Method and apparatus for sidelink positioning

Abstract

A positioning method in a first terminal device, comprising: receiving an anchor concern event request for sidelink positioning of a target device from a coordination entity; and transmitting an anchor concern event response indicating integrity of the first terminal device candidate as a positioning anchor device of the target device. The anchor concern event response includes at least one of the following concern event indicators: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or power headroom of the first terminal device. Corresponding methods in the coordination entity, as well as computer programs, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments relate to methods and apparatus for sidelink positioning, and in particular to integrity-constrained sidelink configurations for sidelink positioning. [Background technology]

[0002] This section describes useful background information without admitting that any of the techniques described herein represent the current state of the art.

[0003] Modern terminal devices are often capable of positioning using satellite signals, sometimes with FM transmission-based augmentation, and there are also embodiments that utilize location-known Bluetooth or wireless LAN transmitters for positioning, as well as base station triangulation-based embodiments.

[0004] In modern mobile communications, user equipment can communicate with each other using sidelinks. Sidelinks can be used to exchange data between various machine-type devices and within a host of applications, including sharing data for positioning. Sidelink positioning can be used to supplement, supplement, or replace satellite or base station signals used for positioning that may be lost.

[0005] However, it is clear that terminal devices are generally unreliable beacons with regard to their location, the reliability of the locations they know, and sidelink connectivity with surrounding terminal devices. Sidelink location integrity should be guaranteed. In the context of this disclosure, integrity refers to a measure of confidence in the accuracy of location-related data and the ability to provide associated warning messages, rather than mitigation or detection of malicious alteration of the transmission.

[0006] Integrity can be compromised by various issues related to the sidelink positioning anchors, referred to herein as feared events, or anchor feared events. Such feared events may be collected periodically and preemptively from all terminal devices in the mobile communication network, but such data collection and associated processing would result in intolerable costs in radio resources and computation. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] It is desirable to facilitate sidelink positioning of a target device to be acquired in order to address the integrity issues of any of the anchor devices used by the target device in its positioning. It is also desirable to reduce costs in radio and processing resource usage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The scope of protection sought for the various embodiments of the invention is set out in the independent patent claims. The embodiments and features described herein that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims, if any, should be interpreted as examples useful for the understanding of the various embodiments of the invention.

[0009] According to a first exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in a first terminal device for sidelink positioning, comprising: receiving an anchor concern event request for positioning of a target device from a coordination entity; transmitting an anchor concern event response indicating at least one factor affecting the positioning integrity of the target device at the first terminal device acting as an anchor; A method is provided, comprising:

[0010] The coordination entity may be a location server. The coordination entity may be a location management function. The coordination entity may reside on the network side. Alternatively or additionally, the coordination entity may be realized by the target device. The coordination entity may be realized by the target device, for example, when the target device is out of network coverage. The coordination entity may be realized by a terminal device that does not currently have a role as a target device or as an anchor device or anchor device candidate. The coordination entity may be realized by the first terminal device. Alternatively, the coordination entity may be a next generation Node B, i.e. gNB.

[0011] According to a second exemplary aspect of the present invention, a method in a first terminal device for sidelink positioning is provided. The first terminal device may operate as a target device during a first time period. The first terminal device may operate as an anchor candidate device or as a selected anchor device for one or more target devices during a second time period. The first and second time periods may overlap. The first and second time periods may be distinct.

[0012] The first terminal device may operate in an idle mode during the third period in which the first terminal device is operating as: a target device; an anchor device candidate; or one of the anchor devices selected for one or more target devices.

[0013] The first terminal device may obtain an anchor concern event request. The first terminal device may obtain an anchor concern event request when operating as a target device. The first terminal device may obtain an anchor concern event request when operating as an anchor device candidate. The first terminal device may obtain an anchor concern event request when operating as an anchor device selected for one or more target devices.

[0014] The first terminal device may provide an anchor concern event response to the coordination entity indicating the integrity of the first terminal device as a sidelink positioning anchor device. The provision of the anchor concern event response may be subject to one or more response conditions. The one or more response conditions may include having a battery status satisfy a battery threshold. The one or more response conditions may include a user-configured permission to operate as an anchor device. The one or more response conditions may include an absence of other conflicting operations of the first terminal device.

[0015] The first terminal device may provide an anchor concern event response rejection message to the coordination entity if the first terminal device rejects the first terminal device from acting as an anchor device candidate.

