clause 33 comprises means for prioritizing the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure having at least a threshold gap between successive repetitions.

[0134]

[0169] 38. The first reference signal is a first downlink reference signal, and the UE of clause 22 comprises means for prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion during a search window having a first duration that exceeds a second duration scheduled for the first reference signal.

[0135]

[0170] 39. The UE of clause 38 comprises means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion during the first duration based on control information received by a transceiver.

[0136]

[0171] 40. The UE of clause 22 comprises means for reporting, via a transceiver, the UE's ability to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0137]

[0172] 41. The UE of clause 22 comprises means for skipping the processing of any symbol of a second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel, and means for processing any symbol of a second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority criterion channel.

[0138]

[0173] 42. The UE

[0174] Means for skipping the processing of the resources of the second reference signal in response to some part of the resources of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or

[0175] Means for skipping the processing of the resource set of the second reference signal in response to some part of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or

[0176] Means for skipping the processing of a specific slot of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority reference channel in response to some symbol of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority reference channel colliding with some part of the first reference signal The UE of clause 22 comprising at least one of the above.

[0139]

[0177] 43. A method comprising

[0178] Determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal by a UE (User Equipment) with respect to a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority reference channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion is

[0179] Determining whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or

[0180] Determining whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority reference channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority reference channel comprises a downlink channel, or

[0181] Determining whether to transmit a first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or

[0182] Determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on a priority reference channel, wherein the priority reference channel comprises an uplink channel A method comprising at least one of the above.

[0140]

[0183] 44. The method of clause 43, wherein determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal comprises determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority higher than a priority criterion based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal.

[0141]

[0184] 45. The method of clause 44, wherein the method comprises giving the first reference signal a processing priority higher than a priority criterion in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic.

[0142]

[0185] 46. Determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over a priority criterion

[0186] Comprises, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being semi-persistent, determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority by determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority based on a first control communication received by the UE, or

[0187] In response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being periodic, determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority by determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority based on a second control communication received by the UE The method of clause 44 comprising at least one of the above.

[0143]

[0188] Determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something of the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity, the method of clause 43.

[0144]

[0189] The method of clause 43, wherein the method comprises analyzing an instruction in configuration information for scheduling a first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0145]

[0190] The instruction comprises a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and analyzing the instruction comprises analyzing each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal for each one of the plurality of priority criteria, each of the plurality of priority criteria comprising at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, the method of clause 48.

[0146]

[0191] Determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the type of information element of the first reference signal, the method of clause 43.

[0147]

[0192] Determining whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by a UE corresponding to the first reference signal, the method of clause 43.

[0148]

[0193] Determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning, the method of clause 43.

[0149]

[0194] The method of clause 52 further comprises prioritizing processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to an instruction indicating that the UE transmits a sounding reference signal for positioning having a higher priority than a sounding reference signal for communication.

[0150]

[0195] Determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal, the method of clause 43.

[0151]

[0196] The method of clause 54 further comprises prioritizing processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure enabling reception by a UE at a threshold rate of other signaling.

[0152]

[0197] The method of clause 54 further comprises prioritizing processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure having less than a threshold amount of symbols per slot.

[0153]

[0198] The method of clause 54 further comprises prioritizing processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure having less than a threshold amount of repetitions per instance.

[0154]

[0199] The method of clause 54 further comprises prioritizing processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to the structure having at least a threshold gap between successive repetitions.

[0155]

[0200] 59. The first reference signal is a first downlink reference signal, and the method further comprises prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criteria during a search window having a first duration that exceeds a second duration scheduled for the first reference signal, the method of clause 43.

[0156]

[0201] 60. Determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criteria, based on control information received by the UE, during the first duration, the method of clause 59, comprising determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criteria.

[0157]

[0202] 61. The method of clause 43 further comprises reporting to the network entity the UE's ability to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criteria.

[0158]

[0203] 62. Further comprising prioritizing the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criteria by skipping the processing of any symbol of a second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to the priority criteria channel, and processing any symbol of a second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to the priority criteria channel, the method of clause 43.

[0159]

[0204] 63.

