Transmission of SRS for positioning configured outside the initial UL BWP in disconnected state

Abstract

Reduction of timing collisions between sounding reference signal (SRS) instances when a user equipment (UE) is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state and the SRS is configured to use an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP) that is different from a UL BWP of a message transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state. More specifically, embodiments may implement collision mitigation techniques and establish action times for canceling transmission of one or more SRS instances.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] 1. Field of disclosure FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically, to determining the location of User Equipment (UE) using radio frequency (RF) signals.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Art Wireless communication networks such as cellular systems providing fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE)) and fifth-generation (5G) services may provide positioning services for determining the location of a mobile device within the coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network in addition to providing data connectivity to the wireless device. For example, the fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), may determine the location of a user equipment (UE) using measurements (e.g., made by transmission / reception points (TRPs) of the 5G wireless network) of wireless signals transmitted by the UE. A Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning is one such signal. A UE may be configured to transmit a series of SRS instances for positioning. However, collisions may occur between one or more of the SRS instances and other signals transmitted or received by the UE. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments described herein provide for mitigation of collisions between SRS instances when a UE is in an unconnected state (including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state, an RRC idle state, or a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) state) with respect to a wireless communication network and the SRS is configured to use an uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) that is different from a UL BWP used by the UE to transmit messages in the unconnected state. More specifically, embodiments can implement collision mitigation techniques that include establishing an action time for canceling transmission of one or more SRS instances.

[0004] An example method for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network according to the present disclosure may include receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) bandwidth portion (BWP) associated with an uplink (UL) BWP, the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP that is different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network. The method may also include canceling a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (D) a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE. The first threshold time gap may be less than an SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message may include a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0005] An exemplary user equipment (UE) for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network in accordance with the present disclosure may comprise a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP that is different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network. The one or more processors may be further configured to cancel a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (D) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE. The first threshold time gap may be less than an SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message may include a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0006] An example apparatus for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network in accordance with the present disclosure may comprise means for receiving a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP that is different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network. The apparatus may further comprise means for canceling a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances by the UE based on determining that (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (D) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE. The first threshold time gap may be less than an SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message may include a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0007] In accordance with the present disclosure, an exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communications network, the instructions comprising: code for receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP that is different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communications network. The instructions may further comprise code for canceling a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (D) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE. The first threshold time gap may be less than an SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message may include a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0008] This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to the entire specification, any or all drawings, and appropriate portions of each claim of this disclosure. The above, together with other features and examples, are described in more detail below in the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a positioning system, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) positioning system illustrating an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., the positioning system of FIG. 1) implemented within a 5G NR communication system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a frame structure and associated terminology for NR. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a signal flow diagram for connecting a user equipment (UE) to a transmission / reception point (TRP). [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a signal flow diagram for connecting a user equipment (UE) to a transmission / reception point (TRP). [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of a time gap (buffer period) between the transmission of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission and the transmission of other messages. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of a time gap (buffer period) between the transmission of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission and the transmission of other messages. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of a timing conflict between a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission and a subsequently transmitted message. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of a timing conflict between a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission and a subsequently transmitted message. [Figure 10]1 is a flow diagram of a method for modifying transmission of an SRS (eg, an SRS for positioning) by a UE according to one embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a base station that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein.

[0010] According to some exemplary implementations, like reference numbers in various figures refer to like elements. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by the first number of the element followed by a letter or a hyphen and a second number. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, it should be understood to be any instance of that element (e.g., element 110 in the previous example refers to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The following description is directed to several implementations for the purposes of illustrating the inventive aspects of various embodiments, however, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. Described implementations include those standards that are compatible with the following wireless technologies: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Wi-Fi technology), the Bluetooth standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone The present invention may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communications standard, such as any of the Amplification and Modulation Propagation System (AMPS), or other known signals used to communicate within a wireless network, cellular network, or internet of things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G technologies, or further implementations thereof.

[0012] As used herein, an "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves that carry information through space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multiple channels or paths.

[0013] As used herein, the term "bandwidth portion" (BWP) refers to a subset or part of the total carrier bandwidth, for example, as defined in the relevant 3GPP (registered trademark) standard. A BWP forms a set of contiguous common resource blocks (CRBs) within the total carrier bandwidth. Currently, a user equipment (UE) can be configured with up to four downlink (DL) BWPs and up to four uplink (UL) BWPs per serving cell. Due to UE battery consumption, only one BWP in the downlink and one BWP in the uplink are active at a given time on an active serving cell. An active BWP defines the operating bandwidth of the UE within the operating bandwidth of the cell. An inactive BWP may be deactivated and may not transmit or receive data. In case of time-division duplexing (TDD), the BWP pair (active UL BWP and active DL BWP) may have the same center frequency. The network can dynamically switch the UE to a desired BWP when the desired BWP is not active.

[0014] Additionally, unless otherwise specified, references to "reference signals," "positioning reference signals," "reference signals for positioning," etc. may be used to refer to signals used for positioning of a UE. As explained in more detail herein, such signals may comprise any of a variety of signal types, but may not necessarily be limited to positioning reference signals (PRS) as defined in the relevant wireless standard. Furthermore, as used herein, a Sounding Resource Signal (SRS) may include a UL PRS or an "SRS for positioning" as defined by the relevant 3GPP wireless standard.

[0015] As mentioned above, what is described herein provides for mitigation of collisions between SRS instances when a UE is in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network and the SRS is configured to use a UL BWP that is different from an initial UL BWP. More specifically, embodiments may implement collision mitigation techniques that include establishing an action time for canceling transmission of one or more SRS instances. Further details follow after the initial description of the related systems and techniques.

[0016] 1 is a simplified diagram of a positioning system 100 in which a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 can use techniques provided herein for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, according to one embodiment. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 can include a UE 105, one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) for a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or Beidou, base stations 120, access points (APs) 130, a location server 160, a network 170, and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 can estimate the position of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the UE 105, as well as known positions of other components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130) that transmit and / or receive the RF signals. Further details regarding specific position estimation techniques are discussed in more detail with respect to FIG.

[0017] It should be noted that FIG. 1 provides only a generalized view of the various components, and that any or all of the components may be utilized as appropriate, and that each of the components may be replicated as necessary. In particular, while only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more or fewer base stations 120 and / or APs 130 than those shown in FIG. 1. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0018] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any of a variety of wireless and / or wireline networks. Network 170 may comprise any combination of, for example, public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. Furthermore, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may comprise, for example, a cellular or other mobile network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network, a fifth generation (5G) wireless network (also referred to as a New Radio (NR) wireless network or a 5G NR wireless network), a Wi-Fi WLAN, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include two or more networks and / or two or more types of networks.

[0019] The base stations 120 and the access points (APs) 130 may be communicatively coupled to the network 170. In some embodiments, the base stations 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may utilize any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described herein below. Depending on the technology of the network 170, the base stations 120 may include a node B, an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), a NR NodeB (gNB), a Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. The base stations 120 that are gNBs or ng-eNBs may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), which may connect to a 5G core network (5GC) if the network 170 is a 5G network. The APs 130 may comprise, for example, a Wi-Fi AP or a Bluetooth AP or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, the UE 105 may send and receive information to and from network connectivity devices, such as the location server 160, by accessing the network 170 via the base station 120 using the first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, the AP 130 may also be communicatively coupled to the network 170 such that the UE 105 may communicate with network connectivity devices, including the location server 160, and Internet connectivity devices using the second communication link 135 or via one or more other UEs 145.