[0016] The first terminal device may further perform target device based sidelink positioning. In the target device based sidelink positioning, the first terminal device may receive sidelink positioning assistance information including at least a subset of the assistance data and / or the concern event indicators. The target device may use the received sidelink positioning assistance information to calculate its own positioning integrity.

[0017] The first terminal device may initiate the sidelink positioning assistance process by providing a sidelink positioning assistance request to the coordination entity.

[0018] The anchor concern event response may include at least one of the following concern event indicators: a) link quality characteristics of a channel between a first terminal device and a target device; b) A parameter related to at least one factor causing a sidelink positioning error; c) an integrity result of the positioning estimation of the first terminal device; d) power headroom of the first terminal device; e) User equipment type, such as handheld device, vehicle mounted device, and / or machine type device; f) interference in candidate sidelink resources determined as a result of the sidelink sensing operation; g) Power or battery status; h) Mobility level; i) Radio resource control mode.

[0019] The anchor concern event response may include concern event indicators d) through j). The anchor concern event response may include concern event indicators a) through d). The anchor concern event response may include concern event indicators a) and c).

[0020] In an exemplary embodiment, the first terminal device does the following: obtaining an anchor concern event request for sidelink positioning of the target device from a coordination entity; forming an anchor concern event response indicating the integrity of the first terminal device as a sidelink positioning anchor device such that the anchor concern event response includes at least one of the concern event indicators a) to d) or d) to j).

[0021] The first terminal device acting as a sidelink positioning anchor device may initiate a sidelink positioning session with the target device upon request of the target device. Alternatively, the sidelink positioning session may be established upon request of a coordination entity.

[0022] The method may further include obtaining assistance data derived from anchor concern event responses of one or more second terminal devices acting as anchor device candidates. The same first terminal device may operate as a target device in one positioning session and as an anchor device candidate or anchor device in another positioning session at different times or simultaneously. The first positioning session may be initialized before the second positioning session. The first positioning session may be initialized after the second positioning session. The first positioning session may be initialized together with the second positioning session to improve the integrity of the first terminal device as an anchor device for sidelink positioning of the target device.

[0023] A terminal device may refer to a device capable of mobile communication. A terminal device may refer to a device capable of cellular communication. A terminal device may refer to a device capable of 4G or 5G cellular communication.

[0024] According to a third exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in a coordination entity for sidelink positioning, comprising: sending an anchor concern event request for sidelink positioning of the target device to one or more first terminal devices; receiving an anchor concern event response from at least a subset of the one or more first terminal devices indicating the integrity of the first terminal device as a positioning anchor device for the target device; A method is provided, comprising:

[0025] The positioning may be sidelink positioning.

[0026] The method may further include deriving assistance data for the target device based on the received anchor event of concern response.

[0027] The assistance data can estimate a probability of sidelink positioning failure for a candidate anchor device based on the received anchor concern event response.

[0028] The method may further include providing assistance data to the target device regarding at least some or all of the candidate anchor devices.

[0029] The method may further include selecting one or more anchor devices for the target device based on the assistance data or the anchor concern event response. The target device may be provided with information about the selected one or more anchor devices. The information about the selected one or more anchor devices may identify the selected one or more anchor devices. Alternatively or additionally, the information about the selected one or more anchor devices may include assistance data for the selected one or more anchor devices.

[0030] The anchor concern event may include at least two of the concern event indicators a) through j). The anchor concern event may include concern event indicators a) and d) to mitigate integrity risks caused, for example, by radio conditions. The anchor concern event may include concern event indicators f) and h) to further address positioning integrity risks caused, for example, by factors that may harm the integrity of the anchor device candidate. The anchor concern event request may indicate a compulsory response, for example, when an emergency positioning request is issued by or for the target device.

[0031] The anchor concern event response may further include one or more of the further concern event indicators. The further concern event indicators may include the traffic type of the candidate anchor device; for example, the sidelink positioning reference signal may be deprioritized by the physical uplink shared channel and therefore not transmitted. The further concern event indicators may include the load of the candidate anchor device. The further concern event indicators may include the sidelink load of the candidate anchor device, which may include the number, type, and / or duration of sidelink sessions across separate sidelink resources to which the anchor device candidate has already been committed or has been allowed to be committed. The further concern event indicators may include the likelihood of listen-before-talk failure of the candidate anchor device, for example, when operating in an unlicensed band or in a shared frequency band without centralized scheduling.