[0205] In response to some part of the resources of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, skipping the processing of the resources of the second reference signal, or

[0206] In response to some part of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, skipping the processing of the resource set of the second reference signal, or

[0207] Avoiding the processing of a specific slot of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority reference channel in response to some symbol of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority reference channel colliding with some portion of a first reference signal The method of clause 43, further comprising

[0160]

[0208] A non - transitory processor - readable storage medium comprising processor - readable instructions for causing a processor of a user equipment (UE) to

[0209] Determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal over a priority reference, where the priority reference comprises a second reference signal, or a priority reference channel, or a combination thereof, where the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and where, to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority reference, the processor - readable instructions

[0210] Cause the processor to determine whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, where the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or

[0211] Cause the processor to determine whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority reference channel without a measurement gap, where the priority reference channel comprises a downlink channel, or

[0212] Cause the processor to determine whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or

[0213] Cause the processor to determine whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority reference channel, where the priority reference channel comprises an uplink channel, A storage medium comprising at least one of the following.

[0161]

[0214] 65. The storage medium of clause 64, wherein the processor-readable instructions comprise processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine whether to give a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to a first reference signal based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal, in order to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal.

[0162]

[0215] 66. The storage medium of clause 65, wherein the storage medium comprises processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to give a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic.

[0163]

[0216] 67. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion, the processor-readable instructions

[0217] processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine whether to give a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a first control communication received by the UE, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being semi-persistent, or

[0218] processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine whether to give a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a second control communication received by the UE, in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being periodic The storage medium of clause 65, comprising at least one of the above.

[0164]

[0219] 68. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion, the processor-readable instructions comprise processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something of the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity. The storage medium of clause 64.

[0165]

[0220] 69. The storage medium of clause 64, comprising processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to analyze a priority instruction in the configuration information for scheduling the first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0166]

[0221] 70. The priority instruction comprises a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria. The processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to analyze the priority instruction comprise processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to analyze each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to each of the plurality of priority criteria. Each of the plurality of priority criteria comprises at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof. The storage medium of clause 69.

[0167]

[0222] 71. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion, the processor-readable instructions comprise processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the type of information element of the first reference signal. The storage medium of clause 64.

[0168]

[0223] 72. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, processor-readable instructions cause a processor to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by a UE corresponding to the first reference signal. The storage medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for this purpose.

[0169]

[0224] 73. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, processor-readable instructions cause a processor to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion based on whether the UE has received positioning instructions for providing a sounding reference signal for positioning. The storage medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for this purpose.

[0170]

[0225] 74. In response to positioning instructions indicating that the UE transmits a sounding reference signal for positioning with a higher priority than a sounding reference signal for communication, the storage medium of clause 73 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion.

[0171]

[0226] 75. To determine whether to prioritize the processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, processor-readable instructions cause a processor to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal. The storage medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for this purpose.

[0172]

[0227] 76. In response to the structure enabling reception by a UE at a threshold rate of other signaling, the storage medium of clause 75 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion.

[0173]

[0228] The memory medium of clause 75 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to having a structure that is less than a threshold amount of symbols per slot.

[0174]

[0229] The memory medium of clause 75 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to having a structure that is less than a threshold amount of repetitions per instance.

[0175]

[0230] The memory medium of clause 75 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion in response to having a structure that has at least a threshold gap between consecutive repetitions.

[0176]

[0231] The memory medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion during a search window having a first duration that exceeds a second duration scheduled for the first reference signal, wherein the first reference signal is a first downlink reference signal.

[0177]

[0232] The memory medium of clause 80 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to determine, based on control information received by a UE, whether to prioritize processing of a particular first signal with respect to a priority criterion during a first duration, in order to determine whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion.

[0178]

[0233] The memory medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing a processor to cause a UE to report to a network entity the UE's ability to prioritize processing of a first reference signal with respect to a priority criterion.

[0179]

[0234] The storage medium of clause 64 comprises processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over a priority criterion by skipping processing of any symbol of a second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority-criterion channel, and processing any symbol of a second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority-criterion channel.

[0180]

[0235] 84. The storage medium

[0236] processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to skip processing of resources of a second reference signal in response to any portion of the resources of the second reference signal colliding with any portion of the first reference signal, or

[0237] processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to skip processing of a resource set of a second reference signal in response to any portion of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with any portion of the first reference signal, or

[0238] processor-readable instructions for causing the processor to skip processing of a particular slot of a wireless signal corresponding to a priority-criterion channel in response to any symbol of the particular slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority-criterion channel colliding with any portion of the first reference signal and comprises at least one of the foregoing, the storage medium of clause 64.