[0020] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at a base station 120. A Transmission Reception Point (TRP) (also known as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably with the terms "gNB", "ng-eNB", and "base station" herein. In some cases, a base station 120 may include multiple TRPs, e.g., each TRP associated with a different antenna or different antenna array for the base station 120. A physical transmission point may comprise an array of antennas of the base station 120 (e.g., as in the case of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or when the base station utilizes beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which 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).

[0021] As used herein, the term "cell" may generally refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 120 and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish neighboring cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., Machine-Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area in which the logical entity operates.

[0022] The location server 160 may comprise a server and / or other computing devices configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate position measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may comprise a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support a SUPL User Plane (UP) location method defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information for the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may comprise a Discovered SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also comprise an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), which supports location of the UE 105 using a Control Plane (CP) location method for LTE radio access by the UE 105. The location server 160 may further comprise a Location Management Function (LMF) that supports location determination of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) location method for NR or LTE radio access by the UE 105.

[0023] In a CP location solution, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may be exchanged between elements of the network 170 and the UE 105 as signaling from the perspective of the network 170 using existing network interfaces and protocols. In a UP location method, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data from the perspective of the network 170 (e.g., data transported using Internet Protocol (IP) and / or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0024] As mentioned previously (and described in more detail below), the estimated location of the UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals sent from and / or received by the UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information regarding the relative distance and / or angle of the UE 105 from one or more components in the positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, AP 130, base station 120). The estimated position of the UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle surveying and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known locations of the one or more components.

[0025] Terrestrial components such as AP 130 and base station 120 may be fixed, although embodiments are not so limited. Mobile components may be used. For example, in some embodiments, the location of the UE 105 may be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 communicated between the UE 105 and one or more other UEs 145, which may be mobile or fixed. When one or more other UEs 145 are used in the location determination of a particular UE 105, the UE 105 whose location is to be determined may be referred to as a "target UE" and each of the one or more other UEs 145 used may be referred to as an "anchor UE". For purposes of location determination of a target UE, the location of each of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or may be determined together with the target UE. Direct communication between one or more other UEs 145 and the UE 105 may comprise sidelink and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication techniques. Sidelink, as defined by 3GPP, is a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards.

[0026] The estimated location of the UE 105 may be used in various applications, such as to aid in direction finding or navigation for a user of the UE 105, or to aid another user (e.g., associated with the external client 180) in locating the UE 105. "Location" may also be referred to herein as a "location estimate," "estimated location," "location," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated location," "location fix," or "fix." The process of determining a location may be referred to as a "positioning," "place determination," "position determination," or the like. The location of the UE 105 may comprise the absolute location of the UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude and possibly altitude) or the relative location of the UE 105 (e.g., a location expressed as a distance north-south, east-west, and possibly up-down from some other known fixed location (e.g., including the location of a base station 120 or AP 130), or from some other location, such as the location of the UE 105 at some known prior time or the location of another UE 145 at some known prior time). A location may be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined for a local area such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, sports stadium, or convention center). The location may alternatively be a civic location, which may comprise one or more of a street address (e.g., including names and signs of a country, state, county, city, road and / or street, and / or road or street number), and / or signs or names, such as a point, a building, a part of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building. The position may further include an indication of uncertainty or error, such as the horizontal and possibly vertical distance within which the position error is expected to lie, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some level of confidence (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0027] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., that may be accessed by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to some other user, which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as finding friends or relatives or locating children or pets). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain and provide the location of the UE 105 to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0028] As previously mentioned, the exemplary positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network, such as an LTE-based network or a 5G NR-based network. FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 illustrating one implementation of a positioning system (e.g., the positioning system 100) implementing 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may be configured to determine a position of a UE 105 by using access nodes, which may include NR NodeBs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generically referred to herein as gNBs 210), ng-eNBs 214, and / or WLANs 216 to perform one or more positioning methods. The gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214 may correspond to the base stations 120 of FIG. 1, and the WLANs 216 may correspond to one or more access points 130 of FIG. 1. Optionally, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using the LMF 220 (which may correspond to the location server 160) to implement one or more positioning methods. Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 comprises the UE 105 and components of a 5G NR network comprising a Next Generation (NG) Radio Access Network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G Core Network (5G CN) 240. The 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network. The NG-RAN 235 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN, and the 5G CN 240 may also be referred to as an NG Core Network. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 of a Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar system such as a GNSS system (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)). Described below are additional components of the 5G NR positioning system 200. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0029] It should be noted that FIG. 2 provides only a generalized view of the various components, and that any or all of the components may be utilized as appropriate, and that each of the components may be duplicated or omitted as desired. In particular, while only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a greater (or lesser) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNBs 210, ng-eNBs 214, wireless local area networks (WLANs) 216, access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Further, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0030] The UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a secure user plane location (SUPL)-enabled terminal (SET), or some other name. Moreover, the UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, but not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX™), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240), etc. The UE 105 may also support wireless communications using a WLAN 216 (such as one or more RATs as previously described with respect to FIG. 1), which may connect to other networks, such as the Internet. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 105 to communicate with and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via elements of the 5G CN 240 not shown in FIG. 2, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) external clients 230. The external clients 230 of FIG. 2 may correspond to the external clients 180 of FIG. 1 implemented in or communicatively coupled to a 5G NR network.

[0031] The UE 105 may include a single entity or multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where the user may utilize audio, video, and / or data I / O devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. An estimate of the UE 105's position may be referred to as a position, position estimate, position fix, fix, location, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geodesic, thus providing the UE 105's position coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., elevation, height or depth above ground, floor, or basement). Alternatively, the UE 105's location may be represented as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address, or a destination or small area designation of some point in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The UE 105's location may also be represented as an area or volume (defined either geodesically or in a civic format) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may also be a relative location comprising distance and direction, or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates, defined with respect to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geodetically, civic-wise, or with reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to evaluate local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates and then convert the local coordinates, if necessary, to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0032] A base station in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 2 may correspond to the base station 120 in FIG. 1 and may include a gNB 210. A pair of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., directly as shown in FIG. 2 or indirectly via another gNB 210). The communication interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as an Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 210, which may provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G NR. The wireless interface between the base station (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as a Uu interface 239. The 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. In FIG. 2, the serving gNB for UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) can act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location or can act as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0033] The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 2 may also or instead include next generation evolved node Bs, also referred to as ng-eNBs 214. The ng-eNBs 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235, e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNBs 214 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in FIG. 2 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that can transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning the UE 105, but cannot receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs. Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB not shown) and / or ng-eNB 214 that may be configured to function as detection-only nodes may scan for signals including, for example, PRS data, assistance data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (e.g., related to PRS, assistance data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., 5G CN 240, external client 230, or one or more components of the controller) that may receive and store or use the data for positioning of at least the UE 105. It should be noted that although only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in FIG. 2, some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations (e.g., gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214) may communicate directly with each other via the Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200, such as the LMF 220 and the AMF 215.

