Indication of time-frequency synchronization signal block (SSB) locations of neighboring transmission-reception points for positioning reference signal puncturing purposes

Abstract

To provide a method for wireless communication.SOLUTION: In an embodiment, a method of wireless communication implemented by user equipment (UE) includes: receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission- reception points (TRPs); receiving, from the network entity, a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; determining, on the basis of the set of parameters, which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs; and, on the basis of the determination, optionally processing at least some of remaining PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 887,595, entitled "INDICATION OF TIME-FREQUENCY SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCK (SSB) LOCATIONS OF NEIGHBORING TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION POINTS FOR POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL PUNCTURING PURPOSES," filed August 15, 2019, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 887,595, entitled "INDICATION OF TIME-FREQUENCY SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCK (SSB) LOCATIONS OF NEIGHBORING TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION POINTS FOR POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL PUNCTURING PURPOSES," filed August 13, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Nonprovisional Application No. 16 / 992,401, entitled "PURPOSES."

[0002] 1. Fields of Disclosure Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications and the like. [Background technology]

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications 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), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004]

[0004] The fifth-generation (5G) mobile standard, called New Radio (NR), requires, among other improvements, higher data rates, a greater number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard from the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview related to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope related to particular aspects. As such, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting some concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the detailed description presented below.

[0006]

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission receiving points (TRPs); receiving, from the network entity, a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; and determining, based on the set of parameters, which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by one or more SSBs.

[0007]

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a network entity includes transmitting to a UE a plurality of PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, and transmitting to the UE a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs.

[0008]

[0008] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, from a network entity via the at least one transceiver, a plurality of PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; receive, from the network entity via the at least one transceiver, a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; and determine, based on the set of parameters, which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs.

[0009]

[0009] In one aspect, a network entity includes a memory, a communication device, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the communication device, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the communication device to transmit to a UE a plurality of PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, and to cause the communication device to transmit to the UE a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs.

[0010]

[0010] In one aspect, the UE includes means for receiving, from a network entity, multiple PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; means for receiving, from the network entity, a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; and means for determining, based on the set of parameters, which PRSs of the multiple PRS configurations are punctured by one or more SSBs.

[0011]

[0011] In one aspect, a network entity includes means for transmitting to a UE a plurality of PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, and means for transmitting to the UE a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs.

[0012]

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes the computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction to instruct a UE to receive from a network entity a plurality of PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, at least one instruction to instruct the UE to receive from the network entity a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, and at least one instruction to instruct the UE to determine, based on the set of parameters, which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by one or more SSBs.

[0013]

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes the computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction to instruct a network entity to transmit to a UE a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs, and at least one instruction to instruct the network entity to transmit to the UE a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs.

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0015]

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided merely to illustrate, not to limit, the aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1]

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0018] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; [Figure 4A]

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates an example frame structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] FIG. 1 illustrates channels within an exemplary frame structure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]

[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an SSB according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A]

[0021] FIG. 10 illustrates SSB locations within a half-frame for different subcarrier spacings, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A-1] FIG. 1 illustrates SSB locations within a half-frame for different subcarrier spacings according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B]FIG. 10 illustrates SSB locations within a half-frame for different subcarrier spacings, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B-1] FIG. 10 illustrates SSB locations within a half-frame for different subcarrier spacings, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0022] FIG. 10 illustrates an example ServingCellConfigCommon information element (IE), according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7-1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example ServingCellConfigCommon information element (IE) according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0023] 1 illustrates an exemplary positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for cells supported by a base station. [Figure 9]

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates two SSBs on different frequencies within a PRS bandwidth, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. [Figure 10]

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017]

[0026] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, directed to various examples provided for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0018]

[0027] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0019]

[0028] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0020]

[0029] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein may be performed by particular circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. Furthermore, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct associated processors of a device to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0021]

[0030] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term “UE” as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or “UT,” “mobile device,” “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0022]

[0031] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. Base stations may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0023]

[0032] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receiving point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the base station's cell (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, and therefore, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0024]

[0033] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0025]

[0034] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0026]

[0035] According to various aspects, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations (BSs) 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0027]

[0036] The base stations 102 collectively form the RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of: forwarding of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0028]

[0037] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish between cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. Additionally, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably, as a TRP is generally a physical transmission point of a cell. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0029]

[0038] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" in FIG. 1 ) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations is sometimes known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0030]

[0039] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 (also called a reverse link) and / or downlink transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104 (also called a forward link). The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than the uplink).

