User Equipment (UE) based relative position

Abstract

For example, a user equipment (UE) used with vulnerable road users determines a relative position of the UE and transmits a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs), the report further including an identification of one or more reference points. The relative position may be relative to one or more reference points, which may be stationary or moving. The relative position may be determined and reported based on an identifier for the one or more reference points and a distance or distance vector to each of the one or more reference points. The relative position may be determined based on data from one or more on-board sensors, such as radar, lidar, ultrasonic, or camera, as well as using a wireless transceiver. The relative position may further include a heading and a position relative to one or more street elements.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] Background Field The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for location determination of a user equipment (UE) within a communication system.

[0002] Related Background Vehicle communication systems are an area of ​​active interest in the communications industry to provide useful information in transportation. Vehicle communication systems include nodes such as roadside units (RSUs) and the vehicles themselves that wirelessly transmit traffic-related information and are being developed as part of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). For example, vehicle communication systems include direct communication systems such as Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications, or 5G New Radio (NR) communications.

[0003] User Equipment (UE), e.g., wireless devices such as mobile communication devices, mobile phones, smartphones, etc., may be present in the traffic space. In some cases, the UE may be associated with Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), such as pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, users in the road space that are not protected by external obstructions, who are at increased risk of injury or death in any collision with a vehicle. Identification of the location of the UE (especially the UE associated with the VRU) in the vehicular communication system is desirable so that the vehicle can determine whether maneuvers should be taken to protect or avoid the UE. Summary of the Invention

[0004] For example, a user equipment (UE) used with vulnerable road users determines a relative position of the UE and transmits a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs), the report further including an identification of one or more reference points. The relative position may be relative to one or more reference points, which may be stationary or moving. The relative position may be determined and reported based on an identifier for the one or more reference points and a distance or distance vector to each of the one or more reference points. The relative position may be determined based on data from one or more on-board sensors, such as radar, lidar, ultrasonic, or camera, as well as using a wireless transceiver. The relative position may further include a heading and a position relative to one or more street elements.

[0005] In one implementation, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) to perform positioning includes determining a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and transmitting a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0006] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to perform positioning includes a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with a network entity, one or more sensors, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver, the one or more sensors, and the at least one memory, where the at least one processor is configured to determine a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and transmit a report of the relative position via the wireless transceiver to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in the wireless network, where the report further includes an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0007] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to perform positioning includes means for determining a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and means for transmitting a report of the relative position to one or more OBUs in a wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0008] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium stores program code operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to perform positioning, the program code including instructions to determine a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and send a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0009] Non-limiting, non-exhaustive aspects are described with reference to the following figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a wireless communication system in which user devices communicate wirelessly with other network entities. [Diagram 2] 2 illustrates another wireless communication system in which user devices communicate wirelessly with other network entities. [Diagram 3] Illustrates an environment in which a UE determines its relative position with respect to one or more reference points and reports the relative position to one or more network entities within a wireless network. [Figure 4] 13 shows a signal flow for a UE to send location capability information to a network entity. [Diagram 5] 13 shows a signal flow for a UE to send location capability information to a network entity. [Figure 6]1 shows a signal flow for a UE to transmit its relative position to a network entity. [Figure 7] 1 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a user device configured to determine and report a relative location of the user device to one or more network entities. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for a UE to perform positioning. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Vehicle communication systems, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), can be used for safety-related applications, such as safety warnings, traffic congestion (e.g., automatic traffic control), and cooperative or automatic vehicle operation. Application layer messages and information elements (IEs) to support safety-related applications are being defined by various standards development organizations. For example, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is preparing work items J3186 Maneuver Sharing and Coordinating Service and J2945 / 6 Performance Requirements for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control and Platooning. In China, Baidu has started work on Phase 3 message definition for cooperative driving. Such messages are a prerequisite for intelligent transportation systems (ITS), such as cooperative or automatic vehicle operation and traffic control.

[0012] One safety aspect considered for a vehicle communication system is protection of the VRU. For example, a UE associated with a VRU can determine its absolute location using a satellite positioning system (SPS) such as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), Galileo, etc., or using a cellular-based positioning technique. The UE can provide its location data to a network entity via a cellular connection, e.g., via a base station (via a Uu interface) to the network, or directly via a sidelink connection (via a PC5 interface). Application layer messages have been defined by Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) for the UE to transmit location, movement state, route history, and / or route prediction information to vehicles and other cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) devices such as roadside units (RSUs), where the location information may include an accuracy metric. The location information reported by the UE allows the RSUs, vehicles, and infrastructure entities to decide whether to take action to protect or avoid the UE.

[0013] Current standards considered to define reporting of location information for VRU UEs specify that location information is delivered as absolute position periodically through the transmission of application layer messages such as Personal Safety Messages (PSMs). However, vehicle maneuvers to avoid the VRU are based on the relative position of the VRU to the vehicle, or to road features (e.g., the VRU at a crosswalk). Thus, the receiver of the VRU location information (e.g., a network entity, an RSU, or a communication device mounted on the vehicle, e.g., an On-Board Unit (OBU)) must analyze the reported VRU absolute position to determine the VRU relative position and whether action is required to avoid the VRU. Thus, reporting absolute position burdens the receiver to perform this analysis, requires regular, periodic location updates from the VRU, and is subject to the accuracy limitations of absolute position technologies such as GNSS.

[0014] Thus, in some aspects of the disclosure herein, the UE may determine and report the relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points. Meanwhile, reporting the relative position of the UE may leverage the UE's on-board sensors, such as radar, lidar, ultrasonic, and camera, to provide more accurate distance measurements with respect to objects or known road features / landmarks. For example, the relative position may be determined based on data from one or more of radar, lidar, ultrasonic positioning, or camera. In some implementations, the relative position may additionally or alternatively be determined based on wireless signals, such as sidelink positioning, where range and / or angle with respect to a wireless transmitter may be determined. The UE may transmit a report including the relative position of the UE to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in the wireless network, for example, directly or via one or more intervening network entities. Reporting the relative position of the UE may provide more accurate distance measurements with respect to objects or known road features / landmarks. In some implementations, the UE may send a report including the relative position of the UE with respect to other UEs. The report may include, for example, an identification of one or more reference points and a relative position, e.g., a distance or distance vector, for each of the one or more reference points. The one or more reference points may be stationary, e.g., fixed and non-moving, or may be moving. In some implementations, the relative position may further include a heading of the UE, e.g., heading relative to north, and / or a location of the UE, e.g., a location within the street environment where the UE is located, such as a sidewalk, a curb or curb extension, a bike path, a (raised) crosswalk, a corner, a crosswalk or intersection, a truck apron or pillow, a bus bulb, a crossing island, a traffic circle, a road or a lane, within the environment of the VRU and / or accessible by the VRU.

