Method and apparatus for positioning based on uplink signals to non-terrestrial networks - Patents.com

Abstract

Methods and apparatus disclosed herein provide for round trip time (multiple RTT) measurements of multiple cells involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node. Advantageous operations include determining one or more propagation delays or offsets associated with a feeder link and / or a service link of the NTN node, and determining positioning assistance data based on the delays or offsets. The positioning assistance data takes into account such delays or offsets in relation to measurement configurations and / or transmission timing at the UE and / or NTN node.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The method and apparatus disclosed herein is based on an uplink signal to a non-terrestrial network. Ku User Device Provides positioning for the UE. [Background technology]

[0002] A non-terrestrial network (NTN) typically includes one or several satellite gateways (sat gateways) that connect the non-terrestrial network to a public data network. The NTN further includes one or more satellites, which may be geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites or non-GEO satellites, or a mix of both. One or several sat gateways deployed across a targeted area of ​​satellite coverage feed the GEO satellites, while the non-GEO satellites may be served by a series of sat gateways. In addition to or as an alternative to satellites, the NTN may include one or more unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

[0003] A satellite (or UAS) can implement either a transparent payload or a regenerated payload. A transparent payload can provide frequency translation, filtering, and amplification to relay the signal, but the waveform is not changed. Conversely, a regenerative payload adds processing functions including demodulation / decoding, switching and / or routing, and encoding / modulation. A regenerative payload is substantially equivalent to carrying at least a portion of the functionality of a radio base station, such as a "gNB," a term in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications document, on a satellite or UAS.

[0004] A constellation of satellites may also include inter-satellite links (ISLs). These links require regenerative payloads on board the satellite. ISLs can operate at RF frequencies or in the optical band.

[0005] FIG. 1 lists different types of satellites (or UAS platforms) along with corresponding example details.

[0006] Examples of NTN architectures are shown in Figures 2-5. In particular, Figure 2 shows a network-RAN architecture with a "transparent" satellite configuration. Figure 3 shows a regenerative satellite without ISL and a payload processed by a gNB. Figure 4 shows an NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) with a regenerative satellite based on a gNB-DU, where "DU" stands for "digital unit" and "NG" refers to the 5th generation (5G) specification published by 3GPP (registered trademark).

[0007] The ongoing discussion on NTN extends to multi-connectivity scenarios. Multi-connectivity involves transparent or regenerative NTN-based NG-RAN in combination with terrestrial-based NG-RAN (NR or EUTRA) or another NTN. Here, "NR" means "New Radio" in the context of 3GPP 5G, and "EUTRA" means "Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access." "EUTRA" refers to the fourth generation (4G) standard, i.e. Long Term Evolution (LTE).

[0008] The UE must at least 、 It may be connected and simultaneously served by one NTN-based NG-RAN and one terrestrial-based access network (e.g., NR or EUTRA), or one NTN-based NG-RAN and another NTN-based NG-RAN. The NTN may have beam-based coverage, as shown in the example coverage scenario shown in FIG. 6.

[0009] The NR architecture is being developed by 3GPP, and Figure 7 illustrates a contemplated configuration for performing "positioning" of a UE, where a UE is a wireless device or other equipment that includes radio and processing circuitry configured to access the NG-RAN, e.g., to use the NG-RAN and associated core network to access the Internet or other devices or systems reachable via one or more other external networks.

[0010] A UE may or may not be mobile and may or may not be configured for use by a human user, e.g., in the examples, the UE is a Machine Type Communication (MTC) or Internet of Things (IoT) device. Generally, however, a UE is distinguished from a communication network in that it uses a network rather than forming a fixed or dedicated part of the network, although it should be understood that a UE may at least temporarily "operate" within the network, such as by providing a relay or mesh-like connection to one or more other UEs. The terms "UE" and "wireless device" are interchangeable in this document.

[0011] In particular, Figure 7 illustrates a wireless communication network with exemplary details from 5G NR. For a general description of 5G NR, please refer to 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.300 V15.8.0 (2020-01-08). The network includes a RAN part and a Core Network (CN) part, and the lines interconnecting the depicted entities represent communication interfaces provided therebetween for data signaling and control signaling.

[0012] The illustrated NG RAN includes two or more base stations providing an air interface according to one or more RATs. For example, the base station labeled "gNB" provides an NR interface, while the base station labeled ng-eNB provides an E-UTRAN interface. Each base station provides one or more transmit / receive points (depicted as "TP" in the figure), and the base stations are interconnected via an "Xn" interface. The gNB and ng-eNB do not necessarily both exist. If both a gNB and a ng-eNB are present, then an NG-C interface exists only for one of them.

[0013] The illustrated CN node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) that provides access and mobility management for UEs supported by the RAN.

[0014] Additionally, a "Location Management Function" or "LMF" is shown which acts as a location node for "positioning" of the UE, where "positioning" refers to determining the location of the UE, either in an absolute or relative sense, and positioning may be based on radio measurements performed by the RAN and / or the UE being positioned. Such measurements may be based on positioning configuration details provided by the LMF. The LMF is an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ELC). Ma or "E-SMLC."

[0015] The LMF and the UE act as protocol endpoints of the NR LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), and positioning interaction between the LMF and base stations involved in the positioning of the UE uses, for example, a protocol called NRPPa. For details on the LPP, see 3GPP TS 38.355 V15.9.0 (2020-03-31). The Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol supports, for example, interaction between the UE and the respective base station. For details on the RRC, see 3GPP TS 38.331 V15.9.0 (2020-03-31). Summary of the Invention

[0016] Methods and apparatus disclosed herein provide for multi-cell round trip time (multiple RTT) measurements involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node. Advantageous operations include determining one or more propagation delays or offsets associated with a feeder link and / or a service link of the NTN node, and determining positioning assistance data based on the delays or offsets. The positioning assistance data takes into account such delays or offsets in relation to measurement configurations and / or transmission timing at the UE and / or NTN node.

[0017] An example embodiment includes supporting multi-RTT measurements involving a UE, where at least one of multiple cells is associated with an NTN node. The method is performed by the NTN node and includes determining propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE. The method further includes transmitting the propagation delay information to a location server to determine multi-RTT assistance data.

[0018] Related exemplary embodiments are configured to support multi-RTT measurements involving UEs. Ta The present invention includes a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node, where at least one of the plurality of cells is associated with the NTN node, the NTN node including a communication interface circuit and a processing circuit, the processing circuit configured to determine propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and a UE, and to transmit the propagation delay information to a location server via the communication interface circuit to determine multi-RTT assistance data.

[0019] Another example embodiment includes a method for supporting multi-RTT measurements involving a UE, where at least one of a plurality of cells is associated with an NTN node. The method is performed by a location server and includes receiving propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE. The method further includes the location server determining multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both. 、 The location server further includes sending multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE or both.

[0020] A related embodiment comprises a location server configured for multi-RTT measurement assistance involving a UE, where at least one of the multiple cells is associated with an NTN node. The location server includes a communication interface circuit and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive, via the communication interface circuit, propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE. Further, the processing circuit is configured to determine multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both, and transmit, via the communication interface circuit, the multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE or both.

[0021] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above features and advantages. Indeed, those skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description, and upon viewing the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a table listing exemplary types of satellite or UAS platforms.

[0023] [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an NTN. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an NTN. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an NTN. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an NTN.

[0024] [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example coverage scenario of NTN.

[0025] [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example 5G NR network configuration supporting UE positioning.

[0026] [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a communications network.

[0027] [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a user equipment (UE).

[0028] [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node.