[0032] The method can further include receiving a sidelink positioning assistance request for a sidelink positioning session. The method can further include initiating selection of one or more anchor devices for the target device in response.

[0033] The method may further include obtaining an anchor integrity value for the first positioning session based on a duration of the anchor device candidate availability.

[0034] The estimation of the probability of sidelink positioning failure may include calculating an anchor integrity value. The calculation of the anchor integrity value may use feature scaling to calculate the anchor integrity value based on various event of concern indicators and / or integrity requirements (also known as integrity KPIs), such as target integrity risk TIR and alert limit AL. Alternatively, the estimation of the probability of sidelink positioning failure may include determining the anchor integrity value using one or more lookup tables. The anchor integrity value may be represented by a protection level PL value or a binary value indicating whether the anchor device meets the integrity requirements.

[0035] The interference level may be determined for a candidate sidelink communications resource pool, which may be defined by a coordination entity when the coordination entity is present on the network side, or which may be shared with the sidelink communications resource pool when network support is not available.

[0036] The mobility level may be based on the beam misalignment of the sidelink positioning reference signal. Alternatively or additionally, the mobility level may be based on the last known velocity.

[0037] The radio resource control mode may be connected, the radio resource control mode may be idle, or the radio resource control mode may be inactive.

[0038] The one or more anchor device candidates may be selected from among the multiple terminal devices by the coordination entity. Alternatively or additionally, the coordination entity may receive a portion or the entire selection of the one or more anchor device candidates from the target device.

[0039] A number of terminal devices may be present within a given coverage area. The coverage area may be equal to or smaller than the target device sidelink coverage area multiplied by a first factor f1. The first factor f1 may be less than 2; 5; 10; or 20.

[0040] Anchor devices may be chosen based on the integrity results and proximity to the target device, the latter derived using information about the target's coarse location information such as the serving beam index TA. The location management function may reject one or more candidate anchor devices if they have been anchor devices within the past X seconds and / or if their sessions have been associated with low SL positioning accuracy. X may be at least 60; 120; 300; 600; 1800; 3600; or 7200. X may be at most 120; 300; 600; 1800; 3600; 7200; or 86400.

[0041] The method may further include establishing a sidelink positioning session between the target device and the selected anchor device. When the target device is assisted by more than one anchor positioning device, parallel sidelink positioning sessions may be established. The establishment of the sidelink positioning session may be initiated by a coordination entity. The establishment of the sidelink positioning session may be initiated by the target device.

[0042] The target device may be a 5G-enabled terminal device. The candidate anchor device may be a 5G-enabled terminal device. The terminal device may be capable of communicating with other terminal devices. The terminal device may operate using shared uplink and downlink bands. The terminal device may use code division multiple access. The terminal device may use time division multiple access. The terminal device may use orthogonal frequency division multiple access.

[0043] According to a fourth exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first terminal device comprising means for performing the method of the first exemplary aspect or the second exemplary aspect.

[0044] According to a fifth exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordination entity comprising means for performing the method of the third exemplary aspect.

[0045] According to a sixth exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one transmitter configured to cause at least the method of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, or the third exemplary aspect to be performed. The apparatus may further comprise at least one processor configured to control the transmitter. The apparatus may further comprise at least one memory for storing instructions for the processor.

[0046] According to a seventh exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program comprising computer program code which, when executed, causes an apparatus to perform at least a method of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect or the third exemplary aspect.

[0047] The computer program may be stored on a computer-readable memory medium. The memory medium may include digital data storage such as a data disk or diskette, optical storage, magnetic storage, holographic storage, magneto-optical storage, phase-change memory, resistive random-access memory, magnetic random-access memory, solid electrolyte memory, ferroelectric random-access memory, organic memory, or polymer memory. The memory medium may be formed into a device having no substantial function other than storage memory, or may be formed as part of a device having other functions, including, but not limited to, computer memories, chipsets, and subassemblies of electronic devices.

[0048] According to an eighth exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system comprising a coordination entity of any of the exemplary aspects and a first terminal device or target device of any of the exemplary aspects.

[0049] Any of the aforementioned memory media may include digital data storage such as a data disk or diskette, optical storage, magnetic storage, holographic storage, magneto-optical storage, phase change memory, resistive memory, magnetic random access memory, solid electrolyte memory, ferroelectric random access memory, organic memory, or polymer memory. The memory media may be formed into a device having no substantial function other than storage memory, or may be formed as part of a device having other functions, including, but not limited to, computer memory, chipsets, and subassemblies of electronic devices.