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a V2X wireless communication system 100 in which V2X services operate using (direct) wireless communication between V2X entities, including a UE 102. The UE 102 is shown as being associated with a VRU (user) 104, and may be referred to herein as a VRU UE 102 or simply UE 102. In some implementations, the UE may be associated with the VRU, e.g., carried or held by the VRU. Examples of UEs associated with a VRU may be mobile communication devices, handheld devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, body-worn or head-worn devices such as smart glasses, smart watches, or combinations thereof, such as such devices in a personal area network (PAN). A UE may be determined to be associated with a VRU based on the type of UE, e.g., smart watch or smart glasses, based on current location and / or movement information, e.g., being located in an exterior environment rather than inside a building, not associated with a motorized vehicle such as a car or truck, not associated with a home network, etc. Association with a motorized vehicle or a home network may be determined, for example, with respect to wireless pairing of the UE with an OBU of the vehicle or a network unit of the home network. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to only UEs associated with a VRU and may be used in some implementations with other types of UEs, including UEs associated with vehicles, e.g., OBUs. As shown, the UE 102 may wirelessly communicate directly with various other network entities, such as a vehicular UE (OBU) 110 (shown as a car) via a vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication link 111, or a roadside unit (RSU) 120 via a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication link 121. Although FIG. 1 shows the VRU 104 as a pedestrian, it should be understood that the VRU 104 may be a bicyclist, motorcyclist, or any other road space user who may not be protected by external obstructions and who is at high risk of injury or death in the event of a collision with a vehicle.

[0016] A Roadside Unit (RSU) is a fixed infrastructure entity supporting V2X applications that can exchange messages with other entities supporting V2X applications. The VRU UE 102 may be in wireless communication with the OBU 110 via the RSU 120 via the V2I communication link 121 and the V2I communication link 123. The wireless communications may be via, for example, the Proximity-based Services (ProSe) direct communication (PC5) reference point defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) body of standards such as, for example, Technical Specification (TS) 23.303, using wireless communications on the 5.9 GHz ITS band under IEEE 1609, Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE), Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), dedicated short range communications (DSRC), cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), and IEEE 802.11p, or other wireless connections directly between the entities. During direct communication with one or more entities in the V2X wireless communication system 100, each entity can provide V2X information, such as the V2X entity's identifier, and other information in messages, such as Common Awareness Messages (CAMs) and Decentralized Notification Messages (DENMs) or Basic Safety Messages (BSMs), which can be used, for example, for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) or safety use cases, such as lane changes, speed changes, overtaking speeds, etc.As described herein, one or more messages may be transmitted in the V2X wireless communications system 100 to support reporting of the relative position of the VRU UE 102 to one or more network entities, including the OBU 110 and the RSU 120.

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a vehicle-to-network (V2N) wireless communications system 200 in which V2X services operate using a wireless network between entities, such as a wireless wide area network (WWAN). For example, the entities may communicate over a long-term evolution (LTE) network, where the air interface between the user equipment (UE) and the eNodeB is referred to as LTE-Uu, or other suitable wireless network, such as a "3G," "4G," or "5G" network. As illustrated, the VRU UE 102 may wirelessly communicate with network entities in the wireless communications system 200, such as the OBU 110, the RSU 120, etc., over a network infrastructure 210, which is illustratively referred to as an LTE network, but which may be a 5G NR network or other type of network. As illustrated, the VRU UE 102 may wirelessly communicate with a base station 202, such as a base station 202, over a network infrastructure 210, e.g., a base station 202, referred to as an eNodeB in the LTE network infrastructure 210 (or a gNodeB in the 5G NR network infrastructure), over a Uu interface 203. As shown, in some implementations, the VRU UE 102 may communicate directly with the RSU 230 via a communication link 231 that interfaces with the base station 204 via a Uu interface 205.

[0018] The base station 202 may also communicate with other base stations, e.g., the base station 212, through an IP layer 214 and a network 216, such as an evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service (eMBMS) / single cell point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) network. The server 220 may be part of the IP layer 214, as shown, or may be connected to the IP layer 214, or may be external to the IP layer 214 and the network infrastructure 210. The base station 212 may communicate with the OBU 110 directly or wirelessly through other V2X entities, such as the RSU 120 via the Uu interface 213 or 215 and the V2I link 123. The V2N communications using the "Uu" interface may be used to exchange messages, e.g., using C-V2X, 5G NR communications, etc. The information exchange may be similar to that described above, including messages related to supporting reporting of the relative position of the VRU UE 102 to one or more network entities, although the information exchange may be over a longer distance than the direct communications shown in FIG. 1.

[0019] The server 220 shown in the network infrastructure 210 can receive and route relative location information from the VRU UE 102 and / or the OBU 110 and / or other entities. The server 220 can further provide the VRU UE 102 with information about reference points, such as fixed reference points, that can be used to determine the relative location of the VRU UE 102. The server 220 can provide the VRU UE 102 with road, terrain, landmark information (roads, intersections, curbs, sidewalks), including map information / type being used (e.g., map version, resolution, type), including identifiers for the reference points. The server 220 can provide the VRU UE 102 with location information regarding the reference points, such as absolute locations of the stationary reference points. In some implementations, the location of the reference points can be used as the reference point identifier. In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 can determine location information for the stationary reference points based on, for example, the road, terrain, landmark information (map information) provided to the VRU UE 102. Server 220 may further route information, such as reference point identifiers and / or location information, to VRU UE 102 for a moving or stationary reference point, or the moving or stationary reference point may provide such information to VRU UE 102 directly or via another intervening entity, such as RSU 120. Server 220 may further provide one or more messages to coordinate positioning by VRU UE 102, including requesting and receiving capability information from VRU UE 102, such as whether VRU UE 102 can determine and report relative position, absolute position, or both, and to configure VRU UE 102 to obtain and report relative position, absolute position, or both. In some implementations, the functionality of server 220 may be distributed among multiple servers or other entities within network infrastructure 210 or outside network infrastructure 210, and in some implementations, various entities within wireless communication system 200 (or wireless communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1), such as RSU 120 and OBU 110, may perform one or more functions on behalf of server 220.

[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates an environment 300 in which a VRU UE 102 determines its relative position with respect to one or more reference points and reports the relative position to one or more network entities, shown as OBUs 110, in a wireless network.

[0021] The VRU UE 102 may determine its relative position to one or more reference points, which may include stationary or moving reference points. A stationary reference point may include a stationary vehicle, such as a parked vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, a stationary reference point may include a fixed (in space) reference point, such as the RSU 120 or a street sign 302, or other fixed landmarks, such as trees 304, buildings (not shown), street intersections, etc. A moving reference point may include a vehicle 306, which may be, for example, a non-V2X-enabled vehicle, or may include other moving entities, such as other VRUs. In one implementation, the relative position to one or more reference points need not include the relative position to the OBU 110 itself.

[0022] The VRU UE 102 may receive information about one or more stationary reference points, such as, for example, the RSU 120 or street signs 302. The information may be obtained from one or more entities in the wireless network, such as, for example, the server 220 or the OBU 110 or the RSU 120 shown in FIG. 2. This information may be used to assist in determining the relative position of the VRU UE 102. For example, the information may include identifiers of stationary or fixed reference points that may be used by the VRU UE 102 to determine the relative position. The information may be provisioned or downloaded by the VRU UE 102 and may include, for example, road, terrain, landmark information (roads, intersections, curbs, sidewalks, etc.), and may include map information and / or type (e.g., map version, resolution, type) being used. The VRU UE 102 may additionally or alternatively receive information related to a moving reference point, such as a vehicle 306, including identifiers for the moving reference point. Information regarding the movement reference point may be received from one or more entities in the wireless network, such as, for example, OBU 110 or RSU 120, or in some implementations, from server 220, for example, via a Basic Safety Message (BSM) or other application layer message.