[0029] [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a location server.

[0030] [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a signaling flow diagram of one embodiment of signaling between a Location Management Function (LMF) and each NTN node.

[0031] [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a signal flow diagram of one embodiment of signaling between a location server and a UE that is a target device for positioning.

[0032] [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a signal flow diagram of one embodiment of signaling between a location server and one or more NTN nodes, such as an NTN node that provides information to the location server or other network nodes, and an NTN node that receives corresponding assistance data and / or positioning requests.

[0033] [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless device, an NTN node, and a location server, each of which may be implemented as a processing module or unit. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless device, an NTN node, and a location server, each of which may be implemented as a processing module or unit. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless device, an NTN node, and a location server, each of which may be implemented as a processing module or unit.

[0034] [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of operation in an NTN node and a location server, respectively. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of operation in an NTN node and a location server, respectively.

[0035] [Figure 20] FIG. QQ1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication network according to some embodiments.

[0036] [Figure 21] FIG. QQ2 is a block diagram of a user device according to some embodiments.

[0037] [Figure 22] FIG. QQ3 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments.

[0038] [Figure 23] FIG. QQ4 is a block diagram of a communication network with a host computer according to some embodiments.

[0039] [Figure 24] FIG. QQ5 is a block diagram of a host computer according to some embodiments.

[0040] [Diagram 25] FIG. QQ6 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment.

[0041] [Figure 26] FIG. QQ7 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment.

[0042] [Figure 27] FIG. QQ8 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment.

[0043] [Figure 28]FIG. QQ9 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0044] Currently, there are several challenges with respect to positioning when non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are involved. For example, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements are measurements by a User Equipment (UE) of satellite signals received by the UE in the Downlink (DL). Such measurements are supported in New Radio (NR) and previous systems, where NR is the term used by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) for the Fifth Generation (5G) Radio Access Network (RAN). However, no measurements are defined for NTN receivers, particularly for positioning purposes, on the Uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE. Furthermore, no signaling is supported for communicating such measurements to a positioning node for use in positioning the UE. More broadly, there are no defined positioning procedures or methods based on such measurements.

[0045] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these and other problems. According to one embodiment contemplated herein, the new measurements for the UL NTN link comprise radio measurements for positioning between the UE and the NTN network node based at least on UL radio signals transmitted by the UE for reception by the NTN network node. The new NTN measurements may be UL measurements based only on UL signals, or may be bidirectional measurements based on UL and DL signals transmitted by the NTN node for reception by the UE.

[0046] According to another set of embodiments, a method is disclosed for performing and managing new measurements with the requisite signaling support between various of the involved nodes. In one example, a new protocol is introduced. In a particular example, the LPP is extended to accommodate new signaling support requests, configurations, assistance, reports, capabilities, etc. for new measurements. The extended LPP may be transmitted via NTN nodes. In another example, the NRPPa is extended to accommodate new signaling to support requests, configurations, assistance, reports, capabilities, etc. for new measurements. In another example, the RRC protocol is extended to accommodate new signaling to support requests, configurations, assistance, reports, capabilities, etc. for new measurements.

[0047] Some embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages: Ability to configure, perform, and use measurements based on UE UL radio signals transmitted to satellite receivers included in the NTN (such measurements are referred to as "new positioning measurements"); signaling support for the new positioning measurements; Ability to use the new positioning measurements in terrestrial network nodes; and Ability to use the new positioning measurements in non-terrestrial network nodes.

[0048] In view of the above embodiments, the present disclosure generally includes embodiments recited in the Examples section below and throughout, various of the embodiments may address one or more of the problems disclosed herein.

[0049] Exemplary terms include "terrestrial network node" which refers to a radio network node (e.g., BS, gNB, gNB-DU, gNB-CU, relay or IAB node, radio network controller, TRP, etc.) or a core network node (e.g., MSC, MME, O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node, etc.). "Non-terrestrial network" or "NTN" refers to a network that includes transmission equipment relay nodes or base stations. vinegarNTN refers to a network or a division of a network that uses airborne or space-based vehicles to provide wireless links or links for UEs. Generally, NTN networks include non-terrestrial wireless devices used to provide wireless links or links for UEs.

[0050] The term "NTN Node" refers to any airborne or spacecraft, satellite (e.g., LEO, MEO, GEO, HEO, etc.), UAS platform, Fo NTN refers to one or more radio network nodes or equipment capable of receiving radio signals from UEs operating at least on Earth, such as in a 5G NR environment. The receiver of an NTN node may have specific RF characteristics (e.g., sensitivity) and may operate in a specific RF band dedicated to NTN operation. At least in the context of 5G NR, an NTN node may also include a special type of gNB, i.e., capable of NTN operation.

[0051] It should be noted that an NTN node includes at least an airborne / spaceborne transmit / receive point, e.g., antenna / radio circuitry, but may also include one or more ground-based parts or entities that control or manage the non-terrestrial parts in a decentralized sense. The terms "radio network node" and "base station" are sometimes used herein to refer to a radio network node that includes at least an airborne / spaceborne transmit / receive point for non-terrestrial radio link transmission / reception, unless otherwise limited by the context.

[0052] The terms location server, positioning node, LMF, and E-SMLC shall be used interchangeably unless otherwise noted.

[0053] The term "time resource" as used herein may correspond to any type of physical or radio resource expressed in terms of a length of time. Examples of time resources include symbols, time slots, subframes, radio frames, TTIs, interleaved times, slots, subslots, minislots, etc.

[0054] NTN Wireless Link of According to the disclosed technique for supporting positioning using: One or more NTN nodes, UEs, or both NTN nodes and UEs, New measurements for NTN radio links may be configured to be performed for positioning between the UE and the NTN network node. The new measurements include at least UL signal measurements on the NTN UL between the UE and the NTN. In an exemplary case, the involved NTN nodes may receive UL signals from the UE via the NTN UL on their respective radio links, and at least one of the NTN nodes may transmit DL signals on the involved NTN radio links for use by the UE in performing positioning measurements.

[0055] The UL radio signal may have physical layer characteristics specific to NTN operation, such as sequence parameters, bandwidth, SCS or symbol length, cyclic prefix, sequence generation, etc. In one example, the UL radio signal is transmitted on a radio frequency or frequency band dedicated to NTN operation. In another example, the UL radio signal is transmitted with multiple repetitions to compensate for large distances.

[0056] The transmission of UL radio signals may also be based on a TA (extended TA) that is larger than currently supported for terrestrial networks. A corresponding TA offset may need to be taken into account (e.g., subtracted) in the relevant new measurements (e.g., Rx-Tx or RTT involving UL NTN links). This TA offset may be subtracted by the UE or the location server (e.g., when it receives the corresponding information from the serving NTN node).

[0057] New measurements teeth , may be further characterized by one or more of the following: • A measurement report mapping range (extended measurement report mapping) adapted to the distance and path loss travelled by the UL signal, which differs from that for similar types of terrestrial network measurements. ● An extended measurement period compared to that required for similar types of terrestrial network measurements (the measurement period involves multiple repetitions of the signal used for the new measurements to compensate for the large spacing between the UE and the NTN node). consideration may also be possible), the UE will accordingly adapt its measurement procedures to the extended measurement period and the network nodes will adapt one or more of their timers to the extended measurement period. ● Measurements are associated with NTN / satellite beams and their identification (e.g., see Figure 2) and can, for example, determine how the measurements are performed (e.g., receiving and / or transmitting signals associated with the beam, performing measurements for multiple beams, determining the best beam, determining the receiving or transmitting beam / direction before performing the measurement, adapting the receiving antenna configuration to receive in a particular direction, receiving / transmitting signals in time and / or frequency resources associated with the beam, etc.) and can be reported (e.g., reporting measurements per beam, etc.). Measurements may be performed on frequency resources related to NTN radio operation. ● The measurements may include a delay or offset (e.g., a TA offset) specific to the NTN link, and in various examples the measurements are reported without or with this delay / offset subtracted (e.g., the delay / offset may be subtracted when it can be determined or obtained by the measurement node). ● The measurement report mapping may be adapted to or based on delays or offsets specific to the NTN link (eg, TA offset), e.g., a larger reporting range due to possible delays / offsets.