[0034] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that may connect to a Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., AP 130 of FIG. 1). Here, the N3IWF 250 may connect to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access by the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or may support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 to one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. For example, the N3IWF 250 may support IPSec tunnel establishment with the UE 105, termination of IKEv2 / IPSec protocols with the UE 105, termination of the N2 and N3 interfaces to the 5G CN 240 for the control and user plane, respectively, relay of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE 105 and the AMF 215 across the N1 interface. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may directly connect to elements in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., the AMF 215, shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2) without going through the N3IWF 250. For example, a direct connection of WLAN 216 to 5GCN 240 may occur if WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN to 5GCN 240 and may be enabled using a Trusted WLAN Interworking Function (TWIF) (not shown in FIG. 2), which may be an element within WLAN 216. Note that while only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG. 2, some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216.

[0035] An access node may comprise any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. As mentioned, this may include the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, the WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, an access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include entities that enable communication to any of a variety of RATs not shown in FIG. 2, which may include non-cellular technologies. Thus, the term "access node" as used in the embodiments described herein below may include, but is not necessarily limited to, the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, or the WLAN 216.

[0036] In some embodiments, an access node such as gNB210, ng-eNB214, and / or WLAN216 (alone or in combination with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to obtain position measurement results for uplink (UL) signals received from the UE105 in response to receiving a request for location information from the LMF220, and / or to obtain downlink (DL) position measurement results obtained by the UE105 for DL ​​signals received by the UE105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, FIG. 2 illustrates access nodes (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and WLAN 216) configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, although access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using an LTE protocol for an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or Bluetooth Beacons using a Bluetooth protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an E-UTRAN, which may comprise a base station with an eNB supporting LTE wireless access. The core network for the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In that case, the EPS may include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, which in Figure 2 corresponds to the NG-RAN 235 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GCN 240. The methods and techniques described herein with respect to obtaining the civic position of the UE 105 may also be applicable to such other networks.

[0037] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 may communicate with the AMF 215, which communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functions. The AMF 215 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers of the UE 105 from an access node of a first RAT (e.g., the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, or the WLAN 216) to an access node of a second RAT. The AMF 215 may also be responsible for supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning of the UE 105 using CP positioning methods when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) (sometimes referred to as Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN positioning, Round Trip Signal Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process location service requests for the UE 105, for example, received from the AMF 215 or from the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or to the GMLC 225. In some embodiments, a network such as the 5GCN 240 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP).It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functions (including determining the location of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214 and / or the WLAN 216 and / or by using assistance data provided to the UE 105, for example, by the LMF 220).

[0038] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220. A location response from the LMF 220 (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225, either directly or via the AMF 215, which may then return a location response (e.g., including the location estimate) to the external client 230.

[0039] A network exposure function (NEF) 245 may be included in the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events related to the 5GCN 240 and the UE 105 to the external client 230, which may then be referred to as an access function (AF), and may enable secure provision of information from the external client 230 to the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or to the GMLC 225 for the purposes of obtaining the location (e.g., civic location) of the UE 105 and providing the location to the external client 230.

[0040] As further shown in FIG. 2, the LMF 220 may communicate with the gNB 210 and / or the ng-eNB 214 using the NR Positioning Protocol annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be transferred between the gNB 210 and the LMF 220 and / or between the ng-eNB 214 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215. As further shown in FIG. 2, the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the serving gNB 210-1 or the serving ng-eNB 214 for the UE 105. For example, LPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)) and between the AMF 215 and the UE 105 using a 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods, such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based positioning methods, such as ECID, AoA, uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA), and / or may be used by the LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from the gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0041] In the case of UE 105 access to WLAN 216, LMF 220 may use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for UE 105 access to gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages may be forwarded between WLAN 216 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 and N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of UE 105 and / or forwarding of other location information from WLAN 216 to LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages may be forwarded between N3IWF 250 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements known to or accessible to N3IWF 250 and forwarded from N3IWF 250 to LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be transferred between UE 105 and LMF 220 via AMF 215, N3IWF 250, and serving WLAN 216 for UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of UE 105 by LMF 220.

[0042] In a 5G NR positioning system 200, positioning methods may be classified as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based." This may depend on where the request to determine the location of the UE 105 originates. For example, if the request originates at the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method may be classified as UE-based. On the other hand, if the request originates from an external client or the AF 230, the LMF 220, or other devices or services in the 5G network, the positioning method may be classified as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0043] With the UE-assisted positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 220) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105. The location measurement results of the RAT-dependent positioning method may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), a Round Trip signal propagation Time (RTT), a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), a Time of Arrival (TOA), an AoA, a Receive Time-Transmission Time Difference (Rx-Tx), a Differential AoA (DAoA), an AoD, or a Timing Advance (TA) for one or more access points for the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, and / or the WLAN 216. Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be made from sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs, which may act as anchor points for positioning of the UE 105 if their locations are known. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of RAT-independent positioning methods such as GNSS (e.g., GNSS pseudoranges, GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase for GNSS satellites 110), WLAN, etc.

[0044] In a UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 may obtain a position measurement result (which may be the same as or similar to the position measurement result for a UE-assisted positioning method, for example) and may further calculate the position of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 220, an SLP, or broadcast by the gNB 210, the ng-eNB 214, or the WLAN 216).

[0045] In a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB210 and / or ng-eNB214), one or more APs (e.g., in WLAN216), or N3IWF250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AoA, or TOA measurements) for signals transmitted by UE105, and / or, in the case of N3IWF250, may receive measurements obtained by UE105 or APs in WLAN216 and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF220) for calculation of a position estimate for UE105.

[0046] Positioning of the UE 105 may also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if the positioning is based only on signals received at the UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UEs), the positioning may be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if the positioning is based only on signals transmitted by the UE 105 (e.g., which may be received by a base station or other UEs), the positioning may be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals both transmitted and received by the UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Sidelink (SL)-assisted positioning comprises signals communicated between the UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, the UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning described herein may be capable of using SL signaling as a supplement or replacement of SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0047] Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may vary. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may comprise PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by the base station or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs) that may be used for measuring TDOA, AoD, and RTT. Other reference signals that may be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include Sounding Reference Signals (SRS), Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS), Synchronization Signals (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), Synchronization Signal (SS)), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS), etc. Moreover, reference signals may be transmitted in a Tx beam (e.g., using beamforming techniques) and / or received in a Rx beam, which may affect the measurement results of angles such as AoD and / or AoA.

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a frame structure and associated terminology for NR that may serve as the basis for physical layer communication between the UE 105 and the base station / TRP. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may be partitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predefined time length (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10 subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices 0-9. Each subframe may include a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods within each slot may be assigned an index. A minislot may have a subslot structure (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). Additionally, a complete Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) of a subframe is illustrated in FIG. 3, showing how a subframe may be partitioned into multiple Resource Blocks (RBs) across both time and frequency. A single RB may comprise a grid of resource elements (REs) spanning 14 symbols and 12 subcarriers.

[0049] Each symbol in a slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., downlink (DL), uplink (UL), or flexible) or data transmission, or the link direction of each subframe may be dynamically switched. The link direction may be based on the slot format. Each slot may include DL / UL data as well as DL / UL control information. In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS block includes a primary SS (PSS), a secondary SS (SSS), and a two-symbol physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The SS block may be transmitted at a fixed slot position, such as symbols 0-3 as shown in FIG. 3. The PSS and SSS may be used by the UE for cell search and cell acquisition. The PSS may provide half-frame timing, and the SS may provide cyclic prefix (CP) length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS may provide cell identity information. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as the downlink system bandwidth, timing information within a radio frame, SS burst set period, and system frame number.