[0050] Different non-binding exemplary aspects and embodiments of the present invention are described above. The above embodiments are only used to illustrate selected aspects or steps that may be utilized in implementing the present invention. Some embodiments may be presented with reference to only certain exemplary aspects of the present invention. It should be appreciated that the corresponding embodiments may be applied to other exemplary aspects as well.

[0051] For a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0052] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sidelink transmission of an example embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture diagram of a sidelink positioning system of an exemplary embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a signaling chart of the method of the exemplary embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a signaling chart of an exemplary embodiment method for positioning integrity handling. [Diagram 5] 1 is a signaling chart of an example embodiment method for selecting an anchor device. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of session integrity checks versus periodicity, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a signaling chart of an example embodiment method for selecting an anchor device. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart of a method in a terminal device for sidelink positioning according to an exemplary embodiment; [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart of a method in a coordination entity for mobile sidelink positioning of an example embodiment; [Figure 10] 13 is a flowchart of a method in a coordination entity for sidelink positioning of an example embodiment; [Figure 11-1] FIG. 13 illustrates a collection of optional further features that can be combined with the coordination entity for mobile sidelink positioning of an exemplary embodiment. [Figure 11-2]FIG. 13 illustrates a collection of optional further features that can be combined with the coordination entity for mobile sidelink positioning of an exemplary embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0053] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention and its potential advantages are understood by reference to drawings Figures 1 through 12. In this disclosure, like reference numbers designate like parts or steps.

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of sidelink transmission of an example embodiment.

[0055] New Radio NR Sidelink (SL) facilitates user equipment UE to communicate with other nearby UEs via direct / SL communication. Two resource allocation modes are specified in 3GPP Release 16, and an SL transmitter (Tx) UE is configured with one of them for its NR SL transmission. These modes are designated as NR SL Mode 1 and NR SL Mode 2. In Mode 1, sidelink transmission resources are assigned to SL Tx UEs by the network (NW), while Mode 2 SL Tx UEs autonomously select their SL transmission resources. The following embodiments relate to Mode 1, where the network schedules the radio resources.

[0056] In mode 1, where the 5G NB (gNB) is responsible for SL resource allocation, the configuration and operation are similar to that over the Uu interface shown in Figure 1.

[0057] Sidelink positioning is under development. With sidelink positioning, a positioning reference signal (PRS) is transmitted in the sidelink to facilitate positioning of the target UE. In particular, the target UE may measure the PRS transmitted by one or more anchor UEs and use its knowledge of the locations of these anchor UEs to calculate its own position. Alternatively, the target UE may report sidelink PRS measurements to the network and a location server (e.g., Location Management Function (LMF)) may perform a position estimate for the target UE. Note that the LMF may also reside in the target UE itself in some exemplary embodiments.

[0058] To enable the positioning procedure with LMF, the network should have connectivity to potential anchor UEs and can therefore select a suitable set of anchor UEs to serve the target UE based on certain criteria. Consider the following two scenarios:

[0059] Scenario 1: The target UE is in the network coverage, so the location server is also connected to the target UE.

[0060] Scenario 2: The target UE is out of network coverage, so the location server may not have a (direct) connection to the target UE. However, a connection can be established through a sidelink, but such a connection may not exist with sufficient reliability.

[0061] FIG. 2 shows an architecture diagram of the sidelink positioning system of an example embodiment, where an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) interface is either present or absent between the location server and the target UE 120 depending on whether the target UE 120 is in network coverage or not.

[0062] Positioning integrity basically refers to a measure of confidence in a device's location estimates. If a device cannot meet the required integrity performance, the associated location estimates cannot be trusted by the entities or customers that were going to use the positioning information. In the context of integrity, being trusted means that gross errors, i.e. errors much larger than the accuracy target, are avoidable. To quantify location integrity, several metrics, or here indicators of concern, are defined, among others: 1. Integrity risk (IR) refers to the probability that a system will produce errors without providing a timely warning of such potential errors. 2. The alert limit AL refers to the magnitude of error that, if exceeded, becomes unacceptable from a safety point of view; the alert limit may be application dependent and may be expressed, for example, by a protection level or limit, such as a vertical or horizontal protection level or limit. 3. Time to Alert (TTA) refers to the time between the occurrence of an error, for example when an alert limit is violated, and the point at which an alert or correction is issued to protect against the underlying problem.