[0058] New measurements teeth , UL measurement ( based on UL signals only) or bidirectional measurements (The uplink measurements may be based on UL and DL signals transmitted by the NTN node and received by the UE on the NTN DL. The uplink measurements may then be performed by the NTN node, while the bidirectional measurements may be performed by the UE or the NTN node.

[0059] In one example, the new measurements may be, for example, timing measurements (e.g., UL ToA, UL TDOA, UE Rx-Tx time difference, NTN Rx-Tx time difference, RTT, multi-RTT, RToA, measurements in time, timing advance, etc.), absolute or relative or differential, unidirectional or bidirectional. In another example, the new measurements may be power-based measurements (e.g., relative power, received signal quality or RSRQ (dB), total received power or interference or RSSI (dBm), received signal power or RSRP (dBm) or dB for absolute or relative or differential). In yet another example, the new measurements may be angle measurements (e.g., AoA in elevation and azimuth), absolute or relative or differential.

[0060] Then, a new measurement teeth , may be used for positioning, for example, to determine the location of the UE. of Based on the original or new measurements and At least one measurement based on a terrestrial radio link and The method may be based on any combination of the above.

[0061] New measurements To Determining or calculating the UE location based on the new measurements can be done, for example, in a location server or NTN node, or even in the UE (at least but Measurements at the UE on the NTN radio link of Includes bidirectional measurement of An example of a location server is the LMF.

[0062] The method for performing and managing the new positioning measurements provides flexibility as to which node or entity is the "measurement node," and in the exemplary case, an NTN node acts as the measurement node. Here, an "NTN node" acting as a "measurement node" means that the NTN node performs measurements on an NTN radio link, more specifically, measures a UL signal transmitted by a UE on an NTN UL (the NTN radio link can be considered to include or provide an NTN UL and an NTN DL).

[0063] When the measurement node for the new positioning measurement is an NTN node (in the case of a new UL measurement or a new two-way measurement), an exemplary procedure comprises the following, although the individual steps or operations below need not necessarily be included in all embodiments. • NTN nodes are being asked to provide capability information regarding support for new measurements. • An NTN node provides capability information indicating its ability to support new measurements (eg, providing information to another node, eg, another NTN node or a location server). • The NTN node receives a request for a new measurement request from another node (eg, from a location server other than a terrestrial network node, or from another NTN node). ● The NTN node determines the configuration of signals (at least UL) to be received by the NTN node for a new measurement, where the decision can be based on predefined rules and / or messages from another node (e.g. from a location server or from another NTN node). • For bidirectional measurements such as Rx-Tx time difference, the NTN node can also determine the configuration of the DL signal, which is required to determine the transmit timing, Tx (in addition to the receive timing, Rx, of the UL signal). ● The NTN node may receive assistance data (eg from a location server, from a terrestrial network node, or from another NTN node) that enables it to perform new measurements. - The NTN node performs new measurements (based on one or more signal samples) based on at least the UL signal having the determined signal configuration. ● New measurements but In the beam-based case, unless the NTN node performing the measurements knows which one (or more) of its receive beams the UE is associated with, e.g., if the UE is served via an NTN DL beam, the NTN node can infer that the same or a similar beam direction should be used to receive an NTN UL signal from the UE, and can search multiple receive beams. The NTN node performs the following actions regarding the new measurement: (a) New measurements of The measurement may be reported to another node (e.g., a location server, another NTN node, or a terrestrial network node) indicating the UE's NTN cell and / or beam / direction (e.g., its serving NTN cell and DL NTN beam), which may then pass the new measurements to another node (e.g., a location server, another NTN node, or a terrestrial network node). (b) Determine the UE's position using the received new measurements (see similar process for NTN node). (c) Store the new measurements in internal or external memory or in a database for use in positioning (for NTN nodes see similar steps below). (d) determining the location of the UE using the new measurements made; (e) Use NTN beam / direction information, if available, and / or its trajectory in determining the UE's position (or the position of the NTN node on its trajectory may need to be determined for the time the new measurement is performed before determining the UE's position). (f) storing the new measurements in an internal or external memory or database for further use in positioning;

[0064] An NTN node may be in motion, i.e., it may be a UAS or a non-geostationary satellite, and new measurements may be implicitly (e.g., over time) or explicitly associated with the location of a specific NTN node in its orbit.

[0065] Now consider the case where the UE is the measurement node for the new measurement. When the measurement node for the new measurement is the UE (the new measurement is a new two-way measurement), an exemplary procedure comprises several operations or steps, although not all steps are performed in all embodiments. The UE receives a request for its capability information regarding its support of new measurements. ● The UE provides (eg directly to a serving NTN node, a location server or a serving terrestrial network node or via an NTN node) its capability information indicating its capability to support one or more of the new measurements. • The UE receives a new measurement (see Section 5. 2) request from another node (e.g. from a location server, or from an NTN node, or from a terrestrial network node either directly or via an NTN node). ● The UE receives assistance data, which may be called assistance information, which may be sent from an NTN node, a terrestrial network node directly or via an NTN node or from a location server via an NTN node, enabling it to perform new measurements. ● The UE determines the configuration of signals (at least DL) to be received by the UE for the new measurement, for example the decision can be based on predefined rules and / or messages from another node (for example from a location server or from a serving NTN node or a terrestrial network node). The UE also determines the configuration of UL signals that are needed to determine the transmission timing Tx (in addition to the reception timing Rx of DL signals). The UE may or may not transmit UL signals, but at least determines the transmission timing. Here, the assistance data can also indicate the NTN cell and / or beam / direction to be assumed for the new measurement, - The UE performs new measurements (based on one or more signal samples) based on the determined signal configuration. ● For new beam-based measurements, the measuring UE may search its multiple receiving beams and multiple transmitting beams of the NTN node, as long as it does not know the transmitting beam to be received (e.g., determined based on received assistance data). ● The UE either subtracts the extended TA offset from the measurement or informs the location server about the extended TA. The UE performs one or more of the following operational tasks for the new measurements, including one or more of the following: (a) reporting new measurements to another node (e.g., to an NTN node, or via an NTN node to a location server, or directly or via an NTN node to a terrestrial network node) based on the extended measurement report mapping; the node receiving the measurement report needs to determine whether the extended measurement report mapping is used (e.g., may be indicated by the UE), and the NTN node may further indicate the determined NTN cell and / or beam direction. The other node may further pass the new measurements to another node (e.g., a location server, another NTN node, or a terrestrial network node), or use the new measurements to determine the UE's position (location) (see below for similar steps for the UE), or store the new measurements in an internal or external memory or database for further use for positioning (see below for similar steps for the UE). (b) Using the new measurements, Determining the location of the UE 。 If available (e.g., the UE location is determined to be within the beam coverage area or in the corresponding direction), If ), The UE can also use the NTN beam / direction information, The trajectory (orbit) of the NTN node may be used in determining the UE location (or the location of the NTN node on its orbit may need to be determined when new measurements are performed before determining the UE location). (c) storing the new measurements in an internal or external memory or database for further use in positioning;

[0066] Satellites are also moving, but along predefined patterns, so that new measurements can be associated either implicitly (e.g., over time) or explicitly with a specific NTN node location along its orbit.