[0031]

[0040] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0032]

[0041] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0033]

[0042] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies and that communicates with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also referred to as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0034]

[0043] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a “phased array” or “antenna array”) that creates beams of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is supplied to the individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together, increasing radiation in desired directions while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0035]

[0044] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships. In particular, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters related to a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and mean delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0036]

[0045] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of RF signals received from that direction.

[0037]

[0046] The receive beam may be spatially related to the transmit beam. The spatial relationship means that parameters for the transmit beam for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., SSB) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0038]

[0047] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0039]

[0048] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are called “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a secondary frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals; for example, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0040]

[0049] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0041]

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0042]

[0051] Wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communications link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0043]

[0052] According to various aspects, FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered to include a control plane function (C-plane) 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function (U-plane) 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, data network access, IP routing, etc.), which operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may be in communication with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC 210 and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be incorporated into components of the core network or alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0044]

[0053] According to various aspects, FIG. 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, a 5GC 260 may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0045]

[0054] The AMF 264 functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network-specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0046]

[0055] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an outer protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272.

[0047]

[0056] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0048]

[0057] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0049]

[0058] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0050]

[0059] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, configured to communicate via one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with the designated RAT. In particular, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358.

[0051]

[0060] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, etc.) over the wireless communications medium in question. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with the designated RAT. In particular, transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0052]

[0061] A transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some implementations, comprise an integrated device (e.g., integrated as transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single communications device), in some implementations, comprise separate transmitter and receiver devices, or in other implementations, may be integrated in other ways. In one aspect, a transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform transmit “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, a receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, a transmitter and a receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit simultaneously. The wireless communication device of the UE 302 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320) and / or the wireless communication device of the base station 304 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 350 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0053]

[0062] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, for receiving SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370, respectively, request information and actions from other systems as appropriate and perform the calculations necessary to determine the positions of the UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithms.

[0054]

[0063] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network interfaces 380 and 390, respectively, for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0055]

[0064] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. In one aspect, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0056]

[0065] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) to maintain information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (as shown in Figures 3A-3C) that, when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein.

[0057]

[0066] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processing system 332 to provide movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0058]

[0067] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0059]

[0068] Referring more particularly to the processing system 384, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0060]

[0069] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 functionality related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0061]

[0070] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carriers and provides the information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to a processing system 332 that implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions.

[0062]

[0071] In the uplink, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0063]

[0072] Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0064]

[0073] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0065]

[0074] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

[0066]

[0075] In the uplink, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0067]

[0076] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A-3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein, although it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functions in different designs.

[0068]

[0077] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. The components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by a UE," "by a base station," "by a positioning entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by a particular component or combination of components, such as a UE, a base station, a positioning entity, etc., including processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0069]

[0078] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of channels within a downlink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0070]

[0079] LTE, and sometimes NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0071]

[0080] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or greater may be available. Table 1, provided below, lists some various parameters for different NR numerologies.

[0072] [Table 1]

[0073]

[0081] In the example of Figures 4A and 4B, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Thus, in the time domain, a frame (e.g., 10 ms) is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 4A and 4B, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0074]

[0082] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and 4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0075]

[0083] As shown in Figure 4A, some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The DL-RS may include demodulation reference signals (DMRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), positioning reference signals (PRS), navigation reference signals (NRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), etc., example locations of which are labeled "R" in Figure 4A.

[0076]

[0084] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmitting a PRS is called a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0077]

[0085] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID). In addition, PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across slots. The periodicity is 2 μ It may have a length of t slots, where t is selected from the set {4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240}, and μ = 0, 1, 2, or 3. The repetition factor may have a length of n slots, where n is selected from the set {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32}.

[0078]

[0086] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not have any implications regarding whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0079]

[0087] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion," "PRS positioning instance," "positioning occasion," "positioning instance," or simply an "occasion" or "instance."

[0080]

[0088] Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may sometimes refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in LTE systems. However, unless otherwise specified, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS signals in LTE, NRS, TRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and SSB in 5G.

[0081]

[0089] Figure 4B shows an example of various channels within a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple bandwidth portions (BWPs). A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. Generally, up to four BWPs can be specified on the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, meaning that a UE can receive or transmit on only one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of an SSB, but it may or may not include the SSB.