[0050] The UE may transmit radio frames or other physical layer signaling sequences and support SRS signals according to a frame structure that is either similar or the same as that shown in FIG. 3, which can be measured and used to determine a position estimate of the UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0051] A collection of resource elements used for transmission of SRS is called an "SRS resource". The collection of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resource occupies consecutive RBs. An SRS resource is described by at least the following parameters: SRS resource identifier (ID), sequence ID, comb size-N, resource element offset in the frequency domain, starting slot and starting symbol, number of symbols per SRS resource (i.e., duration of the SRS resource), and quasi-collocation (QCL) information. Currently, one antenna port is supported. The comb size indicates the number of subcarriers in each symbol carrying the SRS.

[0052] An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of an SRS signal, where each SRS resource has an SRS resource ID. In addition, the SRS resources in an SRS resource set are associated with the same UE. An SRS resource set is identified by an SRS resource set ID. An SRS resource ID in an SRS resource set is associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from the UE. That is, each SRS resource in an SRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam.

[0053] An "SRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which an SRS is expected to be transmitted. An SRS occasion may also be referred to as an "SRS instance," an "SRS positioning occasion," a "positioning occasion," or simply an "opportunity."

[0054] It should be noted that the terms "sounding reference signal" and "SRS" sometimes refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in LTE systems. Although the discussion herein refers to sounding reference signals and SRS, the discussion may apply to other types of positioning signals.

[0055] With reference to FIG. 4 and further with reference to FIG. 1-3, a TRP 401 (e.g., of a base station 120) and a UE 402 (e.g., UE 105) are configured to communicate with each other according to a signal flow 400 to establish an RRC connection of the UE 402 to a communication network including the TRP 401 (e.g., comprising the base station 120 and the network 170 shown in FIG. 1). Thus, the signal flow 400 can be performed while the UE 402 is in an unconnected state in which the UE 402 is not connected from the communication network of the TRP 401. In the unconnected state, the UE 402 is not connected or synchronized to the communication network, does not have an active BWP (bandwidth portion), and cannot transmit information to or receive information from the communication network using unicast transmission. Examples of unconnected states include RRC Idle defined in 3GPP, RRC Inactive defined in 3GPP, and DRX (discontinuous reception) states, e.g., long DRX cycle. Signal flow 400 is a four-step process using a Random Access Channel (RACH) to connect TRP 401 and UE 402. Naming conventions (e.g., MSG1, MSG2, etc.) are used in the relevant 3GPP specifications, and references herein to "MSG1", "MSG2", etc. may refer to specific corresponding messages shown in FIG. 4 and used in the relevant 3GPP specifications to describe the four-step RACH process. Once connected, UE 402 and TRP 401 may exchange unicast messages. Signal flow 400 may be followed to transition from an unconnected state of UE 402 (i.e., UE 402 is outside of a connected state with a communication network, e.g., via and including TRP 401) to a connected state. For example, signal flow 400 may be followed when UE 402 is powered on or wakes up from sleep, or when UE 402 desires to transition from an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state (in either of which UE 402 is not connected) to an RRC connected state.

[0056] In step 410 of the signal flow 400, the TRP 401 transmits synchronization information in an SSB message and a SIB1 synchronization information block. The TRP 401 broadcasts the SSB and SIB1 messages. The UE 402 receives the SSB and identifies the SIB1 message from the SSB. The UE 402 receives the SIB1 message from the TRP 401.

[0057] From the SIB1 message, the UE 402 determines one or more transmission properties of a RACH preamble sequence to be transmitted in the first message MSG1 to the TRP 401 in step 411. The UE 402 selects a RACH preamble sequence and determines a RACH occasion (RO) (which may occur periodically, e.g., every 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms) according to the SSB-to-RO mapping for transmitting the RACH preamble. For example, the UE 402 may determine to transmit the RACH preamble at the next RACH occasion (in time). The RO is the time / frequency occasion for the UE 402 to transmit the RACH preamble. There are different RACH preamble formats and correspondingly different RO sizes. Due to antenna reciprocity, the UE 402 can determine which receive (Rx) beam best received the synchronization signal (e.g., SSB) and select the corresponding transmit (Tx) beam for transmitting the RACH preamble. If reciprocity holds in the TRP 401, the UE 402 may transmit MSG1 once, otherwise it may repeat the MSG1 message for each of the TRP Tx beams. The UE 402 can be configured to transmit the first message MSG1 using the PRACH (Physical RACH).

[0058] The TRP 401 is configured to respond to the MSG1 message transmitted in stage 411 (also referred to as step 1) by transmitting a response or second message MSG2 in stage 412 (also referred to as step 2). The response message MSG2 may be a random access response (RAR) UL grant that the TRP 401 transmits using a Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) with the selected beam. The second message MSG2 acknowledges the reception of the first message MSG1 and may provide some collision avoidance information. Based on the messages MSG1, MSG2, the TRP 401 and the UE 402 can establish a coarse beam alignment that can be used in stages 413, 414 discussed below.

[0059] The UE402 is configured to receive the response message MSG2 and respond in stage 413 (also called step 3) by transmitting a third message MSG3 using resources scheduled by the TRP401. Thus, the TRP401 knows where to detect the third message MSG3 and which TRP Rx beam should be used to detect the third message MSG3. The UE402 can be configured to transmit the third message MSG3 using a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) using the same beam or a different beam than the UE402 used to transmit the first message MSG1.

[0060] In stage 414 (also referred to as step 4), TRP401 acknowledges receipt of the third message MSG3 by transmitting a fourth message MSG4 on the PDSCH using the TRP Tx beam determined in stage 413. At this point, UE402 has identified synchronization between TRP401 and UE402, has identified resources for transmission and reception, and is connected to the communications network (through and including TRP401), i.e., is in a connected state (RRC connected state).

[0061] Referring to FIG. 5, a TRP 501 (e.g., of a base station 120) and a UE 502 (e.g., a UE 105) are configured to communicate with each other according to a signal flow 500 to establish an RRC connection of the UE 502 to a communication network including the TRP 501 (e.g., comprising the base station 120 and the network 170 shown in FIG. 1). The signal flow 500 is a two-step process using RACH to connect the TRP 501 and the UE 502. The signal flow 500 is substantially a two-step version of the four-step signal flow 400 shown in FIG. 4. In step 510, the UE 502 receives an SSB and a SIB1. In step 511 (step 1 of the two-step process), the UE 502 transmits an initial message MSGA after receiving the SSB and SIB1. The initial message MSGA uses both the PRACH and the PUSCH. In step 512 (step 2 of a two-step process), TRP501 sends a response message MSGB to UE502 to connect UE502 to TRP501.