[0067] Several additional factors merit consideration for the new measurements, as well as the accompanying configuration, measurement, reporting, and positioning operations. For example, the UE may need to apply a large TA value for the NTN radio link, which leads to a large offset in its DL and UL frame timing. The NR physical layer timing relationship needs to be enhanced to address the large offset in the UE's DL and UL frame timing. There may be an offset K_offset applied to correct the associated timing relationship. In such a case, the NTN node may inform the LMF of any offset applied between the UE's reception of a DL positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted on the NTN DL and the UE's transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) on the NTN UL, at least the offset impacting the multi-RTT operation.

[0068] UL-based positioning methods such as UTDOA or multi-RTT measurements require multiple base stations to listen to UE transmissions (such as UL-SRS). In such cases, the UE associated with the NRPPa provides a signaling mechanism to provide information about a particular SRS transmission by the UE. Such signaling may be relayed via the NGAP protocol. The NG application protocol timers may have to be extended to address long delays in feeder links, which are links between the terrestrial and non-terrestrial parts of the communications network, for example, from a gateway node or other ground station to the airborne / spaceborne equipment. Thus, the LMF is advantageously configured to take into account these timing delays in positioning procedures performed by the LMF, such as procedures involving UTDOA or multi-RTT.

[0069] With the above information in mind, Figure 8 illustrates an example communications network 10 that provides one or more communications services to a UE 12 by providing access to one or more external networks 14, such as, for example, the Internet. In at least one example, the network 10 operates as an access network to communicatively couple the UE 12 to one or more external service providers 16 that provide one or more communications services via one or more servers 18.

[0070] Communications network 10, or "network 10," includes as one of its segments a non-terrestrial network, or NTN. That is, network 10 includes a non-terrestrial network, RAN (Radio Access Network) 20. NTN RAN 20 includes NTN nodes 22 that provide NTN radio links for serving UE 12, or are otherwise coupled to enable NTN nodes 22 to make measurements on NTN radio links, which are understood to include one or more propagation paths between UE 12 and NTN nodes 22.

[0071] In one or more embodiments, the NTN RAN 20 includes multiple NTN nodes 22, e.g., for receiving uplink (UL) signals transmitted by UE 12 and performing time difference of arrival (TDOA) or other relative measurements based on receiving the UL signals at two or more receiving points within the NTN RAN 20.

[0072] According to one or more embodiments, each NTN node 22 includes one or more radio unit (RU) sections 24 and one or more digital unit (DU) sections 26. The RU sections 24 are not on the ground, i.e., on a space or airborne vehicle, and provide the NTN radio links. The one or more DU sections 26 may be co-located with the one or more RU sections 24 (RU sections 24 for brevity). Alternatively, the one or more DU sections 26 (DU sections 26 for brevity) may be on the ground. Thus, when the DU sections 26 are co-located with the RU sections 24, a "feeder link" or ground station link communicatively coupling the non-terrestrial portion of the NTN RAN 20 to the terrestrial portion of the network 10 passes between the DU sections 26 and the ground. When the DU sections 26 are located on the ground, the feeder link passes between the RU sections 24 and the DU sections 26. Satellite gateways and / or interface equipment, not shown, may be involved in the feeder link. For example, see Figures 2-5 for details regarding which portions of the NTN RAN 20 may be terrestrial or non-terrestrial and the corresponding differences in the nature of the feeder links.

[0073] It should be noted that one DU unit 26 may support multiple RU units 24 such that one DU unit 26 may transmit and / or receive signals from multiple airborne / spaceborne transmit / receive points within the NTN RAN 20. Additionally, the NTN RAN 20 may include one or more additional NTN nodes 28, which may be non-terrestrial or terrestrial, and may provide additional support functions.

[0074] With respect to the new measurements contemplated herein, the NTN node 22 in one or more embodiments is configured to perform NTN UL measurements on UL signals transmitted from the UE 12. Those UL signals and / or measurement operations are tailored to take into account the NTN nature of the wireless link, sometimes referred to as the "service link," in one or more embodiments.

[0075] For example, the UE 12 transmits UL signals on radio resources reserved for NTN use (network 10 may also include terrestrial radio links, not shown). Additionally or alternatively, the NTN node 22 in one or more embodiments is configured to communicate with one or more other nodes to support configuration of the NTN node 22 and / or the UE 12 in supporting making and reporting new measurements.

[0076] According to a particular embodiment, the network 10 includes a Core Network (CN) 30 including several CN nodes 32, such as one or more gateway nodes 34 for satellite link coupling to non-terrestrial portions of the NTN RAN 20. Additionally, the CN 30 includes or is associated with a Location Management Function (LMF) 40, which may be referred to as a location server or E-SMLC unless otherwise noted. As disclosed in the exemplary configurations herein, the LMF 40 is configured to support or perform new measurements used to perform positioning based on the NTN radio link between the UE 12 and the RU 24 of the NTN node 22. Of course, there may be more than one NTN radio link between the UE 12 and the NTN RAN 20, supported by one RU 24 or multiple RUs 24, which may be supported by a single DU 26 or corresponding DUs 26.

[0077] 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the UE 12. Various elements or components make up the UE 12, including a communication interface circuit 50, which may include one or more transmitter (TX) circuits 52 and one or more receiver (RX) circuits 54. The communication interface circuit 50 is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals over an NTN wireless link.

[0078] Other entities or components within the illustrated UE 12 include processing circuitry 60, which includes or is associated with memory 62. Processing circuitry 60 includes fixed circuitry, or preprogrammed circuitry, or programmable circuitry, or any combination of fixed circuitry, preprogrammed circuitry, and programmable circuitry. Non-limiting examples include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICS), or essentially any other configuration of digital processing circuitry, such as combinational digital logic, sequential digital logic, or both.

[0079] In at least one example, processing circuitry 60 comprises one or more processors, e.g., microprocessors, that are specifically adapted to perform any of the UE operations described herein based on executing computer program instructions from one or more computer programs stored on a computer-readable medium that provides non-transitory storage for the computer programs. "Non-transitory" does not necessarily mean immutable, but rather implies at least some persistence, and various types of computer-readable media may be involved, such as a mix of non-volatile memory for long-term storage of computer programs and volatile memory as working memory for program execution and scratch data.

[0080] Correspondingly, according to one or more embodiments, the storage device 62 stores one or more computer programs 64 including computer program instructions executed by the one or more processors of the processing circuitry 60. The storage device 62 may further store one or more items of configuration data 66, either on the basis of receiving it during live operation or on the basis of having been previously stored. The configuration data 66 comprises, for example, information supporting new measurements for positioning, e.g., information regarding resources to be used for involved positioning signals, or other configuration settings for configuring and performing new measurements or performing positioning calculations based thereon.

[0081] 10 illustrates an example embodiment of an NTN node 22. Various elements or components make up the NTN node 22, which may also be implemented as a completely non-terrestrial node or in a distributed fashion, where some or more portions of the NTN node 22 are non-terrestrial and some or more portions of the NTN node 22 are terrestrial and linked to the non-terrestrial portions via one or more satellite feeder links.