[0082]

[0090] Referring to FIG. 4B, the PSS is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DL-RS mentioned above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped using the PSS and SSS to form an SS / PBCH block (also called SSB in NR, and interchangeably referred to herein as a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block, SS block, or SSB). The SS / PBCH block is used, among other things, for initial cell search, beam and cell measurements (e.g., radio resource management (RRM)), radio link monitoring, and new beam identification in beam recovery procedures. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is allocated to users on a dynamic and opportunistic basis and is the main data-bearing channel that carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

[0083]

[0091] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each of which contains one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle contains one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is limited to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0084]

[0092] In the example of Figure 4B, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain. Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a unique region (i.e., the CORESET) in the frequency domain. Therefore, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in Figure 4B are shown as being smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, it does not have to be contiguous. In addition, the CORESET may span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0085]

[0093] The DCI in the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data to be transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for non-MIMO downlink scheduling, for MIMO downlink scheduling, and for uplink power control. The PDCCH may be transported by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0086]

[0094] Mobile network operators are showing great interest in dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) between NR and LTE radio access technologies. Without DSS, operators would have to split their available spectrum into two parts: one for LTE and one for NR. However, with DSS, operators can use all their available spectrum for both NR and LTE by intelligently allocating it between NR and LTE carriers operating in the same frequency band (e.g., 20 MHz) according to traffic requirements and user needs.

[0087]

[0095] To implement DSS, legacy LTE networks are expected to be able to operate without modification, and NR network nodes are expected to perform rate matching to occupy resources in the LTE frequency band(s) not occupied by LTE traffic. Currently, NR supports both RB-level and RE-level rate matching with LTE resources for 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS). At the RE level, the NR PDSCH can be transmitted in the RE of the LTE CRS symbol if the RRC information element (IE) "lte-CRS-ToMatchAround" is enabled. That is, the NR PDSCH traffic is rate-matched to fit into the remaining subcarriers of the LTE CRS symbol, thereby increasing throughput for NR users without affecting legacy LTE users. For downlink scheduling, in slots shared between LTE and NR traffic, to avoid contention with the LTE PDCCH, NR traffic starts from the second symbol of the slot, and only Type-B scheduling is used.

[0088]

[0096] There are various issues that need to be addressed to implement DSS between NR and LTE. One issue is that an SS / PBCH block (sometimes referred to as an SSB in NR) occupies four consecutive symbols in the time domain and 20 consecutive RBs in the frequency domain, as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates the structure of an SS / PBCH block 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the SS / PBCH block 500 (or SSB) structure comprises four OFDM symbols 510-540 in the time domain, with the first OFDM symbol spanning 12 RBs in the frequency domain and the remaining three OFDM symbols spanning 20 RBs. The first symbol 510 carries a PSS, the second symbol 520 carries a PBCH, the third symbol 530 carries an SSS, and the fourth symbol 540 carries another PBCH. The PBCH RBs also fill the remaining RBs of the third symbol 530 carrying the SSS, minus some guard subcarriers, as indicated by the gap between the PBCH RBs and the SSS in symbol 530.

[0089]

[0097] The PSS in the first symbol 510 and the SSS in the third symbol 530 each comprise 12 RBs, for a total of 48 PBCH RBs. As described above with reference to Figures 4A and 4B, each RB comprises 12 subcarriers, so 12 RBs comprise 144 subcarriers and 20 RBs comprise 240 subcarriers. Thus, the PBCH in symbols 520 and 540 spans 240 subcarriers, and the PSS in the first symbol 510 and the SSS in the third symbol 530 each comprise 127 subcarriers (144 subcarriers minus some guard subcarriers). Although not shown, the second symbol 520 and the fourth symbol 540, which carry the PBCH, include PBCH DMRS and PBCH data. Each of the 20 PBCH RBs has Com3 DMRS (i.e., DMRS is transmitted on every third subcarrier). The PSS, SSS, and PBCH are present in every SSB.

[0090]

[0098] In NR, the SCS is 15 and 30 kHz for sub-6 GHz frequencies (i.e., FR1) and 120 or 240 kHz for frequencies above sub-6 GHz. Transmission of SSBs within an SS burst set is limited to a 5 ms window, regardless of the SS burst set periodicity. Within this 5 ms window, the maximum number of possible candidate SSB locations is L (defining the beam sweep for the SSBs). The burst set can have a periodicity of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms, with L = 4 for frequencies below 3 GHz, L = 8 for frequencies between 3 GHz and 6 GHz, and L = 64 for frequencies between 6 GHz and 52.6 GHz. The possible time locations of the L SSBs within a slot are specified in the applicable standard. There is a 6-bit indication in the remaining minimum system information (RMSI, also called SIB1) and a full bitmap (L bits) in dedicated RRC signaling that can convey which of the L possible SSB locations will actually be transmitted.