[0062] A situation may arise when a UE is in an unconnected state with respect to a communication network and is configured to transmit an SRS for positioning while performing a four-step or two-step PRACH process (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, respectively). A collision avoidance scenario is considered in which the UE is configured to transmit an SRS for positioning in an unconnected state using an initial UL BWP. The initial UL BWP in this situation may include a BWP used to transmit a PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS in a legacy scenario. The initial DL BWP may include a BWP used to receive a PDCCH for paging, etc. in the DL. However, if the UE is configured to transmit an SRS for positioning in an unconnected state using a BWP different from the initial UL BWP, thereby requiring retuning, it is not clear what qualifies as a "collision" in view of the fact that a period is required to retune both before and after the transmission of the SRS occurrence. The BWP in which the SRS is transmitted may be referred to herein as the SRS BWP.

[0063] Embodiments herein provide for establishing a time gap (or time window) that identifies collisions and establishes an action time to drop SRS transmission for collision avoidance when transmission of SRS during a disconnected state is configured outside of the initial UL BWP. Some embodiments may leverage an established SRS switching time (e.g., “SRS-SwitchingTimeNR” in these 3GPP standards), and the UE performs a full RF retuning by switching between receiving and / or transmitting messages in the bandwidth of a first component carrier (CC) and transmitting SRS in a second CC. In some embodiments, the SRS switching time may correspond to a UL BWP switching time (e.g., as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.133), and the BWP switching delay may be determined by the slot length and the UE capability (e.g., Type 1 or Type 2). For example, for slot lengths of 1, 0.5, 0.25, and 0.125 ms, the BWP switching delays may be 1, 2, 3, and 6 slots in length for UEs with Type 1 capability, and 3, 5, 9, and 18 for UEs with Type 2 capability, respectively.

[0064] FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating a generalized scenario in which the TRP transmits a DL message 610 followed by the UE transmitting an SRS instance 620 and an UL message 630. The DL message 610 and / or the UL message 630 may be transmitted as part of a PRACH process, for example, while the UE is operating in an unconnected state (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Furthermore, the SRS instance 620 may be transmitted according to an SRS configuration, which may specify a particular SRS BWP, cyclic prefix (CP), and / or subcarrier spacing (SCS). As mentioned above, the SRS BWP may be different from the initial UL BWP used by the UE to transmit messages as part of the PRACH process. A first time gap 640 comprises a length of time between the DL message 610 and the SRS instance 620, and a second time gap 650 comprises a length of time between the SRS instance 620 and the UL message 630.

[0065] 7 is a timing diagram similar to that of FIG. 6, in which the TRP transmits a first DL message 710 and the UE transmits an SRS instance 720. However, here, after the SRS instance 720, the TRP transmits a second DL message 730. A first time gap 740 comprises the length of time between the first DL message 710 and the SRS instance 720, and a second time gap 750 comprises the length of time between the SRS instance 720 and the second DL message 730.

[0066] Timing conflicts may occur between messages on either side of a time gap (e.g., 640, 650, 740, and 750) if the time gap is shorter than the minimum time gap required to avoid conflicts. In particular, the minimum time gap may be associated with RF tuning (if necessary) performed by the UE to transmit an SRS instance (e.g., 620 or 720) or a subsequent message (e.g., UL message 630 or second DL message 730). According to some embodiments, if the initial BWP (e.g., in which DL messages 610, 710, and 730 and UL message 630 are transmitted) has the same center frequency as the SRS BWP (in which SRS instances 620 and 720 are transmitted), the minimum time gap may be relatively short, one OFDM symbol (its actual duration may vary depending on the SCS used). In other embodiments, the minimum time gap may be larger or smaller.

[0067] For example, if the initial BWP and the SRS BWP have a common center frequency, the minimum time gap may be 1, 2, 3, or N symbols, where N is some number of symbols. According to some embodiments, if a timing conflict occurs between a scheduled SRS instance and another message (e.g., the time gap between the SRS instance and the other message is less than the minimum time gap), the SRS instance may be dropped. Furthermore, according to some embodiments, all subsequent SRS instances in the SRS configuration may be dropped.

[0068] In some embodiments, the UE may drop an SRS instance if it occurs in the same slot as a PRACH or is within a symbol of a PRACH. In other words, for SRS transmission in RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE does not transmit an SRS in the same slot as a PRACH or when the gap between the first or last symbol of a PRACH transmission in a first slot is separated by less than N symbols from the last or first symbol, respectively, of an SRS transmission in a second slot, where N=2 if μ=0 or μ=1, and N=4 if μ=2 or μ=3, and μ is the SCS configuration of the initial UL BWP if the SRS is associated with the initial UL BWP, or the SRS configuration if a separate SCS is provided.

[0069] In an embodiment where the SRS BWP used to transmit the SRS has a different center frequency than the initial BWP (e.g., a common center frequency is not possible), the minimum time gap between DL messages and SRS instances (e.g., time gaps 640, 740, and 750) may be relatively large (e.g., greater than one OFDM symbol) since it may require RF retuning by the UE. A similar minimum time gap with similar retuning may apply to the time gap (e.g., time gap 650) between an SRS instance using the SRS BWP and a UL message using an initial UL BWP (different from the SRS BWP). In such a case, the minimum time gap may be set as an SRS switching time (e.g., SRS-SwitchingTimeNR), which may be selected from a set of enumerated values ​​as specified in the relevant 3GPP specifications. In some embodiments, the DL SRS switching time (e.g., the switching time between an SRS instance and a DL message, such as time gaps 640, 740, and 750) may be set to a first value and the UL SRS switching time (e.g., the switching time between an SRS instance and another UL message, such as time gap 650) may be set to a second value that may be the same as or different from the first value. According to some embodiments, the SRS switching time (e.g., including the UL SRS switching time and / or the DL SRS switching time) may be set to a particular time value, such as 0 μs, 30 μs, 100 μs, 140 μs, 200 μs, 300 μs, 500 μs, or 900 μs.

[0070] According to some embodiments, when a collision occurs during an unconnected state of the UE, an action time for the SRS can be established. The action time is the time at which the next collision must be identified in order for it to be resolved. In other words, if the next collision is identified after the collision time, the collision may be unavoidable since transmissions (e.g., of an SRS instance) may already be pipelined. Figures 8 and 9 show how the action time for the SRS can be determined in an unconnected state.

[0071] Figure 8 is a timing diagram similar to Figures 6 and 7, illustrating a scenario in which the UE is scheduled to follow the transmission of a first message 810 by the TRP along with the transmission of both an SRS instance 820 and a second message 830. Here, the first message 810 can correspond to any DL reception while the UE is in an unconnected state, such as SSB, SIB1, MSG2, or MSG4 in Figure 4, or SIB1 or MSGB in Figure 5, and the second message 830 can correspond to a response UL message, such as MSG1 or MSG3 in Figure 4, or MSGA in Figure 5. Because the SRS BWP is different from the initial DL BWP in which the UE receives the first message 810, the UE uses a first switching period 840 to perform RF tuning so that it can transmit the SRS instance 820 via the SRS BWP. Similarly, because the initial UL BWP in which the UE transmits the second message 830 is different from the SRS BWP, the UE uses the second switching period 850 so that the UE can transmit the second message 830 via the initial UL BWP. As shown, the second switching period 850 extends into the time in which the second message 830 should be transmitted, thereby creating a conflict. (A conflict may also occur when the second message 830 directly overlaps with the SRS instance 820 itself.) Because there is a conflict between the SRS instance 820 and the second message 830, the UE may omit transmitting the SRS instance 820 and (optionally) all subsequent SRS instances in the SRS configuration (e.g., in accordance with the collision avoidance method described above). To ensure that the UE successfully drops the transmission of the SRS instance 820, the UE may need to identify the conflict at a time 860 prior to the start of the first switching period 840. FIG. 9 illustrates how a specific action time may be determined.