[0082] The NTN node 22 includes communication interface circuitry 70, which may include one or more transmitter (TX) circuits 72 and one or more receiver (RX) circuits 74, and is configured to provide one or more service links for serving one or more UEs 12, i.e., to provide NTN radio links, each of which includes an NTN UL and an NTN DL. Depending on how the NTN node 22 is implemented, it may include additional types of transmitters 76 and receivers 78, e.g., for coupling to a ground station via one or more feeder links, or for coupling to non-terrestrial portions of the NTN node 22 via one or more feeder links. The additional communication interface circuitry 79 comprises inter-node interface circuitry, such as, for example, network interface circuitry for communicating with the LMF 40 and / or other CN nodes.

[0083] Other entities or components within the illustrated NTN node 22 include processing circuitry 80, which includes or is associated with memory device 82. Processing circuitry 80 includes fixed circuitry, or preprogrammed circuitry, or programmable circuitry, or any combination of fixed circuitry, preprogrammed circuitry, and programmable circuitry. Non-limiting examples include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICS), or essentially any other configuration of digital processing circuitry, such as combinational digital logic, sequential digital logic, or both.

[0084] According to at least one embodiment, processing circuitry 80 comprises one or more processors, e.g., microprocessors, that are specifically adapted to perform any of the NTN node operations described herein based on executing computer program instructions from one or more computer programs stored on a computer readable medium that provides non-transitory storage for the computer programs. "Non-transitory" does not necessarily mean immutable, but rather implies at least some persistence, and various types of computer readable media may be involved, such as a mix of non-volatile memory for long-term storage of computer programs and volatile memory as working memory for program execution and scratch data.

[0085] Correspondingly, according to one or more embodiments, the storage device 82 stores one or more computer programs 84 including computer program instructions executed by the one or more processors at the processing circuitry 80. The storage device 82 may further store one or more items of configuration data 86, based on receiving it during live operation or based on being pre-stored. The configuration data 86 comprises, for example, information supporting new measurements for positioning, such as information regarding resources to be used for involved positioning signals, or other configuration settings for configuring and performing new measurements or performing positioning calculations based thereon.

[0086] 11 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the LMF 40. Various elements or components that make up the LMF 40 include a communications interface circuit 90, including one or more transmitter (TX) circuits 92 and one or more receiver (RX) circuits 94, configured to communicate with one or more other network nodes or entities, such as for communicating with an NTN node 22 supporting new positioning measurements, and / or for communicating with a UE 12 (e.g., via signals transmitted through the NTN node 22 over a provided NTN radio link). For example, the communications interface circuit 90 supports NR LPP for positioning-related communications with the UE 12 and supports NRPPa for positioning-related communications with the NTN node 22. For details on NRPPa and NRLPP, see, for example, 3GPP® TS38.455 V15.2.1 (2019-01-14) and 3GPP® TS38.355 V15.6.0 (2020-01-08), respectively.

[0087] Other entities or components within the illustrated LMF 40 include processing circuitry 100, which includes or is associated with memory device 102. Processing circuitry 100 includes fixed circuitry, or preprogrammed circuitry, or programmable circuitry, or any combination of fixed circuitry, preprogrammed circuitry, and programmable circuitry. Non-limiting examples include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICS), or essentially any other configuration of digital processing circuitry, such as combinational digital logic, sequential digital logic, or both.

[0088] According to at least one embodiment, the processing circuit 100 comprises one or more processors, e.g., microprocessors, that are specifically adapted to perform any of the NTN node operations described herein based on executing computer program instructions from one or more computer programs stored on a computer readable medium that provides non-transitory storage for the computer programs. "Non-transitory" does not necessarily mean immutable, but rather implies at least some persistence, and various types of computer readable media may be involved, such as a mix of non-volatile memory for long-term storage of computer programs and volatile memory as working memory for program execution and scratch data.

[0089] Correspondingly, according to one or more embodiments, the storage device 102 stores one or more computer programs 104 including computer program instructions, the execution of which by one or more processors results in the processing circuit 100. The storage device 102 may further store one or more items of configuration data 106, based on receiving it during live operation or based on being pre-stored. The configuration data 106 comprises, for example, information supporting new measurements for positioning, e.g., information regarding resources to be used for involved positioning signals, or other configuration settings for configuring and performing new measurements or performing positioning calculations based thereon.

[0090] 12 illustrates an exemplary signal flow diagram between an LMF and an NTN node, e.g., between the above-mentioned LMF 40 and the above-mentioned NTN node 22. It should be noted that there may be multiple NTN nodes 22 involved in positioning of the UE 12, e.g., a serving NTN node 22 that cooperates with the UE 12 in configuring and activating UL SRS transmissions by the UE 12, and one or more NTN nodes 22 that "listen" to those transmissions to be received over a respective NTN radio link between the UE 12 and each of the listening NTN nodes 22. In this sense, the NTN radio link between the UE 12 and a particular NTN node 22 may be considered as a propagation path along which transmitted signals are conveyed for reception.

[0091] In any event, with respect to the depicted NTN node, in exemplary step S1, the NTN node provides information to the LMF indicative of delays involved in UL / DL transmissions and NGAP protocols. According to at least one embodiment, step S1 comprises the NTN node determining propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and a UE, and transmitting the propagation delay information to the LMF for determining multi-RTT assistance data.

[0092] According to an exemplary embodiment of step S2, the LMF uses time offset and / or signal repetition information (indicating the number of repetitions to be used by the UE for SRS transmission on the UL) to generate assistance data for positioning configuration and positioning calculations by one or more nodes. According to at least one embodiment, step S2 includes the LMF receiving propagation delay information from the NTN node relating to one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE, and the LMF determining multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both. Thus, this Steps may further include an LMF that transmits multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE, or both.

[0093] In one example, the LMF is responsible for notifying the second NTN node when it listens for an UL SRS transmission from the UE. Thus, while requesting the first NTN node to activate SRS transmission from the UE served by the first NTN node, the time instance at which the UE should transmit the SRS is included in the NRPPa assistance data, as well as the time at which the second NTN node should listen for the SRS transmission (step S3).

[0094] In another example, the time delay or offset may be used by the LMF to apply compensation to measurements on UL signals transmitted in the presence of this delay or offset before using the compensated measurements for positioning purposes or its one or more operational tasks related to positioning. There may also be multiple UL repetitions to ensure UL coverage. Repetitions also imply increased delays. The gNB or other involved NTN nodes may provide such information to the LMF, which may take it into account in its position estimation. Such operations may have particular relevance to NTNs supporting NB-IoT services.

[0095] Figure 13 shows an example signal flow from the perspective of the LMF and the UE: In step S1, the location server (ESMLC, LMF) requests the capabilities (measurement methods and supported measurements related to the UL NTN) from the target device, i.e. the UE 12 to be positioned.

[0096] In step S2, the target device provides relevant capabilities regarding its NTN-based positioning capabilities.

[0097] In step S3, the target device operating in cell coverage from the NTN node obtains configuration / assistance data from the location server (specific) for performing new measurements (in the two-way signaling case) or for transmitting NTN UL signals enabling positioning measurements in one or more NTN nodes (e.g. in the respective RU 24 or more generally in the respective non-terrestrial receiving points). Based on this configuration, the UE performs new measurements or transmits the required UL signals.

[0098] In step S4, according to at least some embodiments, the target device provides a new measurement result report or positioning result report with a response based on the new measurement result. According to other embodiments, in response to the acquired configuration, the target device may transmit a UL signal to be received by the NTN node. That is, depending on the configuration of the new measurement, the target device transmits a UL signal required for the positioning measurement by receiving the NTN node, or performs a positioning measurement based on receiving a DL signal, e.g., a DL PRS configured by the LMF, and reports the result of the positioning measurement.