[0063] In some cases, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning integrity is supported, and the NW or device may obtain information related to the integrity performance required by an application or a location service (LCS) client from a location server. Then, based on this information and GNSS measurements, the device derives its integrity performance metrics, such as protection level, and reports them to the location server. Thus, the network (and LCS client) can know whether the device's position estimate is trustworthy or not.

[0064] Some of the following example embodiments may design procedures that allow a target UE to acquire and deal with the uncertainty of a supporting UE in the sidelink integrity framework. In the following, some example embodiments are described using the terms target device and anchor device, which are intended to refer to devices that include a UE and may further include other equipment, such as a host device, such as additional hardware and software of a machine-type device.

[0065] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling diagram of an exemplary embodiment method in which the integrity support framework is extended to NR SL operation.

[0066] Although the LMF is depicted as a separate entity, it may reside on the NW side or on the target device side when the target device is out of network coverage: 1. When the target device is in coverage, the LMF coordinates the anchor AFE collection via an integrity message sent over the LPP interface. 2. When the target device is out of coverage, the local LMF function is triggered and the target device broadcasts a positioning request on SL. In this request (or in a subsequent SL message sent after other SL devices respond to the request), the target device may add an AFE request. The anchor device then responds to the AFE via either: i. a targeted SL unicast / multicast message; or ii.SL broadcast, as a result, other potential targets may see the device as a potential anchor device.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment, the LMF does one or more of the following: 301: Select anchor device candidates; 302: Define integrity information of candidate anchor UEs. The integrity information may be referred to as anchor UE concern events or anchor device concern events AFEs. 303: Request candidate anchor devices to calculate and report their AFEs; 304: Receive AFEs from all requested candidate anchor devices; 305: Derive assistance data for the candidate target device using the received AFE; 306: Selecting an anchor device using the assistance data while taking into account the integrity of the target device; 307: Providing one or more identities of the selected anchor device to the target device; or 308: In target device based integrity, the derived assistance data is provided to the target device so that the target device can determine its own sidelink integrity result. Here, the following steps may be performed: 309: The LMF provides the derived assistance data of the candidate anchor devices to the target device. 310: The target device performs a UE sidelink integrity calculation to address: i. Its own position measurement uncertainty due to, for example, mobility, accuracy and latency of measurement acquisition, measurement errors due to its own processing imperfections (frequency and time offsets). ii. The position uncertainty of each anchor device. 311: In device-assisted positioning, the LMF uses the AFE not only to select an anchor device but also to: 312: Establishing a SL session based on the selected anchor and after collecting SL positioning measurements; 313: Calculate the target UE location and its integrity.

[0068] Note that before replying with an AFE response, the anchor device may temporarily become the target device, refresh its position estimate, and then refresh its AFE. In other words, the anchor device may trigger its own SL positioning, including the procedure of FIG. 3, in response to the AFE request.

[0069] The AFE may include binary and / or non-binary concern event indicators that the anchor device should report to the LMF upon request.

[0070] Figure 4 shows a signaling diagram of an example embodiment for positioning integrity handling. Figure 4 summarizes an integrity framework for a SL communication scenario in which a coordination entity 410 (e.g., a gNB in ​​NR SL mode 1 or a target device in NR SL mode 2) selects one or more candidate anchor devices 420 (e.g., relay devices) for SL data transfer. This example embodiment includes one or more of the following: 401: The coordination entity sends an AFE request to each candidate anchor device. 402: A candidate anchor device collects AFEs. 403: Candidate anchor devices provide their AFE reports to the SL coordinator. 404: The SL coordinator calculates derivation assistance data based on the AFE report to narrow down the selection of anchor device candidates for the target device or select an anchor device. 405: The SL coordinator configures the necessary links, for example defining their modulation and / or coding schemes. 406: The selected anchor device candidate establishes an SL session with the target device.

[0071] Prior to the method illustrated in FIG. 4, in an exemplary embodiment, narrowing down the selection of candidate anchor devices is performed prior to determining the candidate anchor device to which the AFE request should be sent.

[0072] To support sidelink operations (communication and / or positioning) in the target device, the coordination entity facilitates the determination of appropriate positioning resources, e.g., anchor devices, to be applied. In particular, the positioning capabilities of candidate anchor devices should be taken into account in the selection of the (candidate) target device.