[0072] 9 is a timing diagram illustrating a conflict similar to that of FIG. 8, illustrating a scenario in which a UE is scheduled to follow the transmission of a first message 910 by a TRP with the transmission of both an SRS instance 920 and a second message 930, the SRS instance 720 being preceded by a first switching period 940 and followed by a second switching duration 960. Point 950 marks the start of the first switching period 940 and indicates the point in time at which the transmission of the SRS instance 920 is already pipelined and can no longer be cancelled, according to some embodiments. Point 980 thus precedes the transmission of the SRS instance 920 by the switching duration 960 of the first switching period 940 and marks the time at which the UE must identify a conflict between the transmission of the SRS instance 920 and the second message 930 (and must cancel the transmission of the SRS instance 920). In many situations (e.g., PRACH process), the first message 910 may include Downlink Control Information (DCI) that schedules the transmission of the second message 930. Furthermore, it takes a period of time, shown as decoding duration 970 in FIG. 9 (defined as N2 in 3GPP), for the UE to decode the first message 910. Thus, the UE may avoid the conflict (e.g., by canceling the transmission of the SRS instance 920) if the first message 910 is received before point 980, which is an action time that precedes the transmission of the SRS 920 by a duration 990 that has the sum of the decoding duration 970 and the switching duration 960. According to some embodiments, the duration 990 may be measured as the time interval between the last symbol of the first message 910 and the first symbol of the SRS instance 920.

[0073] More generally, for an SRS transmission by a UE in an unconnected state, where the SRS transmission uses an SRS BWP that has a different center frequency than the initial BWP in which the DL message is transmitted, embodiments can use an action time during which a DL message that schedules a UL message should be transmitted so that the UE can determine whether a conflict exists. This action time can be defined as a time that precedes the transmission of an SRS instance by a duration that has the sum of (i) the time it takes the UE to decode the DL message (e.g., the established N2 period) and (ii) an SRS switching time that precedes the transmission of the SRS instance. As mentioned above, the SRS switching time may be a single symbol if the SRS BWP and the initial BWP have the same center frequency. If the SRS BWP and the initial BWP have different center frequencies, a longer switching time (e.g., a larger number of symbols) can be established. The use of this action time can be applied, for example, when the DL message includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) that schedules a UL message that includes a PUCCH, or when the DL message includes a PDSCH that schedules a UL message that includes a PUSCH.

[0074] This can be implemented as follows for two specific situations: First, for an SRS in RRC_Inactive that is not associated with a UL BWP, the UE shall apply prioritization / dropping between SRS and msg3 transmissions considering DCI(s) whose time interval between the last symbol of PDCCH and the first symbol of SRS is at least N2+SRSSwitchingTime (e.g., as shown in Figure 4). Second, for an SRS in RRC_Inactive that is not associated with a UL BWP, the UE shall apply prioritization / dropping between SRS and PUCCH transmissions considering DCI(s) whose time interval between the last symbol of PDCCH and the first symbol of SRS is at least N2+SRSSwitchingTime.

[0075] In Fig. 10, a flow diagram of a method 1000 for modifying transmission of an SRS (e.g., SRS for positioning) by a UE while in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network is shown, according to one embodiment. The means for performing the functions illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown in Fig. 10 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE. Exemplary components of the UE are shown in Fig. 11, which is described in more detail below.

[0076] In block 1010, the function includes receiving, in the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a TRP via a DL BWP associated with a UL BWP, the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network. The DL BWP and the UL BWP may be paired and may be known as an initial BWP (e.g., for DL ​​or UL). As mentioned in the previous embodiment, the first message (e.g., first message 910) may be received as part of a PRACH process. The UL BWP and the SRS BWP may have the same center frequency or may have different center frequencies. The means for performing the function in block 1010 may include a bus 1105, a processor 1110, a digital signal processor (DSP) 1120, a wireless communication interface 1130, a memory 1160, and / or other components of the UE, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0077] In block 1020, the function determines whether or not the UE is configured to receive the SRS BWP when (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency and a time difference between a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (D) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE. and canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that the BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE, or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE, the first threshold time gap being less than an SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE. As mentioned above, according to some embodiments, the first threshold time gap can be based on an SCS configuration of the UL BWP (e.g., an initial BWP) or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE. In such an embodiment, the first threshold time gap can be based on a number of one or more symbols in the OFDM communication scheme. As mentioned above, some embodiments can set the first threshold time gap as a single symbol. According to some embodiments, the first threshold time gap can be measured from a time between the last symbol of the first message and the first symbol of the SRS instance.

[0078] Depending on the desired functionality, the method 1000 may include one or more additional features. For example, according to some embodiments, when canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message having different center frequencies and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message being less than the SRS switching time of the UE, the method 1000 may further include determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE. In such an embodiment, the first message may be decoded at a time that precedes the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least the SRS switching time. Furthermore, the time difference between the receipt of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance may be greater than the sum of (i) the amount of time it takes the UE to decode the first message and (ii) the SRS switching time that precedes the transmission of the SRS instance. As discussed above, in some cases, the first message may include a PDCCH message or a PDSCH message, and the second message includes a PUCCH message or a PUSCH message. In some embodiments, the first message includes a PDSCH message and the second message includes a PUSCH message. According to some embodiments, the first message and the second message are transmitted as part of a PRACH process. The first message may include a MSG2, MSG2 PDCCH, MSG4, or MSG4 PDCCH, and the second message may include a PUCCH message with an ACK / NAK of the first message. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1000 may include canceling transmission of all SRS instances of the one or more SRS instances after a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance. In some embodiments, the SRS may include an SRS for positioning. The unconnected state may include an RRC idle state, an RRC inactive state, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) state.

[0079] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a UE 105 that may be utilized as described above in this specification (e.g., in connection with FIGS. 1-10). For example, the UE 105 may perform one or more of the functions of the method illustrated in FIG. 10. It should be noted that FIG. 11 is only intended to provide a generalized view of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as desired. It should be noted that in some instances, the components illustrated by FIG. 11 may be localized in a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located in different physical locations. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the functions of the UE discussed in the above-described embodiments may be performed by one or more of the hardware and / or software components illustrated in FIG. 11.

[0080] A UE 105 is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled (or in other manner in communication, as appropriate) via a bus 1105. The hardware elements may include processor(s) 1110, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), and / or other processing structures or processing means. The processor(s) 1110 may include one or more processing units that may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. As shown in FIG. 11, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1120 depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be performed in the processor(s) 1110 and / or in the wireless communication interface 1130 (discussed below). The UE 105 may also include one or more input devices 1170, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc., and one or more output devices 1115, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0081] The UE 105 may also include a wireless communication interface 1130, which may comprise, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, a WAN device, and / or various cellular devices), and the like, which may enable the UE 105 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 1130 may enable data and signaling to be communicated (e.g., transmitted and received) with the TRP of the network, as described herein, for example, via an eNB, a gNB, an ng-eNB, an access point, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP. The communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antenna(s) 1132 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1134. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna(s) 1132 may include multiple individual antennas, an antenna array, or any combination thereof. The antenna(s) 1132 may be capable of transmitting and receiving wireless signals using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams). Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with respective digital and / or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 1130 may include such circuitry.