[0091]

[0099] FIG. 6A illustrates SSB locations in the time domain within a 5 ms half-frame for SSs with 15 kHz and 30 kHz SCSs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 6A, the maximum possible value of L is shown for every SCS. For a 15 kHz SCS, shown by timeline 610, two possible locations for the SSB are at OFDM symbols 2-5 and 8-11. For a 30 kHz SCS, shown by timeline 620, there are four possible locations for the SSB in each of two different mapping options. For a first mapping option 622, the four possible SSB locations are at OFDM symbols 4-7 and 8-11 in the first slot and at OFDM symbols 2-5 and 6-9 in the second slot. For a second mapping option 624, the four possible SSB locations are at OFDM symbols 2-5 and 8-11 in the first slot and at OFDM symbols 2-5 and 8-11 in the second slot. In the example of FIG. 6A, for the serving cell (interchangeably referred to as the serving TRP), the UE knows that there is an SSB every 20 ms and, based on the specifications, can find the SSB.

[0092]

[0100] FIG. 6B illustrates SSB locations in the time domain within a 5 ms half-frame for SSs with 120 kHz and 240 kHz SCSs, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Again, in FIG. 6B, the maximum possible value of L is shown for every SCS. For a 120 kHz SCS, shown by timeline 630, four possible locations for the SSB are in OFDM symbols 4-7, 8-11, 16-19, and 20-23. For a 240 kHz SCS, shown by timeline 640, there are eight possible locations for the SSB: 8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23, 32-35, 36-39, 40-43, and 44-47.

[0093]

[0101] For a half-frame with an SS / PBCH block (e.g., SS / PBCH block 500), the first symbol index for a candidate SS / PBCH block is determined according to the SCS of the SS / PBCH block as follows, where index 0 corresponds to the first symbol of the first slot in the half-frame.

[0094]

[0102] Case A - 15 kHz SCS: The first symbol of a candidate SS / PBCH block (SSB) has an index of {2,8}+14×n. For carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1}. For carrier frequencies in FR1 greater than 3 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1,2,3}.

[0095]

[0103] Case B - 30 kHz SCS: The first symbol of a candidate SS / PBCH block (SSB) has index {4, 8, 16, 20} + 28 × n. For carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n = 0. For carrier frequencies in FR1 greater than 3 GHz, n is selected from the set {0, 1}.

[0096]

[0104] Case C - 30 kHz SCS: The first symbol of a candidate SS / PBCH block (SSB) has index {2,8}+14×n. For paired spectrum operation, for carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1}. For carrier frequencies in FR1 greater than 3 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1,2,3}. For unpaired spectrum operation, for carrier frequencies less than or equal to 2.4 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1}. For carrier frequencies in FR1 greater than 2.4 GHz, n is selected from the set {0,1,2,3}.

[0097]

[0105] Case D - 120 kHz SCS: The first symbol of a candidate SS / PBCH block (SSB) has index {4, 8, 16, 20} + 28 × n, where n is selected from the set {0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18} for carrier frequencies within FR2.

[0098]

[0106] Case E- 240 kHz SCS: The first symbol of the candidate SS / PBCH block has index {8, 12, 16, 20, 32, 36, 40, 44} + 56 × n, where n is selected from the set {0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8} for carrier frequencies in FR2.

[0099]

[0107] The UE needs to know not only in which frame(s) the SSB may appear, but also the SSB periodicity and which of the possible SSB locations actually carry the SSB. This information is conveyed in the ServingCellConfigCommon IE. The ServingCellConfigCommon IE is used to configure cell-specific parameters of the UE's serving cell. The IE contains parameters that the UE will typically collect from SSB(s), MIB(s), or SIB(s) when accessing a cell from RRC idle state. Using this IE, the network provides these parameters in dedicated signaling when configuring the UE on an SCell or in an additional cell group (SCG). The network also provides it to SpCells (master cell group (MCG) and secondary cell groups (SCG)) upon reconfiguration with synchronization. Figure 7 shows an example ServingCellConfigCommon IE 700 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0100]

[0108] In NR, SSB locations across different cells may appear on different time and / or frequency resources, and even multiple SSBs can exist on the same carrier. In addition, if a cell (or TRP) transmits both an SSB and a PRS, the SSB and PRS may be scheduled to be transmitted simultaneously. Because the SSB has a higher priority than the PRS, any PRS overlapped by the SSB is "punctured" by the SSB. Therefore, the UE needs to know where the SSB is transmitted so that it does not attempt to measure the PRS at those time and frequency locations. However, the UE cannot detect the SSBs of neighboring cells (interchangeably referred to as neighboring TRPs) as it does for the SSBs of the serving cell. Therefore, it would be beneficial for the UE to know the time and frequency locations of the SSBs for neighboring cells so that the UE is aware of whether and how the corresponding PRSs from those cells are punctured.