[0099] FIG. 14 shows an example signal flow from the perspective of a location server and an NTN node.

[0100] In step S1, according to some, but not necessarily all, embodiments, the NTN node provides configuration details such as the cells operating in the NTN coverage (transparent or regenerative operation), the signal configuration required to perform the new measurements, etc. Delays or offsets associated with UL / DL transmissions may also be provided.

[0101] In step S2, the location server sends a request for new measurements and / or provides assistance data / configuration to enable one or more of the new measurements. The assistance data may also take into account delays or other information reported in step S1. Note that the NTN node receiving the assistance information in step S2 may be the same as or different from the NTN node providing the information in step S1. The "assisted" NTN node performs new measurements and / or configures the required UL signals and / or transmits the required DL signals based on the received assistance data.

[0102] In step S3, the NTN node receiving the assistance data responds with a positioning related report including or based on one or more of the new measurements or positioning results based on the new measurements, and / or responds by configuring / triggering a UL transmission (in the UE) and / or responds by configuring a DL transmission to enable the new measurements.

[0103] 15-17 are block diagrams illustrating respective embodiments of a wireless device, an NTN node, and a location server, which may be implemented as processing modules or units. The processing modules or units may be virtualized, such as when they are instantiated in a virtual machine. Of course, it should be understood that the processing units or modules include the underlying processing circuitry.

[0104] 18 illustrates an example method 1800 for supporting round trip time (multiple RTT) measurements of multiple cells involving a UE, where at least one of the multiple cells is associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node. The method is performed by the NTN node and includes determining propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a terrestrial station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE (block 1802). Additionally, the method includes the NTN node transmitting the propagation delay information to a location server to determine multi-RTT assistance data (block 1804).

[0105] 19 illustrates another exemplary method for supporting multi-RTT measurements involving a UE, where at least one of multiple cells is associated with an NTN node. The method is performed by a location server and includes receiving propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE (block 1902), determining multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both (block 1904), and transmitting the multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE or both (block 1906).

[0106] With the above details in mind, the embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatus, e.g., a wireless device configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device.

[0107] Embodiments also include a wireless device comprising a processing circuit and a power supply circuit. The processing circuit is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device. The power supply circuit is configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0108] The embodiments further include a wireless device comprising a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device. According to some embodiments, the wireless device further comprises a communication circuit.

[0109] Embodiments further include a wireless device comprising a processing circuit and a memory, the memory including instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the wireless device is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device.

[0110] Embodiments further include a user equipment (UE). The UE has an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and the processing circuit and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device. According to some embodiments, the UE further comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to allow input of information to the UE to be processed by the processing circuit. - The UE has an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information processed by the processing circuit from the UE. - The UE may also include a battery coupled to the processing circuit and configured to power the UE.

[0111] Embodiments herein also include a radio network node configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node.

[0112] Embodiments also include a radio network node comprising a processing circuit and a power supply circuit, the processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node, and the power supply circuit configured to supply power to the radio network node.

[0113] Embodiments further include a radio network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node. According to some embodiments, the radio network node further comprises communication circuitry.

[0114] Embodiments further include a radio network node including a processing circuit and a memory, the memory including instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the radio network node is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node.

[0115] The embodiment further includes a location server comprising a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the location server. According to some embodiments, the radio network node further comprises a communication circuit, e.g. for communicating with the radio network node.

[0116] An embodiment further includes a location server comprising a processing circuit and a memory, the memory including instructions executable by the processing circuit, the location server configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the location server.

[0117] More specifically, the above-mentioned apparatus may implement any functional means, modules, units, or circuits to perform the methods and any other processes herein. According to an embodiment, for example, the apparatus has individual circuits or circuit systems configured to perform the steps shown in the method diagrams. In this regard, the circuits or circuit systems may have one or more microprocessors with dedicated circuits for performing specific functional processes, and / or memory. For example, the circuit systems may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware including one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), special purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in the memory, which may have one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, and the like. The program code stored in the memory may include program instructions for performing one or more telecommunication and / or data communication protocols according to some embodiments, as well as instructions for performing one or more of the methods described herein. According to embodiments using a memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the methods described herein.

[0118] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs.

[0119] The computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform any of the respective operations described above. The computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above.

[0120] Embodiments further include a medium containing such a computer program, which may include one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium.

[0121] In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable (storage or recording) medium that, when executed by a processor of the device, causes the device to perform as described above.

[0122] The embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. The computer program product may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium.

[0123] Additional embodiments are now described, at least some of which may be described for illustrative purposes as applicable in particular contexts and / or wireless network types, but which are likewise applicable in other contexts and / or wireless network types not explicitly described.

[0124] Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the exemplary wireless network shown in FIG. QQ1. For simplicity, the wireless network in FIG. QQ1 shows only network QQ106, network nodes QQ160 and QQ160b, and WDs QQ110, QQ110b, and QQ110c. In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communications between wireless devices or between wireless devices and other communication devices, such as land line telephones, service providers, or other network nodes or end devices. Of the illustrated components, network node QQ160 and wireless device (WD) QQ110 are shown with further details. The wireless network may provide communications and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless device's access to and / or use of services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0125] A wireless network may include any type of communication, telecommunication, data communication, cellular, and / or radio network, or other similar type of system and / or interface. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of a wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standard, and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0126] Network QQ106 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks that enable communication between devices.

[0127] Network nodes QQ160 and WD QQ110 include various components, which are described in more detail below. These components cooperate to provide the functionality of a network node or wireless device, such as providing a wireless connection in a wireless network. In various embodiments, a wireless network may comprise wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired or wireless connection.

[0128] As used herein, a "network node" refers to a device configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate, directly or indirectly, with wireless devices and / or other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to enable wireless access to the wireless devices and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., wireless access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR Node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations may be classified based on the size of the coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power levels) and may also be referred to as femto, pico, micro, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed wireless base station, such as a centralized digital unit, sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH), and / or a remote radio unit (RRU). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Some of the distributed radio base stations may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BS, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNC) or base station controllers (BSC), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordinating entities (MCE), core network nodes (e.g. MSC, MME), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g. E-SMLC), and / or MDT. In another embodiment, the network nodes may be virtual network nodes, as described in more detail below.More generally, however, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is configured, arranged, and / or operable to enable access to a wireless network and / or provide access to wireless devices or provide some service to wireless devices that have accessed the wireless network.

[0129] In FIG. QQ1, a network node QQ160 includes a processing circuit QQ170, a machine-readable medium QQ180, an interface QQ190, and a network - The network node QQ160 includes a face QQ190, an auxiliary device QQ184, a power supply QQ186, a power supply circuit QQ187, and an antenna QQ162. Although the network node QQ160 shown in the exemplary wireless network of FIG. QQ1 may represent a device including the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may have network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that a network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, although the components of the network node QQ160 are shown as a single box disposed within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in reality the network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., the device-readable medium QQ180 may include multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0130] Similarly, the network node QQ160 may be comprised of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a Node B component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have their own respective components. In certain circumstances where the network node QQ160 includes multiple separate components (e.g., a BTS and a BSC component), one or more separate components may be shared among multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NBs. In such a scenario, each unique Node B and RNC pair may possibly be considered as a single individual network node. According to some embodiments, the network node QQ160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). According to such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device-readable media QQ180 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna QQ162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node QQ160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for various wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ160, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or sets of chips and other components within network node QQ160.