[0082] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1130 may comprise separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers, for communicating with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers, such as wireless devices and access points. The UE 105 may communicate with different data networks, which may comprise a variety of network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, etc. The CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000®, WCDMA®, etc. CDMA2000® includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. The TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. The OFDMA network may utilize LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G NR, etc. 5G NR, LTE, LTE Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. CDMA2000 is described in documents from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. The wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and the wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0083] The UE 105 may further include sensor(s) 1140. The sensor(s) 1140 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometer(s), gyroscope(s), camera(s), magnetometer(s), altimeter(s), microphone(s), proximity sensor(s), light sensor(s), barometer(s), etc.), some of which may be used to obtain position relationship measurements and / or other information.

[0084] An embodiment of the UE 105 may also include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver 1180 capable of receiving signals 1184 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 1182 (which may be the same as antenna 1132). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be utilized to complement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 1180 may use conventional techniques to extract a position of the UE 105 from GNSS satellites 110 of a GNSS system such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, and Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China. Furthermore, the GNSS receiver 1180 can be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN).

[0085] It may be noted that although the GNSS receiver 1180 is shown in FIG. 11 as a separate component, the embodiment is not so limited. The term "GNSS receiver" as used herein may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). In some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may thus comprise a measurement engine executed (as software) by one or more processors, such as the processor(s) 1110, the DSP 1120, and / or a processor (e.g., in a modem) in the wireless communication interface 1130. The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine, which may use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the position of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors, such as the processor(s) 1110 or the DSP 1120.

[0086] The UE 105 may further include and / or be in communication with memory 1160. The memory 1160 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM) that may be programmable, flash updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0087] The memory 1160 of the UE 105 may also comprise software elements (not shown in FIG. 11 ) including other code, such as an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more application programs, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments as described herein and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in the memory 1160 executable by the UE 105 (and / or the processor(s) 1110 or DSP 1120 within the UE 105). In some implementations, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0088] Figure 12 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a base station 120 that may be utilized as described herein above (e.g., in conjunction with Figures 1-11), including functionality described herein with respect to a TRP. Note that Figure 12 is intended only to provide a generalized view of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as desired. In some embodiments, the base station 120 may support a gNB, an ng-eNB, and / or a TRP.

[0089] The base station 120 is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled (or in other ways in communication as needed) via a bus 1205. The hardware elements may include a processor(s) 1210, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general purpose processors, one or more special purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or processing means. As shown in FIG. 12, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1220, depending on the desired functionality. According to some implementations, position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be performed in the processor(s) 1210 and / or in the wireless communication interface 1230 (discussed below). The base station 120 may also include one or more input devices, which may include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, a display, a mouse, a microphone, button(s), dial(s), switch(es), etc., and one or more output devices, which may include, but are not limited to, a display, a light emitting diode (LED), a speaker, etc.

[0090] The base station 120 may also include a wireless communication interface 1230, which may include, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, a cellular communication facility, etc.), which may enable the base station 120 to communicate as described herein. The wireless communication interface 1230 may enable data and signaling to be communicated (e.g., transmitted and received) to UEs, other base stations / TRPs (e.g., eNBs, gNBs, and ng-eNBs), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. The communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antenna(s) 1232 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1234.

[0091] The base station 120 may also include a network interface 1280, which may include support for wired communication technologies. The network interface 1280 may include a modem, a network card, a chipset, etc. The network interface 1280 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to allow data to be exchanged with a network, a communication network server, a computer system, and / or any other electronic device described herein.

[0092] In many embodiments, base station 120 may further comprise memory 1260. Memory 1260 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0093] The memory 1260 of the base station 120 may also comprise software elements (not shown in FIG. 12 ) including other code, such as an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more application programs, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments as described herein and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in the memory 1260 executable by the base station 120 (and / or the processor(s) 1210 or DSP 1220 within the base station 120). In some implementations, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0094] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made according to particular requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connection to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed.

[0095] With reference to the accompanying figures, components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or transport such instructions / code. In many implementations, the computer-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic media and / or optical media, any other physical media with a pattern of holes, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0096] The methods, systems, and devices described herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components, as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Various components of the diagrams provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Also, technology evolves, and thus many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scope of the disclosure to those specific examples.

[0097] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerical values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are merely convenient labels and must be associated with the appropriate physical quantities. Unless otherwise indicated, and as is evident from the above description, throughout this specification, descriptions utilizing terms such as "processing," "calculating," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "associating," "measuring," "performing," and the like, will be understood to refer to actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are generally represented as electronic, electrical, or magnetic physical quantities in the memories, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0098] The terms "and" and "or" as used herein may include various meanings that are expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or," when used to link a list such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, which are used herein in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, which are used herein in an exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to represent any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to represent any combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term "at least one of," when used to link a list such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0099] Although several embodiments have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may only be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Also, some steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0100] In view of this description, embodiments may include various combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0101] Clause 1. A method for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state to a communications network, comprising: receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state to the communications network; and determining whether the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; and determining whether the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency and a time difference between a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message are less than a first threshold time gap. canceling a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that the BWPs have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE, the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE, or a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE, wherein a first threshold time gap is less than an SRS switching time of the UE and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0102] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first threshold time gap is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

[0103] Clause 3. The method of clause 1, wherein the first threshold time gap is based on a number of one or more symbols in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

[0104] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein when canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message having different center frequencies and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message being less than an SRS switching time of the UE, the method further includes determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE.

[0105] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the first message is decoded at a time that precedes a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least an SRS switching time.

[0106] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein a time difference between receipt of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is greater than the sum of (i) the amount of time it takes the UE to decode the first message and (ii) an SRS switching time preceding the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

[0107] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the first message comprises a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) message or a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) message, and the second message comprises a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) message or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) message.

[0108] Clause 8. The method of clause 6, wherein the first message and the second message are transmitted as part of a PRACH process.

[0109] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the first message comprises a MSG2, a MSG2 PDCCH, a MSG4, or a MSG4 PDCCH, and the second message comprises a PUCCH message having an ACK / NAK for the first message.

[0110] Clause 10. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 9, further comprising canceling transmission of all SRS instances of the one or more SRS instances after a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

[0111] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the SRS includes an SRS for positioning.

[0112] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the non-connected state comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state, an RRC inactive state, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) state.

[0113] Clause 13. A user equipment (UE) for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communication network, the user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors receive, via the transceiver, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network, the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP, and the first message being received while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communication network, and wherein (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap, (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap, (C) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency, and and canceling a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance of one or more SRS instances based on determining that (a) the BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (b) the BWP of the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (c) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE, wherein a first threshold time gap is less than an SRS switching time of the UE and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0114] Clause 14. The user equipment of clause 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first threshold time gap based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

[0115] Clause 15. The user equipment of clause 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first threshold time gap based on a number of one or more symbols in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

[0116] Clause 16. The user equipment of any one of clauses 13 to 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE when the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and cancel the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on determining that the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE.