[0073] 5 shows a signaling chart of an example embodiment method for selecting a candidate anchor device by a gNB or LMF (suitable for an in-coverage scenario). The method includes one or more of the following: 501: The SL coordinator obtains the positioning requirements (eg, accuracy and / or integrity and / or latency) of the target device. 502: Based on the SL quality of service QoS requirements, the SL coordinator derives integrity requirements (eg, target integrity risk - TIR; alert limit - AL) that the anchor device should satisfy to meet the QoS requirements of the target device. 503: The SL coordinator provides the derived positioning integrity requirement to at least one candidate anchor device. 504: The SL Coordinator provides assistance data to the candidate device to enable the candidate device to estimate its own integrity (e.g., synchronicity uncertainty for time-based positioning methods; angle calibration uncertainty for angle-based methods, and / or satellite error probability for GNSS positioning). 505: Each candidate anchor device derives its own integrity result based on the positioning integrity requirement and provides it to the SL coordinator. 506: The SL coordinator receives the derived integrity result from at least one of the candidate anchor devices. 507: The SL coordinator determines which of the candidate anchor devices should be selected to assist in SL positioning of the target device. 508: The SL coordinator notifies the selected anchor device. 509: An SL session is triggered based on the selected anchor device.

[0074] FIG. 6 illustrates session integrity checks versus periodicity, according to an example embodiment.

[0075] If the SL session has a periodic nature, e.g., if the target device's location requires refreshing with a given frequency, the integrity checks may be performed periodically. In an exemplary embodiment, the integrity checks 1-6 may also need to be performed periodically, after which the session may require reconfiguration. The refresh rate of checks 1-6 need not be equal to that of the target device location refresh rate, and may depend on the type and availability of the anchor device.

[0076] Conversely, if an SL session cannot be set up with a given periodicity, sub-sessions may be configured and integrity checks 1-6 may be performed after one or more of such sub-sessions are terminated.

[0077] FIG. 7 shows a signaling chart of an example embodiment for selecting an anchor device by a target device (suitable for out-of-coverage scenarios).

[0078] In an exemplary embodiment, to support sidelink operation of an out-of-coverage target device, the target device determines by itself the appropriate positioning resources (e.g., anchor device selection, SL-PRS transmission, and / or subsequent measurement collection) that should be applied. In particular, the integrity performance of the candidate devices (relays / anchors) can be taken into account. Figure 7 shows the following: 701: A target device may obtain QoS requirements (eg, accuracy, integrity, and / or latency) from, for example, a location service LCS client. 702: The target device may derive positioning integrity requirements (eg, TIR, AL) that the anchor device should satisfy to meet the SL requirements of the target device. 703: The target device provides the derived integrity requirements to at least one candidate anchor device, for example, via SL unicast or SL broadcast signaling. 704: Each candidate anchor device derives its own integrity result based on the derived integrity requirements and provides it to the target device. This can be provided, for example, via a SL unicast or SL broadcast signal. The advantage of the latter approach is that the report can be received by another device and used as a new target device to configure its own positioning session. 705: The target device receives an integrity result of at least one candidate anchor device. 706: The target device determines which of the candidate anchor devices is to be selected to assist the SL positioning of the target device. 707: The target device may notify at least one selected anchor device about the selection result. 708: The selected anchor device may notify the network (gNB and / or LMF) that it has been selected for sidelink positioning by the target device.

[0079] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method in a first terminal device for sidelink positioning according to an exemplary embodiment; the method includes: 801: Receiving an anchor concern event request for sidelink positioning of a target device from a coordination entity; 802: Sending an anchor concern event response to a coordination entity indicating at least one factor affecting positioning integrity of a target device at a first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; including any one or more of the following: 803: The anchor concern event response includes at least one of the following concern event indicators: a) link quality characteristics of a channel between a first terminal device and a target device; b) A parameter related to at least one factor causing a sidelink positioning error; c) an integrity result of the positioning estimation of the first terminal device; d) The power headroom of the first terminal device.

[0080] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method in a coordination entity for mobile sidelink positioning of an example embodiment; the method includes: 901: Sending an anchor concern event request for sidelink positioning of a target device to one or more first terminal devices; 902: Receiving an anchor concern event response from at least a subset of one or more first terminal devices, the anchor concern event response indicating at least one factor affecting a positioning integrity of a target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning. Contains one or more of the following: 903: The anchor concern event response includes at least one of the following concern event indicators: a) link quality characteristics of a channel between a first terminal device and a target device; b) A parameter related to at least one factor causing a sidelink positioning error; c) an integrity result of the first terminal device; d) The power headroom of the first terminal device.