[0131] The processing circuit QQ170 is configured to perform any decision, computation, or similar operation (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit QQ170 may include, for example, processing the information acquired by the processing circuit QQ170 by transforming the acquired information to other information, comparing the acquired or transformed information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or transformed information, and making a decision as a result of the processing.

[0132] The processing circuit QQ170 may include one or more combinations of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic that are operable to provide, alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ160 components, such as device readable medium QQ180, network node QQ160 functionality. For example, the processing circuit QQ170 may execute instructions stored on the device readable medium QQ180 or memory within the processing circuit QQ170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits described herein. According to some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0133] According to some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ170 may include one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit QQ172 and a baseband processing circuit QQ174. According to some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit QQ172 and the baseband processing circuit QQ174 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units (such as a radio unit and a digital unit). According to alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit QQ172 and the baseband processing circuit QQ174 may be on the same chip or chips, chipset, board, or unit.

[0134] According to certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by the processing circuit QQ170 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium QQ180 or memory in the processing circuit QQ170. According to alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuit QQ170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or separate machine-readable medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these embodiments, the processing circuit QQ170 may be configured to perform the described functionality, whether or not it executes instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium. Benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuit QQ170 alone or to other components of the network node QQ160, but are enjoyed by the network node QQ160 as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks in general.

[0135] The device readable medium QQ180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory, including, but not limited to, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and / or computer executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit QQ170. The device readable medium QQ180 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including applications including one or more of computer programs, software, logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit QQ170 and utilized by the network node QQ160. The device-readable medium QQ180 may be used to store any operations performed by the processing circuit QQ170 and / or any data received via the interface QQ190. According to some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ170 and the machine-readable medium QQ180 may be considered to be integrated.

[0136] Inter -The interface QQ190 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between the network node QQ160, the network QQ106, and / or the WD QQ110. As shown, the interface QQ190 comprises a port / terminal QQ194 for transmitting and receiving data to and from the network QQ106, for example, via a wired connection. The interface QQ190 also includes a radio front-end circuit QQ192, which may be coupled to the antenna QQ162 or may be coupled to a portion thereof according to a particular embodiment. The radio front-end circuit QQ192 comprises a filter QQ198 and an amplifier QQ196. The radio front-end circuit QQ192 may be connected to the antenna QQ162 and the processing circuit QQ170. The radio front-end circuit may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna QQ162 and the processing circuit QQ170. The radio front-end circuit QQ192 ... to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. J The radio front-end circuit QQ192 may receive digital data. The radio front-end circuit QQ192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of a filter QQ198 and / or an amplifier QQ196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ162. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ162 collects the radio signal and then converts it into digital data by the radio front-end circuit QQ192. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit QQ170. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0137] According to certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ160 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit QQ192, and instead the processing circuit QQ170 may include a radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna QQ162 without a separate radio front-end circuit QQ192. Similarly, according to embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuit QQ172 may be considered part of the interface QQ190. According to still other embodiments, the interface - The interface QQ190 may include one or more ports or terminals QQ194, radio front-end circuitry QQ192, and RF transceiver circuitry QQ172 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and an interface - The face QQ190 may communicate with a baseband processing circuit QQ174 which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0138] Antenna QQ162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna QQ162 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit QQ192 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna QQ162 may include one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit and receive wireless signals between 2 GHz and 66 GHz, for example. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line-of-sight antenna used to transmit / receive wireless signals in a relatively straight line. In some examples, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. According to some embodiments, antenna QQ162 may be separate from network node QQ160 and may be connectable to network node QQ160 via an interface or port.

[0139] Antenna QQ162, Inter - The interface QQ190, and / or the processing circuit QQ170 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or a particular acquisition operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ162, the interface QQ190, and / or the processing circuit QQ170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0140] The power supply circuit QQ187 may comprise or be connected to a power management circuit and is configured to provide power to the components of the network node QQ160 to perform the functions described herein. The power supply circuit QQ187 may receive power from the power supply QQ186. The power supply QQ186 and / or the power supply circuit QQ187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node QQ160 in a form suitable for each component (e.g., voltage and current levels required by each component). The power supply QQ186 may be included in the power supply circuit QQ187 and / or the network node QQ160 or may be external. For example, the network node QQ160 may be connected to an input circuit or interface such as an electrical cable. - The power supply QQ186 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., a wall outlet) via the power supply interface, whereby the external power source supplies power to the power supply circuit QQ187. As a further example, the power supply QQ186 may be a battery connected to or integrated with the power circuit QQ187. - or battery - If the external power source fails, the battery may be - Backup power may be provided from a power source. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0141] Alternative embodiments of network node QQ160 may include additional components not shown in FIG. QQ1 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node QQ160 may include user interface devices that enable input of information into network node QQ160 and output of information from network node QQ160, thereby enabling a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions of network node QQ160.

[0142] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to an apparatus configured, arranged, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Wireless communication may involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air. According to some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predefined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), in which case it may be referred to as a D2D communications device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things scenario (IoT), a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another WD and / or network node. In this case, the WD may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which in the 3GPP context may be called an MTC device.As a specific example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP® Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such machines or equipment are sensors, metering equipment such as power meters, industrial machines, or household or personal electrical appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, the WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that can monitor and / or report its operating status or other functions related to its operation. The WD as described above may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, the WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may be referred to as a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0143] As shown in the figure, a wireless device QQ110 includes an antenna QQ111, an interface - The interface QQ114, the processing circuit QQ120, the machine-readable medium QQ130, the user interface - The WD QQ110 includes a face device QQ132, an auxiliary device QQ134, a power source QQ136, and a power circuit QQ137. The WD QQ110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by the WD QQ110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, NB-IoT, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated on the same or different chips or sets of chips as other components in the WD QQ110.

[0144] The antenna QQ111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals, and may include an inter- - According to a particular alternative embodiment, the antenna QQ111 is separate from the WD QQ110 and is connected to the interface QQ114. -The antenna QQ111 may be connected to the WD QQ110 via an interface or port. - The interface QQ114 and / or the processing circuit QQ120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the wireless front-end circuit and / or antenna QQ111 may be considered an interface.

[0145] As shown, the interface QQ114 includes a radio front-end circuit QQ112 and an antenna QQ111. The radio front-end circuit QQ112 includes one or more filters QQ118 and an amplifier QQ116. The radio front-end circuit QQ112 is connected to the antenna QQ111 and the processing circuit QQ120 and is configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna QQ111 and the processing circuit QQ120. The radio front-end circuit QQ112 may be coupled to or part of the antenna QQ111. According to some embodiments, instead of the WD QQ110 including a separate radio front-end circuit QQ112, the processing circuit QQ120 may include a radio front-end circuit and be connected to the antenna QQ111. Similarly, according to embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit QQ122 may be considered part of the interface QQ114. The radio front-end circuit QQ112 may receive digital data sent to other network nodes or WDs using a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit QQ112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of a filter QQ118 and / or an amplifier QQ116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ111. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ111 collects the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit QQ112. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit QQ120. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0146] The processing circuitry QQ120 may comprise a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of one or more of hardware, software, and / or coding logic that is operable to provide, alone or in conjunction with other WD QQ110 components, such as device readable medium QQ130, WD QQ110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or advantages described herein. For example, the processing circuitry QQ120 may execute instructions stored on the device readable medium QQ130 or in memory within the processing circuitry QQ120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0147] As shown, the processing circuit QQ120 includes one or more of an RF transceiver circuit QQ122, a baseband processing circuit QQ124, and an application processing circuit QQ126. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. According to some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ120 of the WD QQ110 may comprise a SOC. According to some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit QQ122, the baseband processing circuit QQ124, and the application processing circuit QQ126 may be on separate chips or chipsets. According to alternative embodiments, some or all of the baseband processing circuit QQ124 and the application processing circuit QQ126 may be combined into one chip or chipset, and the RF transceiver circuit QQ122 may be on a separate chip or chipset. According to further alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ124 may be on the same chip or chipset, and the application processing circuitry QQ126 may be on a separate chip or chipset. According to yet other alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, the baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and the application processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined on the same chip or chipset. According to some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be an inter- - The RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be part of the interface QQ114. The RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may condition an RF signal for the processing circuitry QQ120.