[0023] The VRU UE 102 may determine its relative position to one or more reference points, for example, based on one or more on-board sensors of the VRU UE. For example, the VRU UE 102 may determine a distance, e.g., a range or distance vector, from a reference point, such as a street sign 302, using one or more of a camera, radar, lidar, ultrasonic sensor, etc. For example, the VRU UE 102 may identify a reference point based on a known approximate location and orientation of the VRU UE 102, which may be determined using positioning techniques including SPS, cellular-based, dead reckoning, etc., using SPS receiver data, cellular transceiver data, accelerometer data, gyroscope data, magnetometer data, wheel sensor data (e.g., if the VRU UE 102 is a cycle), etc. Based on the approximate location and orientation of the VRU UE 102, one or more reference points may be identified from provisioned or downloaded information related to the reference points, including map data. The VRU UE 102 may detect one or more reference points using object recognition, for example, using camera data and / or based on the position and orientation from map data and the approximate position and orientation of the VRU UE 102. The VRU UE 102 may use on-board sensors, such as cameras, radar, lidar, and / or ultrasonic sensors, to determine the distance to the identified one or more reference points. The VRU UE 102 may further determine the accuracy of the distance measurement for each of the one or more reference points.

[0024] In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 may use wireless positioning techniques, such as, for example, round trip time (RTT) or reference signal received power (RSRP), to determine a distance, e.g., a range or distance vector, to a wireless transmitter that serves as a reference point. The wireless positioning techniques may use, for example, a sidelink connection to an entity in the V2X wireless network or a separate wireless network, or may use a Uu connection with a base station in a cellular network. For example, the VRU UE 102 may determine a distance to the RSU 120 based on the RTT using the V2I communication link 121 (shown in FIG. 1). In some implementations, the reference point may be a base station, such as the base station 202 shown in FIG. 2, that may transmit positioning resources in a beam. The VRU UE 102 may determine a distance to the base station, for example, using the RTT or RSRP, along with a beam identifier of a received beam, which may be used to determine a relative orientation, e.g., an angle of arrival (AoA), of the VRU UE to the base station. In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 can determine a relative position to multiple reference points, e.g., multiple base stations, for example, in a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurement, which is a measurement of the relative time difference in received signals from two base stations, and thus the distance can be in the form of a hyperbola from the multiple reference points. The VRU UE 102 can further determine the accuracy of the wireless distance (vector) measurement to each of one or more reference points.

[0025] Thus, the relative position of the VRU UE 102 with respect to one or more reference points, e.g., street signs 302, RSU 120, and vehicle 306, may be determined as a distance, e.g., range or distance vector, to each of the reference points, and the VRU UE 102 may send a report of the relative position of the VRU UE 102 to one or more OBUs in the wireless network, such as OBU 110 shown in FIG. 3. The report may further include an identification of each of the reference points. The report sent to OBU 110 may include additional information, such as the accuracy of the distance to each reference point, a beam identifier, an identification of the type of measurement or sensor used to determine the distance, etc. Each OBU may be configured with the same reference point information as the VRU UE 102. The OBU may further determine its absolute position and / or its relative position with respect to one or more reference points identified by the VRU UE 102. Thus, the OBU can determine its relative location with respect to the VRU UE 102 based on the relative location of the VRU UE 102 with respect to one or more reference points and the absolute and / or relative location of the OBU with respect to one or more reference points identified by the VRU UE 102. The VRU UE 102 may send a report with the relative location to the OBU 110, for example, directly via the communication link 111 or through one or more intermediate entities, such as the RSU 120 or entities in the wireless communication system 200 shown in FIG. 2. The VRU UE 102 may report its relative location, for example, via Uu. Thus, the VRU UE 102 may report its relative location via at least one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC), PC5-RRC, PC5-S (sidelink), and application layer signaling mechanisms.

[0026] In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 can determine additional relative location information that can be reported to the OBU 110. For example, the VRU UE 102 can determine its configuration, e.g., its location relative to the road space or its traffic area. In other words, the VRU UE 102 can determine whether it is located within one or more street (design) elements, such as a crosswalk, a sidewalk, etc., that are generally accessible to the VRU. For example, the VRU UE 102 can determine whether the VRU UE 102 is located on the sidewalk 308, in the bike path 310, in the road 312, in the crosswalk 314, etc., based on sensor information, e.g., SPS receiver data, cellular transceiver data, accelerometer data, gyroscope data, magnetometer data, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the (relative) location can be determined using image processing based on one or more images captured by a camera of the VRU UE 102. The VRU UE 102 may determine a location such as the left or north walkway 308 .

[0027] In another example, the VRU UE 102 may determine its heading, such as its heading relative to a geographic coordinate system such as WGS84 North 316, which may be determined using positioning techniques including SPS, cellular-based, dead reckoning, etc., using, for example, SPS receiver data, cellular transceiver data, accelerometer data, gyroscope data, magnetometer data, etc. The heading of the VRU UE 102 may be based on sampled position and / or acceleration data using respective sensors and / or positioning techniques. Filtering, averaging, and / or further processing of the sensor and / or positioning data may be performed to separate the heading of a VRU (carrying, holding, or otherwise physically associated with the VRU UE) from the movement of the VRU UE relative to the VRU, for example, due to the movement of a hand holding the VRU UE. In this disclosure, relative position information may include an instantaneous or time (window) averaged heading of a VRU associated with the VRU UE 102. The heading may be relative to one or more reference points, such as a vehicle associated with OBU 110, and / or relative to one or more street (design) elements, such as a pedestrian crosswalk or a street curb. In addition to heading, speed information may also be included in the relative position information.

[0028] Thus, the report sent by VRU UE 102 to OBU 110 may include a relative position, e.g., a distance or distance vector to each of one or more reference points, and optionally an identifier for the one or more reference points, at least one of a (relative) location within the traffic area / environment, a heading, or a speed.

[0029] In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 may also determine an absolute location, for example, using SPS and / or cellular-based positioning techniques. Reports sent by the VRU UE 102 to the OBU 110 may include the absolute location of the VRU UE 102 along with the relative location.

[0030] In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 may communicate with one or more network entities, such as the server 220, the OBU 110, the RSU 120, etc., to provide its positioning capabilities to determine and report a relative position, an absolute position, or a combination thereof. The VRU UE 102 may receive messages from the one or more network entities with an indication of the type of position to be determined and reported to configure the VRU UE 102 to report a relative position, an absolute position, or a combination thereof.

[0031] Thus, the VRU UE 102 may send messages to one or more network entities via at least one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC), PC5-RRC, PC5-S (signaling), and application layer signaling mechanisms for the VRU UE 102 to report its location as a relative position to other sensed objects (stationary, fixed, and / or moving reference points), where the sensors may include at least one of radar, lidar, camera, ultrasound, or wireless positioning. The VRU UE 102 may inform the network entities (via Uu or PC5 communications) of its positioning capabilities, e.g., to determine and report absolute and / or relative positions, and the network entities may instruct the VRU UE 102 on how and when position information should be reported. Reporting configurations may be provided by the network entities via common or dedicated signaling, through application layer signaling, or may be pre-configured in the VRU UE 102. By enabling the VRU UE 102 to provide a relative location rather than an absolute location, position reporting of the VRU UE 102 can occur when action is required on the part of other road users, offloading the computational burden of the receiver or network to determine the relative location and transmit location information as needed, reducing over-the-air usage and congestion.