[0101]

[0109] "Puncturing" is a technique whereby in the event of overlap between a high-priority signal (here, SSB) and a low-priority signal (here, PRS), the high-priority signal takes precedence and the low-priority signal is not transmitted (i.e., "punctured") to allow the high-priority signal to use resources that would otherwise be allocated to the low-priority signal. More specifically, a subset of the set of resources (e.g., OFDM symbols) allocated to the low-priority signal is punctured, and the punctured subset of the set of resources is used for the high-priority signal. In that way, the high-priority signal is transmitted as if there was no overlap with the low-priority signal. The remaining, unpunctured subset of the set of resources is used for the low-priority signal.

[0102]

[0110] 8 illustrates an example PRS configuration 800 for a cell supported by a base station (or more specifically, the TRP of the base station). FIG. 8 illustrates a PRS positioning occasion with a SFN, a cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )852, and PRS periodicity (T PRS ) 820. Generally, the cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by the PRS configuration index (I PRS ) is defined by the PRS periodicity (T PRS ) 820 and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) is calculated by the PRS composition index (I PRS ) is defined based on

[0103] [Table 2]

[0104]

[0111] A PRS configuration is defined with reference to the SFN of the cell transmitting the PRS. A PRS instance is the N SFN with the first PRS positioning occasion. PRS For a first subframe of the downlink subframes,

[0105]

number

[0106]

[0112] As shown in Figure 8, the cell-specific subframe offset 852 may be defined in terms of the number of subframes transmitted starting from SFN0 (marked as "slot number = 0", slot 850) to the start of the first (subsequent) PRS positioning occasion. In the example in Figure 8, the number of consecutive positioning subframes (N PRS ) is equal to 4. N PRS Note that while N may specify the number of consecutive positioning subframes per occasion, it may instead specify the number of consecutive positioning slots based on the implementation. For example, in LTE, N PRS specifies the number of consecutive positioning subframes per occasion, while in NR, N PRS specifies the number of consecutive positioning slots per occasion.

[0107]

[0113] In some aspects, the UE may include a PRS configuration index I in the assistance data for a particular cell. PRS When receiving the PRS, the UE uses Table 2 to determine the PRS periodicity T PRS 820 and PRS subframe offset Δ PRS The UE may then determine (e.g., using the above equations) the radio frame, subframe, and slot when the PRS is scheduled in the cell. The assistance data may be determined, for example, by a location server and includes assistance data for the reference cell and several neighbor cells supported by various base stations.

[0108]

[0114] Generally, PRS occasions from all cells in a network using the same frequency may be aligned in time and have a fixed, known time offset (e.g., cell-specific subframe offset 852) relative to other cells in networks using different frequencies. In an SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base stations) may be aligned with respect to both frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by various base stations may use the same PRS configuration index for a particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in an SFN asynchronous network, various base stations may be aligned with respect to frame boundaries, not SFN. Thus, in an SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be configured separately by the network so that PRS occasions are aligned in time.

[0109]

[0115] A UE may determine the timing of PRS occasions of the reference cell and neighbor cells for positioning if the UE can acquire the cell timing (e.g., SFN) of at least one of the cells, e.g., the reference cell or the serving cell. The UE may then derive the timing of other cells, e.g., based on the assumption that PRS occasions from different cells overlap.

[0110]

[0116] For LTE systems, the sequence of subframes used to transmit PRS (e.g., for positioning) is determined by (i) a reserved block of bandwidth (BW) and (ii) a configuration index I PRS and (iii) duration N PRS and (iv) an optional muting pattern; and (v) a muting sequence periodicity T that, when present, may be implicitly included as part of the muting pattern in (iv). REP In some cases, at fairly low PRS duty cycles, N PRS = 1, and T PRS= 160 subframes (equivalent to 160 ms), and BW = 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz. To increase the PRS duty cycle, N PRS The value can be increased to 6 (i.e., N PRS =6), the bandwidth (BW) value can be increased up to the system bandwidth (i.e., for LTE, BW = LTE system bandwidth). PRS =T PRS ) up to a larger N PRS (e.g., greater than 6) and / or shorter T PRS An extended PRS with a PRS duty cycle (e.g., less than 160 ms) may also be used in later versions of the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP). A directional PRS may be configured as described immediately above, e.g., with a low PRS duty cycle (e.g., N PRS =1, T PRS = 160 subframes) or a higher duty cycle may be used.