[0081] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method in a coordination entity for sidelink positioning of an example embodiment; the method comprises: 1001: Selecting a set of anchor device candidates that can be used for SL positioning of a target device; 1002: Triggering a set of anchor device candidates to measure and report AFEs and AFE validity, e.g., a duration during which the AFE is expected to remain unchanged; 1003: Receiving a response from a candidate anchor device via an enhanced LPP, the response having an AFE, where a response may not be received from a candidate anchor device that rejects the request if it is unavailable due to, for example, an ongoing operation; 1004: Calculating an anchor integrity value, e.g., probability of SL positioning failure (PPF) per anchor and / or duration of anchor availability; 1005: Selecting a suitable anchor device for the target device, such as one that is estimated to be the most reliable, according to a positioning QoS requirement of the target device; Contains one or more of the following:

[0082] FIG. 11 illustrates a collection of optional further features that can be combined with the coordination entity for mobile sidelink positioning of the exemplary embodiment, including one or more of the following: 1101: Obtain, by a first terminal device, assistance data derived from anchor concern event responses of one or more second terminal devices acting as anchor device candidates; 1102: Derive assistance data for a target device based on a received anchor concern event response; 1103: Estimate a probability of sidelink positioning failure of a candidate anchor device based on a received anchor concern event response by the assistance data; 1104: Providing the derived assistance data to the target device for determining positioning integrity of the target device; 1105: Providing assistance data to a target device regarding at least some or all of the candidate anchor devices; 1106: Select one or more first terminal devices for sidelink positioning of the target device based on the assistance data or the anchor concern event response; 1107: Providing information about one or more first terminal devices as anchor device candidates to a target device; 1108: Receive a positioning assistance request for a target device; 1109: Initiate selection of one or more first terminal devices for sidelink positioning of the target device in response to the positioning assistance request; 1110: Obtain an anchor integrity value for a first positioning session based on a duration of anchor device candidate availability; 1111: Mobility level is based on beam misalignment of sidelink positioning reference signal; 1112: Establish a first positioning session between the target device and a selected first terminal device; 1113: The coordination entity includes a location management function, a base station such as a gNB, or a terminal device such as a first terminal device or a target device; 1114: Sharing a candidate sidelink communications resource pool with a sidelink communications resource pool when network support is not available; 1115: Establishing a parallel sidelink positioning session when the target device is assisted by two or more first terminal devices; 1116: Initiating establishment of a sidelink positioning session by a coordination entity; 1117: Initiating establishment of a sidelink positioning session by the target device; 1118: The anchor concern event response further includes one or more of further concern event indicators selected from the group consisting of: traffic type of the candidate anchor device; load of the candidate anchor device; sidelink load of the candidate anchor device; likelihood of listen-before-talk failure of the candidate anchor device.

[0083] FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 1000 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0084] The device 1200 may include a memory 1240 including a computer program code 1250. The device 1200 may further include a processor 1220 for controlling the operation of the device 1200 using the computer program code 1240, and a communication interface 1210 for communicating with other nodes. The communication interface 1210 may include, for example, a local area network (LAN) port; a wireless local area network (WLAN) entity; a Bluetooth entity; a cellular data communication interface; or a satellite data communication entity. The processor 1220 may include, for example, any one or more of: a master control unit (MCU); a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP); an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC); a field programmable gate array; and a microcontroller.

[0085] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) a hardware-only circuit implementation (e.g., implementation solely in analog and / or digital circuitry), and; (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, as applicable, such as: (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of hardware processors (including digital signal processors) with software, software, and memory that cooperate to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or a server, to perform various functions; and (c) A hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, although the software may not be present if it is not required for operation.

[0086] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any patent claims. As a further example, the term circuitry, as used in this application, also covers a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware-only implementation. The term circuitry also covers, for example, a baseband or processor integrated circuit for a terminal device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to a particular claim element.

[0087] Without limiting in any way the scope, interpretation, or application of the appended claims, a technical effect of one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein is that positioning integrity may be improved in mobile target device positioning based on position data of other terminal devices. Another technical effect of one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein is that positioning integrity of a mobile target device may be verified and / or improved in sidelink positioning of a mobile target device. Yet another technical effect of one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein is that sidelink positioning of a mobile target device may be efficiently performed by either central or distributed control.