[0032] The VRU UE 102 may provide its location reporting capabilities in one or more information elements (IEs) provided to a network entity, such as a base station. The VRU UE 102 location reporting capabilities may be specified as an enumerated list in an IE that may be called "UE-LocationCapability," as shown, by way of example, in Table 1 below. The definitions in Table 1 are based in part on Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1).

[0033] [Table 1]

[0034] In addition to GNSS-based technologies, the UE is enabled to indicate its support for sensor-based ranging / positioning technologies (sidelink positioning, radar, lidar, ultrasound, camera). The UE may send its location reporting capability information as Uu RRC signaling, e.g., using UECapabilityInformation and / or SidelinkUEInformationNR, PC5-RRC, e.g., using the newly defined PC5-S message, e.g., using UECapabilityInformationSidelink and / or RRCReconfigurationSidelink, or application layer signaling, e.g., using application layer messages (unicast, groupcast, broadcast). Using groupcast or broadcast application layer messages may reduce over-the-air usage and congestion, e.g., in dense urban environments.

[0035] As an example, the UE location capabilities may be transmitted to a network entity using Uu RRC signaling, such as using an existing NR Uu RRC message (e.g., SidelinkUEInformationNR) defined by 3GPP.

[0036] 4 illustrates, by way of example, a signal flow 400 of a VRU UE 102 sending location capability information to a network entity (NE) 402. The NE 402 may be, for example, the server 220 or the base station 202 shown in FIG. 2, or another network entity including the OBU 110 or the RSU 120.

[0037] As shown in step 1 of Figure 4, the VRU UE 102 may receive system information from the NE 402, such as a system information block SIB12 acquisition. SIB12 may be a system information block message sent by the cellular network (Uu) according to 3GPP standards to provide configuration information to the UE. SIB12 in Figure 4 may be used to provide the VRU UE 102 with UE configuration for sidelink communications.

[0038] As shown in step 2 of FIG. 4, the VRU UE 102 may send a (NR)Uu RRC message, such as a SidelinkUEInformationNR message, to the NE 402 that includes the location reporting capabilities of the VRU UE 102.

[0039] Thus, the VRU UE 102 may inform the network entity of its positioning capabilities using, for example, the UE-LocationCapability embedded in the SidelinkUEInformationNR message, as shown in Table 2 below, which is based in part on Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1).

[0040] [Table 2]

[0041] In another implementation, the UE location capabilities may be sent to a network entity along with an existing NR Uu RRC message (e.g., UECapabilityInformation).

[0042] 5 illustrates, by way of example, a signal flow 500 of a VRU UE 102 transmitting location capability information to a network entity (NE) 402. The NE 402 may be, for example, the server 220 or the base station 202 shown in FIG. 2, or another network entity including an OBU 110 or an RSU 120.

[0043] As shown in step 1 of FIG. 5, the VRU UE 102 may receive a UECapabilityEnquiry message from the NE 402 requesting the VRU UE 102 to provide UE capability information.

[0044] As shown in step 2 of FIG. 5, the VRU UE 102 may send a (NR)Uu RRC message, such as a UECapabilityInformation message, to the NE 402 that includes the location reporting capabilities of the VRU UE 102.

[0045] Thus, the VRU UE 102 can inform the network entity of its positioning capabilities using, for example, the UE-LocationCapability embedded in the UECapabilityInformation message, as shown in Table 3 below, where the definition in Table 3 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0046] [Table 3]

[0047] In some implementations, the ue-LocationCapability IE may be added to the Uu UEInformationResponse message or to a newly defined RRC message.

[0048] In an implementation where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is provided using PC5-RRC, the ue-LocationCapability IE can be added to the UECapabilityInformationSidelink message (for the UE to respond to peer UE queries) or to the newly defined PC5-RRC message.

[0049] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is provided using PC5-S, the ue-LocationCapability IE may be added directly to the communication request message or to the newly defined PC5-S message.

[0050] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is provided using the application layer, an application layer message may be defined to include a ue-LocationCapability IE.

[0051] Additionally, a network entity may use Uu RRC signaling, such as using an existing NR Uu RRC message (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry), to inquire of the VRU UE 102 about its location reporting capabilities. For example, as shown in FIG 5, the NE 402 may inquire of the VRU UE 102 about its location reporting capabilities by including a request for UE LocationCapability in the UECapabilityEnquiry message sent in step 1 of FIG 5.

[0052] Thus, the network entity 402 can use the UECapabilityEnquirySidelink message to inquire about the VRU UE 102 about its positioning capabilities, for example, using UE-LocationCapability, as shown below in Table 4. The definition in Table 4 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0053] [Table 4]

[0054] In some implementations, the IE may be added to the UEInformationRequest message or to a newly defined RRC message.

[0055] In an implementation where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is requested using PC5-RRC, the ue-LocationCapability IE may be added to the UECapabilityEnquirySidelink message (where the UE queries the peer UE) or to the newly defined PC5-RRC message.

[0056] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is requested using PC5-S, the ue-LocationCapability IE may be added to the Direct Communication Response message or to the newly defined PC5-S message.

[0057] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 location reporting capability is requested using the application layer, the application layer message may be defined to include a ue-LocationCapability IE.

[0058] The VRU UE 102 may be configured to report its location by the network entity 402, for example, in response to a VRU UE 102 location reporting capability provided to the network entity 402. For example, the VRU UE 102 location reporting may be configured cell-wide via common signaling. The network entity 402 may configure the VRU UE 102 location reporting as absolute location, relative location, or absolute location and relative location. As an example, the VRU-UE 102 location reporting may be configured using an IE that may be referred to as "UE-LocationReporting" as an example, which may use a sidelink location reporting type that may be added to an existing SIB12 IE, such as LocationReporting-UE-SelectedConfig-r16, as shown in Table 5 below. The definition in Table 5 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0059] [Table 5]

[0060] Other existing SIB12 IEs may be used to provide network instructions on how the VRU UE should report location information.

[0061] The SelectedConfig-UE-SL-r16 incorporating the UE-LocationReporting IE as shown in Table 5 may be incorporated into the SL-ConfigCommonNR-16 IE in SIB12 as shown below in Table 6. The definition in Table 6 is based on a portion of ASN.1.

[0062] [Table 6]

[0063] Other existing SIB12 IEs may be used to provide network instructions on how the VRU UE should report location information.

[0064] In one implementation, the UE-LocationReporting IE may be directly provisioned in the SL-ConfigCommonNR-16 IE in the existing SIB 12, as shown in Table 7 below. The definition in Table 7 is based on a portion of ASN.1.

[0065] [Table 7]

[0066] In another example, the VRU UE 102 location reporting may be configured with a UE-specific configuration via dedicated signaling, where the network entity 402 configures the VRU UE 102 location reporting as absolute location, relative location, or absolute and relative location. As an example, the UE-LocationReporting IE may be incorporated into the existing SL-ConfigDedicatedNR IE, as shown in Table 8 below. The definition in Table 8 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0067] [Table 8]

[0068] The SL-ConfigDedicatedNR IE, which incorporates the UE-LocationReporting IE, may be incorporated into the RRCReconfiguration-v1610 IE as shown in Table 9 below. The definition in Table 9 is based on a portion of ASN.1.

[0069] [Table 9]

[0070] In one implementation, the UE-LocationReporting IE may be directly provisioned in the RRCReconfiguration message as shown in Table 10 below. The definition in Table 10 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0071] [Table 10]

[0072] In another example, the VRU UE 102 location reporting configuration may be stored in the VRU UE's pre-configuration for out-of-coverage operation. For example, the SL-UE-SelectedPreConfig-r16 IE as shown in Table 5 above may be incorporated into the NR pre-configuration parameters through the existing SL-UE-SelectedConfig-r16 IE as shown in Table 11 below. The definition of Table 11 is based in part on ASN.1.