[0111]

[0117] This disclosure defines which set of parameters should be signaled to the UE to enable the UE to know exactly the time and frequency location of the SSB(s) of a neighboring cell. The set of parameters may be signaled, for example, by a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) via LPP signaling or by the UE's serving cell. For an intra-frequency cell, the set of parameters includes: (1) the SFN or SFN offset relative to the serving SFN; (2) the subframe offset relative to the serving subframe; and (3) for each of multiple "synchronization channel rasters" (which may be many in the case of multi-SSB), (a) the frequency at which the SSBs are transmitted (e.g., synchronization raster point, global synchronization channel number (GSCN), or NR absolute radio frequency channel number (NRARFCN)), (b) half-frame index (in which half-frame the first or second burst of SSBs (i.e., a set of consecutive SSBs) is composed), (c) SSB bitmap (indicating which SSBs are on or off in each SSB burst, also called SSB-position-in-burst), (d) SSB periodicity (in ms), and (e) SSB pattern (SCS and potentially case number (e.g., A, B, C, D above)), which may be signaled in one or two bits. As will be appreciated, SFN offset and subframe offset are just one example of specifying an SSB offset in the time domain.

[0112]

[0118] Note that the above parameters (1) and (2) may also be included in the measurement assistance data because they are required to determine the PRS occasion. Additionally, the term "synchronization channel raster" simply refers to the frequency at which the SSB is transmitted. The frequency may be specified by the GSCN or NRARFCN. Furthermore, in one aspect, the half-frame index may be signaled by a 1-bit value of "0" or "1" for the first and second halves, respectively. The SSB periodicity may be signaled in 3 bits, and the SSB pattern may be signaled in 1 or 2 bits depending on the case number.

[0113]

[0119] For inter-frequency cells, it is mandatory to provide a "synchronous channel raster".

[0114]

[0120] If any of the above SSB parameters are not provided for a cell, there should be some default behavior for the UE. In LPP, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may configure the UE with SSB parameters to enable the UE to determine the exact time and frequency location of the SSB for a neighboring cell. If any of the parameters (e.g., half-frame index, SSB bitmap, SSB periodicity, SCS) are not configured for one of the configured synchronization channel rasters of a neighboring cell, the UE will assume that the corresponding parameter(s) are the same as the parameter(s) of the serving cell. If a synchronization channel raster for a neighboring cell is not provided, the UE will assume it is the same as the synchronization channel raster of the serving cell. Note that if multiple synchronization channel rasters are provided, the frequency (e.g., indicated by GSCN or NRARFCN) will also need to be provided.

[0115]

[0121] Another issue to be addressed is how a UE is expected to use assistance data for neighboring cell SSBs in the case of multiple SSBs within the PRS bandwidth (BW) of a PRS configuration (e.g., PRS configuration 800), as shown in FIG. 9. In particular, FIG. 9 shows two SSBs (“SSB1” 910 and “SSB2” 920) occupying different frequency resources within a PRS bandwidth 930. In the case of multiple SSBs within a PRS bandwidth, as in the example of FIG. 9, there are the following options: First, all OFDM symbols carrying the PRS may be punctured. Second, assuming that up to a certain number “X” of contiguous bandwidth portions are created (three in the example of FIG. 9, one on each side of the SSB), each equal to or greater than the PRB threshold, the transmitting cell is expected to puncture only the colliding PRBs. In one aspect, the PRB threshold may be equal to the minimum number that may be configured as a PRS bandwidth (e.g., 24 PRBs).

[0116]

[0122] The UE's ability to support the above options depends on the UE's capability, and the UE can signal (e.g., to a location server or serving cell) which option(s) are supported. This message may include one bit representing which option(s) are supported, a value for "X" (e.g., X=2, 3, 5), and a threshold value (e.g., 4 PRBs, 24 PRBs).

[0117]

[0123] 10 illustrates an example method 1000 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1000 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0118]

[0124] At 1010, the UE receives multiple PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs from a network entity (e.g., a serving TRP, location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272). In one aspect, operation 1010 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0119]

[0125] At 1020, the UE receives from a network entity a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of one or more serving or neighboring TRPs. In one aspect, operation 1020 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0120]

[0126] At 1030, the UE determines which PRSs of the multiple PRS configuration are punctured by the one or more SSBs based on the set of parameters. In one aspect, operation 1030 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0121]

[0127] At 1040, the UE optionally processes at least some of the remaining PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations based on the determination. In one aspect, operation 1040 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory component 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0122]

[0128] 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The method 1100 may be performed by a network entity (e.g., a serving TRP, a location server 230, an LMF 270, an SLP 272).