[0117] Clause 17. The user equipment of clause 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to decode the first message at a time preceding a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least an SRS switching time.

[0118] Clause 18. The user equipment of clause 17, wherein a time difference between receipt of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is greater than the sum of (i) the amount of time it takes one or more processors to decode the first message and (ii) an SRS switching time preceding the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

[0119] Clause 19. The user equipment of clause 18, wherein the first message comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) message or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) message, and the second message comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) message.

[0120] Clause 20. The user equipment of clause 18, wherein the first message and the second message are transmitted as part of a PRACH process.

[0121] Clause 21. The user equipment of clause 20, wherein the first message comprises a MSG2, a MSG2 PDCCH, a MSG4, or a MSG4 PDCCH, and the second message comprises a PUCCH message having an ACK / NAK for the first message.

[0122] Clause 22. The user equipment of any one of clauses 13 to 21, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cancel transmission of all SRS instances of the one or more SRS instances after a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

[0123] Clause 23. A user equipment according to any one of clauses 13 to 22, wherein the SRS includes an SRS for positioning.

[0124] Clause 24. A user equipment according to any one of clauses 13 to 23, wherein the non-connected state comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state, an RRC inactive state, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) state.

[0125] Clause 25. An apparatus for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state to a communication network, comprising: means for receiving a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state to the communication network; and means for detecting whether or not (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap, (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap, (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap, (D) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap, (E) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap, (F) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message are less than a first threshold time gap, (G) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message are less than a first threshold time gap, (H) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message are less than a first threshold time gap, (I) the S and means for canceling a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances by the UE based on determining that (a) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; (b) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (c) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE, wherein the first threshold time gap is less than an SRS switching time of the UE and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE.

[0126] Clause 26. The apparatus of clause 25, further comprising means for determining the first threshold time gap based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

[0127] Clause 27. The apparatus of clause 26, further comprising means for determining the first threshold time gap based on a number of one or more symbols in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

[0128] Clause 28. The apparatus of any one of clauses 25 to 27, further comprising means for determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE when the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on determining that the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE, the method further comprising: determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE when the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on determining that the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than an SRS switching time of the UE.

[0129] Clause 29. The apparatus of clause 28, wherein the apparatus is configured to decode the first message at a time preceding a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least an SRS switching time.

[0130] Clause 30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communications network, the instructions comprising: receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP that is different from the UL BWP while the UE is in a disconnected state with respect to the communications network; and determining whether (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between receipt of the first message and a scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than a first threshold time gap; and (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and a time difference between the receipt of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE; or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE.

Claims

1. 1. A method for modifying transmission of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) by a User Equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state to a communications network, comprising: receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in the unconnected state with respect to the communications network; (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the reception of the first message and a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and a BWP of a second message have the common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the first threshold time gap. (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies, and the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE. (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have the different center frequencies, and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE; or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE; canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that The first threshold time gap is shorter than the SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE. method.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold time gap is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first threshold time gap is based on a number of one or more symbols in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein if canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message having different center frequencies and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message being less than the SRS switching time of the UE, the method further comprises determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first message is decoded at a time preceding the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least the SRS switching time.

6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is greater than the sum of (i) an amount of time it takes the UE to decode the first message and (ii) the SRS switching time that precedes the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first message comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) message or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) message, and the second message comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) message.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first message and the second message are transmitted as part of a PRACH process.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first message comprises a MSG2, a MSG2 PDCCH, a MSG4, or a MSG4 PDCCH, and the second message comprises a PUCCH message having an ACK / NAK of the first message.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising canceling transmissions of all SRS instances of the one or more SRS instances after the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SRS includes an SRS for positioning.

12. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-connected state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) idle state, an RRC inactive state, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) state.

13. 1. A user equipment (UE) for modifying transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communications network, comprising: A transceiver; Memory, one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; wherein the one or more processors: receiving, via the transceiver, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) BWP, the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in the unconnected state with respect to the communications network; (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the reception of the first message and a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and a BWP of a second message have the common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the first threshold time gap. (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies, and the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE. (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have the different center frequencies, and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE; or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE; canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that It is structured as follows: The first threshold time gap is shorter than the SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE. U.E.

14. 14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first threshold time gap based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

15. 15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first threshold time gap based on a number of one or more symbols in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

16. 14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE when the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and cancel the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on the determination that the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE.

17. 17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to decode the first message at a time preceding the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least the SRS switching time.

18. 18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is greater than the sum of (i) an amount of time it takes the one or more processors to decode the first message and (ii) the SRS switching time that precedes the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

19. 20. The UE of claim 18, wherein the first message comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) message or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) message, and the second message comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) message.

20. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the first message and the second message are transmitted as part of a PRACH process.

21. 21. The UE of claim 20, wherein the first message comprises a MSG2, a MSG2 PDCCH, a MSG4, or a MSG4 PDCCH, and the second message comprises a PUCCH message having an ACK / NAK for the first message.

22. 14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cancel transmissions of all SRS instances of the one or more SRS instances after the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance.

23. The UE of claim 13 , wherein the SRS includes an SRS for positioning.

24. The UE of claim 13 , wherein the non-connected state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) idle state, an RRC inactive state, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) state.

25. 1. An apparatus for modifying transmission of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) by a User Equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state to a communication network, comprising: means for receiving a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in the unconnected state with respect to the communication network; (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the reception of the first message and a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and a BWP of a second message have the common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the first threshold time gap. (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies, and the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE. (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have the different center frequencies, and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE; or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE; means for canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that Equipped with The first threshold time gap is shorter than the SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE. Device.

26. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising: means for determining the first threshold time gap based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration of the UL BWP or a separate SCS configuration provided to the UE.

27. 27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising: means for determining the first threshold time gap based on a number of one or more symbols in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system.

28. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising: means for determining a time of the second message based on decoding the first message at the UE when the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have different center frequencies and canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance based on the determination that the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE.

29. 30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the apparatus is configured to decode the first message at a time preceding the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance by at least the SRS switching time.

30. 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for modifying transmission of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) while in a disconnected state with respect to a communications network, the instructions comprising: receiving, at the UE, a first message including a first DL message from a transmission / reception point (TRP) via a downlink (DL) BWP associated with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first message being received while the UE is configured to transmit one or more SRS instances via an SRS BWP different from the UL BWP while the UE is in the unconnected state with respect to the communications network; (A) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have a common center frequency, and a time difference between the reception of the first message and a scheduled transmission of an SRS instance is less than a first threshold time gap; (B) the SRS BWP and a BWP of a second message have the common center frequency, and a time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the first threshold time gap. (C) the SRS BWP and the DL BWP have different center frequencies, and the time difference between the reception of the first message and the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance is less than an SRS switching time of the UE. (D) the SRS BWP and the BWP of the second message have the different center frequencies, and the time difference between the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance and the second message is less than the SRS switching time of the UE; or (E) a physical random access channel (PRACH) is being transmitted by the UE; canceling the scheduled transmission of the SRS instance of the one or more SRS instances based on determining that With the code, The first threshold time gap is shorter than the SRS switching time of the UE, and the second message includes a second DL message from the TRP or a UL message from the UE. Non-transitory computer-readable medium.

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