[0073] [Table 11]

[0074] In one implementation, the UE-LocationReporting IE can be directly provisioned in the NR preconfiguration parameters in the SL-PreconfigurationNR-r16 message, as shown in Table 12 below. The definition in Table 12 is based on a portion of ASN.1.

[0075] [Table 12]

[0076] The VRU UE 102 may be configured to report the relative location using an IE that may be called "UE-LocationRelative," as shown, by way of example, in Table 13 below.

[0077] [Table 13-1]

[0078] [Table 13-2]

[0079] If desired, other definitions for Latitude / Longitude / Altitude (LLA) accuracy can be defined, such as an INTEGER range. Additionally, other definitions for DistanceENU (East-North-Up) accuracy can be used, such as an INTEGER range.

[0080] Definitions of the relative positions IE from Table 13 are provided in Table 14 below.

[0081] [Table 14]

[0082] The VRU UE 102 relative location may be reported to a network entity, for example, using the existing CommonLocationInfo IE in the MeasurementReport message.

[0083] 6 illustrates, by way of example, a signal flow 600 of a VRU UE 102 transmitting its relative location to a network entity (NE) 402. The NE 402 may be, for example, the server 220 or base station 202 shown in FIG. 2, or another network entity including an OBU 110 or an RSU 120.

[0084] In step 1 of Fig. 6, the VRU UE 102 sends a MeasurementReport message to the NE 402. The MeasurementReport message includes relative location information in a UE-LocationRelative IE embedded in a CommonLocationInfo IE, which is a child IE of MeasResults, for example as shown in Tables 15 and 16 below. The definitions in Tables 15 and 16 are based on parts of ASN.1.

[0085] [Table 15]

[0086] [Table 16]

[0087] In some implementations, the ue-LocationCapability IE may be added as a new IE in the MeasurementReport message or as part of a newly defined RRC message. In implementations where the VRU UE 102 sends relative location information using the application layer, the application layer message may be defined to include the ue-LocationCapability IE.

[0088] In some implementations, the VRU UE 102 can send its relative location information directly to another UE, for example, to the OBU 110 shown in Figures 1 and 2. In implementations where the VRU UE 102 relative location information is provided using a PC5-RRC message, the UE-LocationRelative IE can be added to the MeasurementReportSidelink message or to the newly defined PC5-RRC message for relative location reporting.

[0089] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 relative location information is provided using a PC5-S message, the ue-LocationRelative IE may be added to the PC5-S message generated for that purpose.

[0090] In implementations where the VRU UE 102 relative location information is provided using the application layer, an application layer message may be defined to include a ue-LocationRelative IE.

[0091] Information elements sent by VRU UE 102 or received by VRU UE 102 using PC5 or Uu may be standardized, for example, for signaling over the network via the Location Positioning Protocol (LPP) and over the air via Uu or PC5 signaling.

[0092] 7 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a user equipment (UE) 700 that may be used by a VRU, such as a pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcyclist, or any other road space user at high risk of being injured or killed in a collision with a vehicle. The UE 700 may act, for example, as the UE 102 shown in FIGS. 1-6 and may be configured to determine and report its relative position to one or more network entities as described herein. The UE 700 may perform the signal flows shown in FIGS. 4-6 and the process flows shown in FIG. 8, and may support the algorithms described herein, including the algorithms described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0093] The UE 700 may include, for example, one or more processors 702, memory 704, and one or more sensors. For example, if the UE 700 is used by a vehicle, such as, but not limited to, a bicyclist or motorcycle rider, the UE 700 may include a vehicle interface 705 having sensory inputs including wheel tick sensors, speed, acceleration, etc., that may be provided to the UE 700 from the vehicle. The UE 700 may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 707, which may include, for example, an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, etc., that may be used to detect an orientation relative to a global or local reference frame, and movement or one or more motion characteristics of the UE 700. The UE 700 may include a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 709 for receiving SPS signals with which an approximate or absolute position may be determined. The UE 700 may further include one or more of a radar (sensor) 712, a lidar (sensor) 713, an ultrasonic (sensor) 714 from which ranging data may be acquired. The UE 700 may further include a camera 715 for acquiring optical data of the environment, with which, for example, object detection may be performed to identify reference points and ranging may be performed. Furthermore, the UE 700 includes an external interface including, for example, at least one of a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 710 and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 711. The one or more processors 702, the one or more sensors, and the external interface may be operatively coupled with one or more connections 706 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 720 and a memory 704. The UE 700 may further include additional items not shown, such as, for example, a user interface, which may include a display, a keypad, such as a virtual keypad on the display, or other input device through which a user may interface with the user device. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the UE 700 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

[0094] The transceiver 710 may be, for example, a cellular transceiver and may be configured to transmit and receive vehicle-to-vehicle communications as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The transceiver 710 may include a transmitter 710t enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communications links and a receiver 710r for receiving one or more signals transmitted over one or more types of wireless communications links. The transceiver 711 may be, for example, a short-range transceiver and may be configured to wirelessly transmit and receive vehicle-to-vehicle communications as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The transceiver 711 may include a transmitter 711t enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communications links and a receiver 711r for receiving one or more signals transmitted over one or more types of wireless communications links. The transceivers 710 and 711 enable the UE 700 to communicate with network entities, including other UEs, using a D2D communication link, such as DSRC, C-V2X, PC5 or 5G NR.

[0095] In some embodiments, the UE 700 may include an antenna 716, which may be internal or external. The antenna 716 may be used to transmit and / or receive signals processed by the transceiver 710 and / or the transceiver 711. In some embodiments, the antenna 716 may be coupled to the transceiver 710 and / or the transceiver 711. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the UE 700 may be performed at the connection point between the antenna 716 and the transceiver 710 and / or the transceiver 711. For example, the measurement reference points of the received (transmitted) RF signal may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 710r, 711r (transmitter 710t, 711t) and the output (input) terminal of the UE antenna 716. In a UE 700 with multiple antennas 716 or antenna arrays, the antenna connector may be considered to be a virtual point representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple antennas. The phase difference of the received signal at multiple antennas or antenna arrays may be used to determine the AoA of the signal relative to the antenna array, which may be converted to a local or global reference frame based on the known orientation of the UE700, for example, converted to a global or local reference frame based on the orientation of the UE700 measured by the IMU707.

[0096] The one or more processors 702 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 702 may be configured to perform the functions described herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 708 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 720 and / or the memory 704. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 702 may represent one or more circuits that can be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation procedure or process related to the operation of the UE 700.

[0097] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may store instructions or program code 708, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 702, cause the one or more processors 702 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in the UE 700, the medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 702 to perform the methods described herein. Although the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 720 executable by the one or more processors 702, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 704 or may be dedicated hardware either within or external to the one or more processors 702.

[0098] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 720 and / or memory 704 and be utilized by the one or more processors 702 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 720 and / or memory 704 as shown in the UE 700 is only an example, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of the UE 700.