[0123]

[0129] At 1110, the network entity transmits to the UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) multiple PRS configurations for one or more serving or neighboring TRPs. In one aspect, if the network entity is a location server, operation 1110 may be performed by network interface(s) 390, processing system 394, memory component 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In one aspect, if the network entity is a TRP, operation 1110 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory component 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0124]

[0130] At 1120, the network entity transmits to the UE a set of parameters indicating the time and frequency locations of one or more SSBs of one or more serving or neighboring TRPs. In an aspect, if the network entity is a location server, operation 1120 may be performed by network interface(s) 390, processing system 394, memory component 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, if the network entity is a TRP, operation 1120 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory component 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0125]

[0131] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0126]

[0132] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0127]

[0133] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0128]

[0134] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0129]

[0135] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy discs, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0130]

[0136] While the above disclosure sets forth exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmitting receiving points (TRPs); receiving, from the network entity, a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; determining which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs based on the set of parameters; A method comprising:

2. and processing at least some remaining PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations based on the determination. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein an entire Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a PRS that overlaps with any portion of the subset of physical resources of the one or more SSBs is punctured.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a PRS is not mapped in any OFDM symbol containing an SSB of a neighboring TRP.

5. The set of parameters may be: the frequency at which said one or more SSBs are transmitted; a half-frame index indicating in which half-frame the one or more SSB bursts are configured; an SSB position within a burst indicating which of the one or more SSBs are on or off in each SSB burst; SSB periodicity, SSB offset, SSB pattern or SSB subcarrier spacing (SCS), the system frame number (SFN) offset of said SSB; or Any combination of them The method of claim 1 , comprising:

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the SSB offset is indicated by an SFN offset and a subframe offset.

7. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein, based on any of the sets of parameters not being configured for a neighboring TRP, the UE treats the unconfigured parameters in the same way as those for a serving TRP.

8. the one or more SSBs are transmitted on multiple frequencies; the set of parameters for the one or more SSBs is for all of the plurality of frequencies; The method of claim 1.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of parameters is for only frequencies that overlap with PRS bandwidths of the multiple PRS configurations.

10. There are multiple careers the set of parameters specifying a raster for each of the plurality of carriers and where the one or more SSBs are located; The method of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein only overlapping resources in time and frequency are punctured.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein only overlapping physical resources in time and frequency are punctured based on creating no more than a given number of contiguous PRS bandwidth portions, each having no less than a threshold number of physical resources.

13. the physical resources comprise physical resource blocks (PRBs); the threshold number is the minimum number of PRBs that can be configured for a PRS bandwidth; The method of claim 12.

14. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); transmitting to the UE a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; A method comprising:

15. The set of parameters may be: the frequency at which said one or more SSBs are transmitted; a half-frame index indicating in which half-frame the one or more bursts of SSBs are configured; an SSB position within a burst indicating which of the one or more SSBs are on or off in each SSB burst; SSB periodicity, SSB offset, SSB pattern or SSB subcarrier spacing (SCS), the system frame number (SFN) offset of said SSB; or Any combination of them The method of claim 14, comprising:

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the SSB offset is indicated by an SFN offset and a subframe offset.

17. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein an entire Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a PRS that overlaps with any portion of the subset of physical resources of the one or more SSBs is punctured.

18. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the PRS is not mapped in any OFDM symbol containing an SSB of a neighboring TRP.

19. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more SSBs are transmitted on multiple frequencies.

20. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of parameters is for only frequencies that overlap with PRS bandwidths of the multiple PRS configurations.

21. There are multiple careers the set of parameters specifying a raster for each of the plurality of carriers and where the one or more SSBs are located; 15. The method of claim 14.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein only overlapping resources in time and frequency are punctured.

23. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein only overlapping physical resources in time and frequency are punctured based on creating no more than a given number of contiguous PRS bandwidth portions, each having no less than a threshold number of physical resources.

24. the physical resources comprise physical resource blocks (PRBs); the threshold number is the minimum number of PRBs that can be configured for a PRS bandwidth; 24. The method of claim 23.

25. A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor comprising: receiving a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmitting reception points (TRPs) from a network entity via the at least one transceiver; receiving a set of parameters from the network entity via the at least one transceiver, the set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; determining which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs based on the set of parameters; A user equipment (UE) configured to:

26. the at least one processor: and processing at least some remaining PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations based on the determination.