[0088] In an exemplary embodiment, the application logic, software, or instruction set is maintained on any one of a variety of conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this disclosure, a "computer-readable medium" may be any non-transitory medium or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions for use by or in association with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer, an example of which is described and depicted in FIG. 12. A computer-readable medium may include a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any medium or means that can contain or store instructions for use by or in association with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

[0089] If desired, various functions discussed herein may be performed in different orders and / or concurrently with one another. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the functions described above may be optional or may be combined.

[0090] Various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, but other aspects of the invention include other combinations of features from the described embodiments and / or dependent claims with features of the independent claims, as well as the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

[0091] Although the above describes exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is also noted herein that these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications that can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method in a first terminal device for sidelink positioning, comprising: receiving an anchor concern event request for positioning of a target device from a coordination entity; sending an anchor concern event response to a coordination entity indicating at least one factor affecting the positioning integrity of the target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; Including, The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device The method includes at least one of the following:

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining assistance data derived from anchor concern event responses of one or more second terminal devices acting as anchor device candidates.

3. 1. A method in a coordination entity for sidelink positioning, comprising: sending an anchor concern event request for positioning of the target device to one or more first terminal devices; receiving an anchor concern event response from at least a subset of the one or more first terminal devices, the anchor concern event response indicating at least one factor affecting a positioning integrity of a target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; Including, The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device The method includes at least one of the following:

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising deriving assistance data for the target device based on the received anchor event of concern response.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing the derived assistance data to the target device for determining positioning integrity of the target device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting one or more first terminal devices for positioning of the target device based on the assistance data or the anchor concern event response.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the anchor concern event comprises an integrity result of a positioning estimate of the first terminal device.

8. Anchor concern event response, user equipment type, interference in the candidate sidelink resources determined in the result of the sidelink sensing operation, power or battery status, mobility level, radio resource control mode, traffic type of the candidate anchor device, load of the candidate anchor device, sidelink load of the candidate anchor device, and likelihood of listen-before-talk failure of the candidate anchor device. The method of claim 1 , further comprising one or more of the additional event indicators of concern selected from the group consisting of:

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a positioning assistance request for the target device.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining an anchor integrity value of the target device based on a duration of availability of the first terminal device.

11. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobility level is based on beam misalignment of a sidelink positioning reference signal.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a first positioning session between the target device and the selected anchor device candidate.

13. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A first terminal device for sidelink positioning, comprising: At least one transmitter, the at least one transmitter transmitting to a first terminal device: receiving an anchor concern event request for positioning of the target device from a coordination entity; and causing a coordination entity to transmit an anchor concern event response indicative of at least one factor affecting the positioning integrity of the target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning. It is structured as follows: The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device A first terminal device including at least one of:

15. The at least one processor may further include a first terminal device that: The first terminal device of claim 14 , configured to cause acquisition of assistance data derived from anchor concern event responses of one or more second terminal devices acting as anchor device candidates.

16. A coordination entity for sidelink positioning, comprising at least one transmitter, the at least one transmitter transmitting to the coordination entity: sending an anchor concern event request for positioning of the target device to one or more first terminal devices; receiving an anchor concern event response from at least a subset of the one or more first terminal devices, the anchor concern event response indicating at least one factor affecting a positioning integrity of the target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; It is structured as follows: The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device A coordination entity including at least one of:

17. The method further comprises at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to: The method according to any one of claims 4 to 12 is carried out. The coordination entity according to claim 16, adapted to:

18. A coordination entity according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the coordination unit comprises a location management function.

19. A coordination entity according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the coordination unit comprises a base station.

20. A coordination entity according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the coordination unit comprises a terminal device.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to: receiving an anchor concern event request for positioning of the target device from a coordination entity; transmitting an anchor concern event response to the coordination entity indicating at least one factor affecting the target's positioning integrity at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising at least one of:

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to: sending an anchor concern event request for positioning of the target device to one or more first terminal devices; receiving an anchor concern event response from at least a subset of the one or more first terminal devices, the anchor concern event response indicating at least one factor affecting a positioning integrity of the target at the first terminal device acting as an anchor device for sidelink positioning; The anchor event response is the following event indicators of concern: link quality characteristics of a channel between the first terminal device and the target device; or Power headroom of the first terminal device 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising at least one of:

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