[0099] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include a relative position determination module 722 that, when executed by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to determine a relative position of the UE 700. For example, the one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine a relative position with respect to one or more reference points, which may be stationary or moving. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to identify the reference points based on a position and orientation of the UE 700 determined using one or more positioning techniques including SPS, cellular-based, dead reckoning, etc., using provisioned or downloaded reference point information, such as road information, terrain information, landmark information, map information, etc., as well as data from the SPS receiver 709, transceiver 710 and / or 711, IMU 707, vehicle interface 705, and any other sensors, such as radar 712, lidar 713, ultrasonic 714, and camera 715. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine a distance or distance vector to the identified one or more reference points using one or more of the on-board sensors, such as radar 712, lidar 713, ultrasonic 714, and camera 715, and transceivers 710 and / or 711. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine the accuracy of the distance measurements to each of the one or more reference points. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine additional relative position information, such as location with respect to one or more street (design) features, based on sensor information, such as data from the SPS receiver 709, transceivers 710 and / or 711, IMU 707, vehicle interface 705, and any other sensors, such as radar 712, lidar 713, ultrasonic 714, and camera 715.The one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine relative position information, such as heading, using one or more positioning techniques including SPS, cellular-based, dead reckoning, etc., using data from, for example, the SPS receiver 709, transceiver 710 and / or 711, IMU 707 (e.g., gyroscope or magnetometer), vehicle interface 705, and any other sensors, such as radar 712, lidar 713, ultrasonic 714, and camera 715. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to determine additional relative position information, such as accuracy of the relative position information, a beam identifier of a beam received by receiver 710r, an identification of the type of measurement or sensor used to determine the relative position information, etc.

[0100] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include a location reporting module 724 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to transmit location information reports, e.g., MeasurementReport messages, to one or more network entities via the transceivers 710 or 711. The location information included in the report may include determined relative location information, e.g., UE-LocationRelative, including an identification of one or more reference points and a distance to each of the one or more reference points, and in some implementations, one or more of a location relative to one or more street (design) elements, a heading, an accuracy of the relative location information, a beam identifier of a beam from a wireless transmitter received by the UE 700, an identification of a type of measurement or sensor used to determine the relative location information, etc. The location information included in the report may additionally or alternatively include absolute location information.

[0101] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include an absolute position determination module 726 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to determine an absolute position of the UE 700 using, for example, SPS positioning techniques using data from the SPS receiver 709 and / or cellular-based positioning techniques using data from the transceivers 710 and / or 711.

[0102] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include a reference point module 728 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to obtain information about one or more reference points that may be used to identify the reference points and determine distances. The information may be provisioned in the UE 700, e.g., stored in the memory 704 or the medium 720, and / or received from a network entity via the transceiver 710 or 711. The information may relate to stationary or fixed reference points, e.g., road information, terrain information, landmark information, map information, map version, resolution, type, etc. The information may identify the reference points and provide a unique identifier for each reference point. The information may be for moving reference points, such as other vehicles, and may include position information for the other vehicles, as well as e.g., speed, trajectory, etc., which may be used to determine a relative position to the vehicle. The information may be for wireless reference points and may include information used to receive wireless signals, e.g., positioning assistance data including beam information.

[0103] The medium 720 and / or memory 704 may include a capabilities module 730 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to send a message indicating a positioning capability of the UE, e.g., a ue-LocationCapability IE in a SidelinkUEInformationNR message, a UECapabilityInformation message, a UEInformationReponse message, a UECapabilityInformationSidelink message, a direct communication request message, etc., to a network entity via the transceiver 710 or 711 to determine and report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to send the capabilities message in response to a query from the network entity.

[0104] The medium 720 and / or the memory 704 may include a configuration module 732 that, when executed by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to receive, via transceivers 710 or 711, messages including a UE-LocationReporting IE in, for example, an SL-UE-SelectedConfig message, an SL-ConfigCommonNR message, an SL-ConfigDedicatedNR message, an RRCReconfiguration message, an SL-UE-SelectedPreConfig message, or a SidelinkPreconfigNR message, from a network entity to determine and report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location.

[0105] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, the methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In the case of a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 702 may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0106] For firmware and / or software implementations, the methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in non-transitory computer-readable medium 720 or memory 704 coupled to and executed by one or more processors 702. Memory may be implemented within one or more processors or external to one or more processors. The term "memory" as used herein refers to any type of long-term memory, short-term memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or other memory, and is not limited to a particular type or number of memories, or to a particular type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0107] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 708 on a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as the medium 720 and / or memory 704. Examples include computer readable media encoded with data structures and computer readable media encoded with computer implemented program code 708. For example, a non-transitory computer readable medium including stored program code 708 may include program code 708 for supporting positioning of a VRU UE, including determining and reporting relative position, in a manner consistent with disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer readable medium 720 includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such non-transitory computer readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 708 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. As used herein, "disk" and "disc" include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, although a "disk" typically reproduces data magnetically and a "disc" reproduces data optically using a laser. Combinations of the above are also intended to be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0108] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 720, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium contained within a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a transceiver 710 or 711 having signals indicative of the instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0109] Memory 704 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 704 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. Although shown in this example as separate from the one or more processors 702, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within or otherwise co-located / coupled with the one or more processors 702. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory, and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid-state memory drives, etc.

[0110] In certain implementations, the secondary memory may operably receive or be otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 720. Thus, in certain example implementations, the methods and / or apparatus presented herein may take the form of a computer-readable medium 720 that may include computer-implementable program code 708 stored thereon, in whole or in part, which when executed by one or more processors 702 may be operably enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 720 may be part of the memory 704.

[0111] FIG. 8 is a flow chart 800 illustrating a method of performing positioning by a UE, such as UE 102, that may be used with a VRU, as shown in FIGS.

[0112] In block 802, the UE determines a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3 and Tables 13-16. In some implementations, the relative position may be a distance or a distance vector to each of the one or more reference points. In some implementations, the relative position may further include at least one of a heading of the UE and a position of the UE with respect to one or more street (design) elements, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3 and Tables 13-16. In some implementations, the relative position may be determined based on one or more of a radar, a lidar, an ultrasonic positioning, or a camera, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3. In some implementations, the relative position may be determined based on wireless positioning, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3. For example, at least one of the one or more reference points may be a wireless transmitter, and the relative position report may comprise a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The means for determining the relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points may have dedicated hardware, such as, for example, a transceiver 710 or 711, an IMU 707, an SPS receiver 709, a radar 712, a lidar 713, an ultrasonic 714, and a camera 715, and / or a relative position determination module 722, or may be one or more processors 702 implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720.

[0113] At block 804, the UE sends a relative position report to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in the wireless network, the report further including an identification of one or more reference points, e.g., as described with reference to FIGs. 3 and 6 and Tables 13-16. In some implementations, the relative position report may further include at least one of a heading of the UE and a location of the UE relative to one or more street (design) elements, e.g., as described with reference to FIGs. 3 and Tables 13-16. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more reference points may be a wireless transmitter and the relative position report may further include a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter, e.g., as described with reference to FIGs. 2 and 3. In some implementations, the relative position report is sent using one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, PC5-RRC signaling, or PC5-signaling (S) signaling, for example, as described with reference to Figures 3 and 6 and Tables 13-16. In some implementations, the relative position report is sent using application layer signaling, for example, as described with reference to Figures 3 and 6 and Tables 13-16. For example, the relative position report may be sent in a groupcast message or a broadcast message. The means for transmitting the relative position report to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in the wireless network, where the report further includes one or more reference point identities, may be, for example, a transceiver 710 or 711, and / or one or more processors 702 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720, such as a position reporting module 724.