[0181]

[0239] Other considerations

[0240] 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 can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof executed by a processor. The features implementing the functions can also be physically located in various places, including being distributed such that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0182]

[0241] 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 features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0183]

[0242] As used herein, the term RS (reference signal) can refer to one or more reference signals and can be applied, as appropriate, to any form of the term RS, such as PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc.

[0184]

[0243] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and can be based on one or more additional items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0185]

[0244] Also, as used herein, "or" as used in an enumeration of items (which in some cases ends with "at least one of" or ends with "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive enumeration such that, for example, an enumeration of "at least one of A, B, or C", or an enumeration of "one or more of A, B, or C", or an enumeration of "A or B or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, for example, a processor, is configured to perform a function related to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function 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 functions related to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or to measure 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 both A and B (which may be capable of selecting which of A and B or both to measure).As another example, the statement 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 one or both of X and Y should be measured).

[0186]

[0245] 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. Further, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be utilized. Unless otherwise stated, functional or other components shown and / or discussed in the figures and / or in this specification that are connected or communicate with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, the components can be connected directly or indirectly so as to enable communication between them.

[0187]

[0246] The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the features described for 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.

[0188]

[0247] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communication is carried by electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves that propagate wirelessly, i.e., through space rather than a wired connection or other physical connection. A wireless communication network may not have all communication transmitted wirelessly and may be configured such that at least some communication is 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, nor does it require that the device be a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., includes at least one wireless for wireless communication (each wireless being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0189]

[0248] 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 merely provides exemplary configurations and does not limit the claims, applicability, or configurations. Rather, the foregoing description of the configurations provides an explanation for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the functions and configurations of the elements.

[0190]

[0249] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium", "machine-readable medium", and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium involved in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media can be involved in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or can 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 can 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.

[0191]

[0250] Although some exemplary configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents can be used. For example, the above elements can be components of a larger system where other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present invention. Also, some operations can be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the claims.

[0192]

[0251] A description that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to a 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. A description that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a description that the value is below 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), comprising a receiver configured to wirelessly receive an inbound communication signal from a network entity, and a transceiver comprising a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an outbound communication signal to the network entity, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor being configured to determine whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein, to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion, the processor is configured to determine whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or configured to determine whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or configured to determine whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of the second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or configured to determine whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority criterion channel, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises an uplink channel, the UE being at least one of the foregoing.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to assign a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal based on a timing behavior of the first reference signal.

3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to assign a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic.

4. The processor is configured to respond to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being semi - persistent by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a first control communication received via the transceiver, or configured to respond to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being periodic by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on a second control communication received via the transceiver The UE according to claim 2, which is at least one of the above.

5. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something related to the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity.

6. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to analyze an instruction in the configuration information for scheduling the first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion.

7. The instruction includes a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and the processor is configured to analyze each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal for each one of the plurality of priority criteria, and each of the plurality of priority criteria includes at least one second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority - criterion channel, or a combination thereof. The UE according to claim 6.

8. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by the processor corresponding to the first reference signal.

9. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on whether the processor has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning.

10. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal.

11. The UE according to claim 1, wherein in order to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal, the processor skips the processing of some symbol of the second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal or some symbol of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel, and processes some symbol of the second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal or some symbol of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel.

12. In order to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal, the processor is configured to skip the processing of the resource of the second reference signal in response to some part of the resource of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or is configured to skip the processing of the resource set of the second reference signal in response to some part of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with some part of the first reference signal, or is configured to skip the processing of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel in response to some symbol of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel colliding with some part of the first reference signal The UE according to claim 1, which is at least one of the above.

13. A user equipment (UE), A receiver configured to wirelessly receive an inbound communication signal from a network entity, and a transceiver comprising a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an outbound communication signal to the network entity, means for determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein the means for determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion is means for determining whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal, and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or means for determining whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or means for determining whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of a second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or means for determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority criterion channel, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises an uplink channel, a UE comprising at least one of the above.