26. The UE of claim 25, further configured to:

27. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein an entire orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a PRS that overlaps with any portion of the subset of physical resources of the one or more SSBs is punctured.

28. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the PRS is not mapped in any OFDM symbol containing an SSB of a neighboring TRP.

29. The set of parameters may be: the frequency at which said one or more SSBs are transmitted; a half-frame index indicating in which half-frame the one or more SSB bursts are configured; an SSB position within a burst indicating which of the one or more SSBs are on or off in each SSB burst; SSB periodicity, SSB offset, SSB pattern or SSB subcarrier spacing (SCS), the system frame number (SFN) offset of said SSB; or Any combination of them 26. The UE of claim 25, comprising:

30. 30. The UE of claim 29, wherein the SSB offset is indicated by an SFN offset and a subframe offset.

31. 30. The UE of claim 29, wherein, based on any of the sets of parameters not being configured for a neighboring TRP, the UE treats the unconfigured parameters in the same way as those for a serving TRP.

32. the one or more SSBs are transmitted on multiple frequencies; the set of parameters for the one or more SSBs is for all of the plurality of frequencies; 26. The UE of claim 25.

33. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the set of parameters is for only frequencies that overlap with PRS bandwidths of the multiple PRS configurations.

34. There are multiple careers the set of parameters specifying a raster for each of the plurality of carriers and where the one or more SSBs are located; 26. The UE of claim 25.

35. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein only overlapping resources in time and frequency are punctured.

36. 36. The UE of claim 35, wherein only overlapping physical resources in time and frequency are punctured based on creating no more than a given number of contiguous PRS bandwidth portions, each having no less than a threshold number of physical resources.

37. the physical resources comprise physical resource blocks (PRBs); the threshold number is the minimum number of PRBs that can be configured for a PRS bandwidth; 37. The UE of claim 36.

38. A network entity comprising: Memory and A communication device; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the communication device, the at least one processor: causing the communications device to transmit to a user equipment (UE) a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); causing the communication device to transmit to the UE a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; A network entity configured to:

39. The set of parameters may be: the frequency at which said one or more SSBs are transmitted; a half-frame index indicating in which half-frame the one or more bursts of SSBs are configured; an SSB position within a burst indicating which of the one or more SSBs are on or off in each SSB burst; SSB periodicity, SSB offset, SSB pattern or SSB subcarrier spacing (SCS), the system frame number (SFN) offset of said SSB; or Any combination of them 39. The network entity of claim 38, comprising:

40. 40. The network entity of claim 39, wherein the SSB offset is indicated by an SFN offset and a subframe offset.

41. 39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein an entire orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a PRS that overlaps with any portion of the subset of physical resources of the one or more SSBs is punctured.

42. 39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein a PRS is not mapped in any OFDM symbol containing an SSB of a neighboring TRP.

43. 39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein the one or more SSBs are transmitted on multiple frequencies.

44. 39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein the set of parameters is for only frequencies that overlap with PRS bandwidths of the multiple PRS configurations.

45. There are multiple careers the set of parameters specifying a raster for each of the plurality of carriers and where the one or more SSBs are located; 39. The network entity of claim 38.

46. 39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein only overlapping resources in time and frequency are punctured.

47. 47. The network entity of claim 46, wherein only overlapping physical resources in time and frequency are punctured based on creating no more than a given number of contiguous PRS bandwidth portions, each having no less than a threshold number of physical resources.

48. the physical resources comprise physical resource blocks (PRBs); the threshold number is the minimum number of PRBs that can be configured for a PRS bandwidth; 48. The network entity of claim 47.

49. the network entity is a Transmission Reception Point (TRP); the communication device comprises at least one transceiver; 39. The network entity of claim 38.

50. the network entity is a location server; the communication device comprises at least one network interface; 39. The network entity of claim 38.

51. A user equipment (UE), means for receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); means for receiving from the network entity a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; means for determining which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs based on the set of parameters; A user equipment (UE) comprising:

52. A network entity comprising: means for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); and means for transmitting to the UE a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs. A network entity comprising:

53. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: At least one instruction to instruct a user equipment (UE) to receive, from a network entity, a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); At least one instruction instructing the UE to receive from the network entity a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; and at least one instruction to instruct the UE to determine which PRSs of the plurality of PRS configurations are punctured by the one or more SSBs based on the set of parameters; 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

54. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: At least one instruction to instruct a network entity to transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations for one or more serving or neighboring transmission reception points (TRPs); At least one instruction instructing the network entity to transmit to the UE a set of parameters indicating time and frequency locations of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of the one or more serving or neighboring TRPs; 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

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