[0114] In one implementation, the one or more reference points may be at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point, for example, as described with reference to Figure 3. The moving reference point may be associated with a vehicle OBU, for example, of the one or more vehicle OBUs.

[0115] In one implementation, the UE may further determine an absolute position of the UE, with the report further comprising the absolute position, e.g., as described with reference to Figure 3. Means for determining an absolute position of the UE, with the report further comprising the absolute position, may be, for example, a transceiver 710 or 711, an SPS receiver 709, and / or one or more processors 702 having dedicated hardware, such as an absolute position determination module 726, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720.

[0116] In one implementation, the UE may obtain map information for one or more stationary reference points, and determining the relative position of the UE is based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points, for example, as described with reference to FIG. 3. For example, the map information for the one or more stationary reference points may include at least one of road information, terrain information, or landmark information. The means for obtaining the map information for the one or more stationary reference points, and the means for determining the relative position of the UE based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points, may have dedicated hardware, such as, for example, transceiver 710 or 711, and / or reference point module 728, or may be one or more processors 702 implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720.

[0117] In one implementation, the UE may receive one or more messages from a network entity comprising location information for a moving reference point, and a relative location of the UE is with respect to the moving reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages, for example, as described with reference to Figure 3. The means for receiving one or more messages comprising location information for a moving reference point from a network entity, and a relative location of the UE is with respect to the moving reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages, may be one or more processors 702 having dedicated hardware, such as, for example, transceiver 710 or 711, and / or reference point module 728, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720.

[0118] In one implementation, the UE may send a message indicating a positioning capability of the UE to a network entity to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE, as described with reference to Figure 3 and Tables 1-4. Means for sending a message indicating a positioning capability to a network entity to determine and report at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE may be one or more processors 702 having dedicated hardware, such as, for example, transceiver 710 or 711, and / or capabilities module 730, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720.

[0119] In one implementation, the UE may receive a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location, as described with reference to Figure 3 and Tables 5-12. The means for receiving a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location may be, for example, a transceiver 710 or 711 and / or one or more processors 702 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 704 and / or medium 720, such as a configuration module 732.

[0120] References throughout this specification to "in one example," "an example," "particular example," or "exemplary implementation" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in a feature and / or example may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one example," "an example," "particular example," or "in a particular implementation" or other similar phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or characteristics.

[0121] Some portions of the detailed description contained herein are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored in a memory of a specific apparatus or special purpose computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific apparatus or the like includes a general purpose computer that, when programmed, performs certain operations pursuant to instructions from program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those skilled in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm, as used herein, is generally considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that leads to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise indicated, and as will be apparent from the discussion herein, it will be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "calculating," "computing," "determining," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device is typically capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0122] In the above detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and apparatuses that would be known by those skilled in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the claimed subject matter.

[0123] The terms "and," "or," and "and / or" as used herein may include a variety of meanings that are expected to depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, when "or" is used to link a list such as A, B, or C, it is intended that it is used herein in the inclusive sense of A, B, and C, and that it is used herein in the exclusive sense of A, B, or C. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe a plurality of features, structures, or characteristics, or any other combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an example and that claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

[0124] While what are presently considered to be exemplary features have been illustrated and described, it would be recognized by those skilled in the art that various other modifications could be made and equivalents substituted without departing from the claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein.

[0125] In view of this description, embodiments may include different combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0126] Clause 1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) to perform positioning, the method including: determining a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points; and transmitting a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0127] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the relative position report further includes a distance or distance vector relative to one or more reference points.

[0128] Clause 3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the relative position reporting further includes the UE's heading and the UE's position relative to one or more street elements.

[0129] Clause 4. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the relative position is determined based on one or more of radar, lidar, ultrasonic positioning, or a camera.

[0130] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the relative position is determined based on wireless positioning.

[0131] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein at least one of the one or more reference points includes a wireless transmitter and the relative position report further includes a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter.

[0132] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the one or more reference points include at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point.

[0133] Clause 8. The method of clause 6, wherein the moving reference point is associated with one vehicle OBU among one or more vehicle OBUs.

[0134] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the identification of the one or more reference points includes absolute positions of the one or more reference points.

[0135] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, further comprising determining an absolute position of the UE, and wherein the report further comprises the absolute position.

[0136] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the relative position report is transmitted using one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, PC5-RRC signaling, or PC5-Signaling (S) signaling.

[0137] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the relative position reports are transmitted using application layer signaling.

[0138] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the relative position report is sent in a groupcast message or a broadcast message.

[0139] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising obtaining map information for one or more stationary reference points, and determining the relative position of the UE is based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points.

[0140] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the map information for the one or more static reference points includes at least one of road information, terrain information, or landmark information.

[0141] Clause 16. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 15, further comprising receiving one or more messages from a network entity including location information for a mobile reference point, and a relative location of the UE is with respect to the mobile reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages.

[0142] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1 to 16, further comprising sending a message to a network entity indicating a positioning capability of the UE to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE.

[0143] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 1 to 17, further comprising receiving a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position.

[0144] Clause 19. A User Equipment (UE) configured to perform positioning, comprising: The system includes a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a network entity, one or more sensors, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver, the one or more sensors, and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and transmit a report of the relative position via the wireless transceiver to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in the wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0145] Clause 20. The UE of clause 19, wherein the relative position report further includes a distance or distance vector to one or more reference points.

[0146] Clause 21. The UE of clause 19 or 20, wherein the relative position report further includes the UE's heading and the UE's position relative to one or more street elements.

[0147] Clause 22. A UE as described in any of Clauses 19 to 21, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one of a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic positioning sensor, or a camera sensor, and the relative position is determined based on data from the one or more sensors.

[0148] Clause 23. The UE of any of clauses 19 to 22, wherein the relative position is determined based on wireless positioning.

[0149] Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein at least one of the one or more reference points includes a wireless transmitter and the relative position report further includes a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter.

[0150] Clause 25. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 24, wherein the one or more reference points include at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point.

[0151] Clause 26. The UE of clause 25, wherein the moving reference point is associated with one vehicle OBU among one or more vehicle OBUs.

[0152] Clause 27. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 26, wherein the identification of the one or more reference points includes an absolute position of the one or more reference points.

[0153] Clause 28. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine an absolute position of the UE, and the report further includes the absolute position.

[0154] Clause 29. The UE of any of clauses 19 to 28, wherein the relative location report is transmitted using one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, PC5-RRC signaling, or PC5-signaling (S) signaling.

[0155] Clause 30. The UE according to any of clauses 19 to 29, wherein the relative location report is transmitted using application layer signalling.

[0156] Clause 31. The UE of clause 30, wherein the relative position report is sent in a groupcast message or a broadcast message.

[0157] Clause 32. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 31, wherein at least one processor is further configured to obtain map information for one or more stationary reference points, and determining the relative position of the UE is based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points.

[0158] Clause 33. The UE of clause 32, wherein the map information for the one or more stationary reference points includes at least one of road information, terrain information, or landmark information.

[0159] Clause 34. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 33, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the wireless transceiver, one or more messages from a network entity including location information about a moving reference point, and a relative location of the UE is with respect to the moving reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages.

[0160] Clause 35. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send, via the wireless transceiver, a message to a network entity indicating a positioning capability of the UE to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE.