14. The UE according to claim 13, further comprising means for determining whether to assign a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal.

15. The UE according to claim 14, further comprising means for assigning a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal in response to the timing behavior of the first reference signal being aperiodic.

16. The UE is Means for responding to the semi - persistent timing behavior of the first reference signal by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on the first control communication received via the transceiver, or Means for responding to the periodic timing behavior of the first reference signal by determining whether to assign a processing priority to the first reference signal based on the second control communication received via the transceiver The UE according to claim 14, comprising at least one of them.

17. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something related to the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity.

18. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for analyzing an instruction in the configuration information for scheduling the first reference signal to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion.

19. The instruction comprises a plurality of priority instructions corresponding to a plurality of priority criteria, and the UE comprises means for analyzing each of the plurality of priority instructions to determine whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal for each one of the plurality of priority criteria, and each of the plurality of priority criteria comprises at least one respective second reference signal different from the first reference signal, or at least one respective priority - criterion channel, or a combination thereof. The UE according to claim 18.

20. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize the processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on a timing configuration related to a positioning procedure to be implemented by the positioning means of the UE corresponding to the first reference signal.

21. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning.

22. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion based on the structure of the first reference signal.

23. The UE according to claim 13, comprising means for skipping processing of any symbol of the second reference signal that collides with the first reference signal, or any symbol of a wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel, and means for processing any symbol of the second reference signal that does not collide with the first reference signal, or any symbol of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel.

24. The UE means for skipping processing of the resource of the second reference signal in response to any part of the resource of the second reference signal colliding with any part of the first reference signal, or means for skipping processing of the resource set of the second reference signal in response to any part of the resource set of the second reference signal colliding with any part of the first reference signal, or means for skipping processing of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel in response to any symbol of the specific slot of the wireless signal corresponding to the priority criterion channel colliding with any part of the first reference signal The UE according to claim 13, comprising at least one of the above.

25. A method, comprising: determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal by a UE (user equipment) with respect to a priority criterion, where the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, where the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal with respect to the priority criterion comprises Determining whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, the first reference signal comprising a first downlink reference signal, the second reference signal comprising a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or Determining whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority reference channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority reference channel comprises a downlink channel, or Determining whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of the second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or Determining whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority reference channel, wherein the priority reference channel comprises an uplink channel, A method comprising at least one of the above. **Claim 26** The method according to claim 25, wherein determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal comprises determining whether to give the first reference signal a processing priority higher than the priority criterion based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal. **Claim 27** The method according to claim 25, wherein determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize processing of at least one of the resources of the first reference signal, or a resource set corresponding to the first reference signal, or a frequency layer corresponding to the first reference signal, or something related to the first reference signal, in response to the first reference signal being sent from a specific network entity. **Claim 28** The method according to claim 25, wherein determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion comprises determining whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion based on whether the UE has received an instruction to provide a sounding reference signal for positioning. **Claim 29** A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, for a processor of a user equipment (UE), A processor-readable instruction for determining whether to prioritize processing of a first reference signal over a priority criterion, wherein the priority criterion comprises a second reference signal, or a priority criterion channel, or a combination thereof, wherein the first reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal, and wherein, to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal over the priority criterion, the processor-readable instruction A processor-readable instruction for causing the processor to determine whether to measure the first reference signal instead of the second reference signal without a measurement gap, wherein the first reference signal comprises a first downlink reference signal and the second reference signal comprises a second downlink reference signal different from the first downlink reference signal, or A processor-readable instruction for causing the processor to determine whether to measure the first downlink reference signal instead of the priority criterion channel without a measurement gap, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises a downlink channel, or A processor-readable instruction for causing the processor to determine whether to transmit the first reference signal comprising a first uplink reference signal instead of the second reference signal comprising a second uplink reference signal different from the first uplink reference signal, or A processor-readable instruction for causing the processor to determine whether to transmit the first uplink reference signal instead of transmitting on the priority criterion channel, wherein the priority criterion channel comprises an uplink channel, A storage medium comprising at least one of the above. Claim 30 The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein, to determine whether to prioritize processing of the first reference signal, the processor-readable instruction comprises a processor-readable instruction for causing the processor to determine whether to assign a processing priority higher than the priority criterion to the first reference signal based on the timing behavior of the first reference signal.

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