[0161] Clause 36. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the wireless transceiver, a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location.

[0162] Clause 37. A User Equipment (UE) configured to perform positioning, comprising: A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for determining a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points; and means for transmitting a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the report further comprising an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0163] Clause 38. The UE of clause 37, wherein the relative position report further includes a distance or distance vector to one or more reference points.

[0164] Clause 39. The UE of clause 37 or 38, wherein the relative position report further includes the UE's heading and the UE's position relative to one or more street elements.

[0165] Clause 40. A UE according to any of clauses 37 to 39, wherein the relative position is determined based on one or more of radar, lidar, ultrasonic positioning, or a camera.

[0166] Clause 41. The UE of any of clauses 37 to 40, wherein the relative position is determined based on wireless positioning.

[0167] Clause 42. The UE of clause 41, wherein at least one of the one or more reference points includes a wireless transmitter, and the relative position report further includes a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter.

[0168] Clause 43. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 42, wherein the one or more reference points include at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point.

[0169] Clause 44. The UE of clause 43, wherein the moving reference point is associated with one vehicle OBU among one or more vehicle OBUs.

[0170] Clause 45. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 44, wherein the identification of the one or more reference points includes an absolute position of the one or more reference points.

[0171] Clause 46. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 45, further comprising means for determining an absolute position of the UE, and wherein the report further includes the absolute position.

[0172] Clause 47. The UE of any of clauses 37 to 46, wherein the relative location report is transmitted using one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, PC5-RRC signaling, or PC5-signaling (S) signaling.

[0173] Clause 48. The UE according to any of clauses 37 to 47, wherein the relative location report is transmitted using application layer signalling.

[0174] Clause 49. The UE of clause 48, wherein the relative position report is sent in a groupcast message or a broadcast message.

[0175] Clause 50. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 49, further comprising acquiring map information for one or more stationary reference points, and wherein the means for determining the relative position of the UE is based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points.

[0176] Clause 51. The UE of clause 50, wherein the information about the one or more stationary reference points includes at least one of road information, terrain information, or landmark information.

[0177] Clause 52. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 51, further comprising means for receiving from a network entity one or more messages including location information about a mobile reference point, and a relative location of the UE is with respect to the mobile reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages.

[0178] Clause 53. A UE as described in any of clauses 37 to 52, further comprising means for transmitting a message indicating a positioning capability to a network entity to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE.

[0179] Clause 54. The UE of any of clauses 37 to 53, further comprising means for receiving a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative location, an absolute location, or an absolute and relative location.

[0180] Clause 55. A non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to perform positioning, the program code including instructions for determining a relative position of the UE with respect to one or more reference points and transmitting a report of the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the report further including an identification of the one or more reference points.

[0181] Clause 56. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 55, wherein the relative position report further includes a distance or distance vector relative to one or more reference points.

[0182] Clause 57. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 55 or 56, wherein the relative position report further includes the UE's heading and the UE's position relative to one or more street elements.

[0183] Clause 58. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 57, wherein the relative position is determined based on one or more of radar, lidar, ultrasonic positioning, or camera.

[0184] Clause 59. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 58, wherein the relative position is determined based on wireless positioning.

[0185] Clause 60. A non-transitory storage medium as described in Clause 59, wherein at least one of the one or more reference points includes a wireless transmitter and the relative position report further includes a beam identifier of a beam received from the wireless transmitter.

[0186] Clause 61. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 60, wherein the one or more reference points include at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point.

[0187] Clause 62. The non-transitory storage medium according to clause 61, wherein the moving reference point is associated with one vehicle OBU among the one or more vehicle OBUs.

[0188] Clause 63. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 62, wherein the identification of the one or more reference points includes an absolute position of the one or more reference points.

[0189] Clause 64. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 63, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for determining an absolute position of the UE, and wherein the report further comprises the absolute position.

[0190] Clause 65. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 64, wherein the relative position report is transmitted using one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling, PC5-RRC signalling, or PC5-signaling (S) signalling.

[0191] Clause 66. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 65, wherein the relative position reports are transmitted using application layer signalling.

[0192] Clause 67. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 66, wherein the relative position reports are transmitted in groupcast or broadcast messages.

[0193] Clause 68. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 67, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for obtaining map information for one or more stationary reference points, and determining the relative position of the UE is based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points.

[0194] Clause 69. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 68, wherein the information about the one or more stationary reference points includes at least one of road information, terrain information, or landmark information.

[0195] Clause 70. A non-transitory storage medium according to any of clauses 55 to 69, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving one or more messages from a network entity including location information for a mobile reference point, and a relative location of the UE is relative to the mobile reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages.

[0196] Clause 71. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 55 to 70, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for sending a message to a network entity indicating a positioning capability of the UE to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the UE.

[0197] Clause 72. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 55 to 71, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving a message from a network entity to configure the UE to report at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position.

[0198] It is therefore intended that the claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A method executed by a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) User Equipment (UE) (VRU UE), comprising: determining a relative position of the VRUUE with respect to one or more reference points; receiving a message from a network entity to configure the VRU UE to report the relative location; reporting the relative location to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network, the reporting further including identification of the one or more reference points, each OBU of the one or more OBUs configured with reference point information indicating the OBU's absolute location and / or its relative location with respect to the one or more reference points identified by the VRU UE; A method comprising:

2. The method described in claim 1, wherein the report further includes a distance or distance vector relative to the one or more reference points.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the report further includes a direction of travel of the VRUUE and a positioning of the VRUUE relative to one or more street elements, optionally wherein the one or more street elements include one or more of a sidewalk, a curb or curb extension, a bike lane, a crosswalk, a corner, a crosswalk or intersection, a truck apron or ramp, a bus stop, a pedestrian crossing safety zone, a traffic circle, or a road or lane.

4. The relative position is one or more of radar, lidar, ultrasonic positioning, or camera, and / or wireless positioning The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination is based on:

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more reference points include at least one of a stationary reference point and a moving reference point.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the one or more reference points includes an absolute position of the one or more reference points.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an absolute position of the VRUUE, and wherein the report further includes the absolute position.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting uses one of Uu Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, PC5-RRC signaling, or PC5-signaling.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting uses application layer signaling.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining map information for one or more stationary reference points, and determining the relative position of the VRUUE based on the map information for the one or more stationary reference points.

11. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving one or more messages from a network entity including location information about a movement reference point, wherein the relative location of the VRUUE is relative to the movement reference point and is determined based on the one or more messages.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: sending a message indicating a positioning capability of the VRUUE to a network entity to determine at least one of a relative position, an absolute position, or an absolute and relative position of the VRUUE.

13. A Vulnerable Road User (VRU) User Equipment (UE) (VRU UE), comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with a network entity; one or more sensors; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver, the one or more sensors, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising: determining a relative position of the VRUUE with respect to one or more reference points; receiving a message from a network entity to configure the VRU UE to report the relative location; reporting the relative position to one or more vehicle on-board units (OBUs) in a wireless network via the wireless transceiver, the reporting further including identification of the one or more reference points, each OBU of the one or more OBUs configured with reference point information indicating the OBU's absolute position and / or its relative position with respect to the one or more reference points identified by the VRU UE; The VRU UE is configured to:

14. The VRU UE of claim 13, further configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 2 to 12.

15. A non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon program code, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) User Equipment (UE) (VRU UE), the program code comprising instructions for performing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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