[0148] According to certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by the processing circuitry QQ120 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium QQ130, which may be a computer-readable storage medium according to certain embodiments. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry QQ120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or distinct device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform the described functionality, whether or not it executes instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to only the processing circuitry QQ120 or other components of the WD QQ110, but are enjoyed by the WD QQ110 as a whole, and / or by end users and the wireless network as a whole.

[0149] The processing circuit QQ120 may be configured to perform any of the determinations, calculations, or similar operations (e.g., predetermined acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. These operations may include processing information acquired by the processing circuit QQ120, for example, by transforming the acquired information to other information, comparing the acquired or transformed information to information stored by the WD QQ110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or transformed information and / or as a result of said processing making a decision, as performed by the processing circuit QQ120.

[0150] The device-readable medium QQ130 may be operable to store applications, including one or more of computer programs, software, logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit QQ120. The device-readable medium QQ130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit QQ120. According to some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ120 and the device-readable medium QQ130 may be considered to be integrated.

[0151] User Interface - The face device QQ 132 may provide components that allow a human user to interact with the WD QQ 110. Such interaction may take many forms, including visual, auditory, tactile, etc. -The interface device QQ132 may be operable to generate an output to a user and to allow the user to provide input to the WD QQ110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device QQ132 installed on the WD QQ110. For example, if the WD QQ110 is a smartphone, the interaction may be performed using a touch screen. If the WD QQ110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be performed using a screen that provides usage (e.g., gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device QQ132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, as well as output interfaces, devices and circuits. The user interface device QQ132 is configured to allow input of information to the WD QQ110 and is connected to the processing circuit QQ120 to allow the processing circuit QQ120 to process the input information. The user interface device QQ132 may include, for example, a microphone, proximity or other sensors, keys / buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. The user interface device QQ132 is also configured to enable output of information from the WD QQ110 and to enable the processing circuitry QQ120 to output information from the WD QQ110. - The QQ132 interface device includes, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, and a headphone interface. - Using one or more input / output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device QQ132, the WD QQ110 may be able to communicate with end users and / or wireless networks to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0152] The auxiliary device QQ134 is operable to provide more specific functions that may not generally be performed by a WD. It may include dedicated sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communication, etc. The loading and type of components of the auxiliary device QQ134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0153] The power source QQ136 may be a battery according to some embodiments. - or battery - The power supply may be in the form of a pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a power cell. The WD QQ110 may further include a power circuit QQ137 for directing power from the power source QQ136 to various portions of the WD QQ110 that require power from the power source QQ136 and perform any of the functions described or illustrated herein. The power circuit QQ137 may have a power management circuit in certain embodiments. The power circuit QQ137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source, in which case the WD QQ110 may be connected to an interface such as an input circuit or a power cable. - The power supply QQ136 may be connectable to an external power source (such as a wall outlet) via an interface. In certain embodiments, the power supply circuit QQ137 may also be operable to provide power from the external power source to the power supply QQ136. This may be, for example, to charge the power supply QQ136. The power circuit QQ137 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from the power supply QQ136 to make it suitable for the respective components of the WD QQ110 being powered.

[0154] FIG. QQ2 illustrates an embodiment of a UE according to various aspects described herein. As used herein, user equipment or UE does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates an associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to or operation by a human user, but may or may not initially be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to or operation by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for a user (e.g., a smart power meter). The UE QQ200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including an NB-IoT UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As shown in FIG. QQ2, UE QQ200 is an example of a WD configured to communicate according to one or more communications standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), such as 3GPP®'s GSM®, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As mentioned above, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, although FIG. QQ2 is a UE, the components described herein are equally applicable to a WD and vice versa.

[0155] In FIG. QQ2, the UE QQ200 has an input / output interface. - Interface QQ205, Radio Frequency (RF) Interface - Interface QQ209, network connection interface -The UE includes a processing circuit QQ201 operatively coupled to an interface QQ211, a memory QQ215 including a random access memory (RAM) QQ217, a read only memory (ROM) QQ219, a storage medium QQ221, etc., a communication subsystem QQ231, a power source QQ213, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium QQ221 includes an operating system QQ223, application programs QQ225, and data QQ227. According to other embodiments, the storage medium QQ221 may include other similar types of information. A particular UE may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. QQ2, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another. Additionally, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0156] In FIG. QQ2, the processing circuit QQ201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit QQ201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, etc.), programmable logic circuits with appropriate firmware, one or more stored programs, a general-purpose processor such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), and appropriate software, or any combination thereof. For example, the processing circuit QQ201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). The data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0157] In the illustrated embodiment, the input / output interface QQ205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. -The UE QQ200 may be configured to utilize an output device using the interface QQ205. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to the UE QQ200 and output from the UE QQ200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE QQ200 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface QQ205 to allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional keypad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-aware display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor may be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microcomputer, a Fo The sensor may be a sensor, a light sensor, or a photo sensor.

[0158] In FIG. QQ2, the RF interface QQ209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface QQ211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to a network QQ243a. The network QQ243a may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, other similar networks, or any combination thereof. For example, the network QQ243a may constitute a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface - The Interface QQ211 is a receiver and transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices across a communications network according to one or more communications protocols such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc. - The network connection interface QQ211 may be configured to include a receiver and transmitter function suitable for a communications network link (e.g., optical, electronic, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or may be implemented separately.

[0159] The RAM QQ217 can be configured to interface to the processing circuit QQ201 via the bus QQ202 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during execution of software programs such as an operating system, application programs, and device drivers. The ROM QQ219 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to the processing circuit QQ201. For example, the ROM QQ219 may be configured to store unchanging low-level system code or data stored in a non-volatile memory for basic system functions such as basic input / output (I / O), startup, or receiving keystrokes from a keyboard. The storage medium QQ221 can be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cartridge, or flash drive. In one example, storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include an operating system QQ223, an application program QQ225, such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data files QQ227. Storage medium QQ221 may store any of a variety of operating systems or combinations of operating systems for use by UE QQ200.

[0160] The storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include several physical drives, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard disk drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical disk drive, an internal hard disk drive, a Blu-ray optical disk drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disk drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro-DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. The storage medium QQ221 may enable the UE QQ200 to access, store in a temporary or non-transient memory medium, offload data, or upload data, computer executable instructions, application programs, and the like. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing the communication system, may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium QQ221, which may have a device-readable medium.

[0161] In FIG. QQ2, the processing circuit QQ201 may be configured to communicate with the network QQ243b using the communication subsystem QQ231. The network QQ243a and the network QQ243b may be the same network or networks, or different networks or networks. The communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with the network QQ243b. For example, the communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication, such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN), according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMAX, etc. Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ233 and / or a receiver QQ235 to respectively implement a transmitter or receiver function (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.) appropriate for the RAN link. Furthermore, the transmitter QQ233 and receiver QQ235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software, or firmware or may be implemented separately.

[0162] According to the illustrated embodiment, the communication capabilities of the communication subsystem QQ231 may include data communications, voice communications, multimedia communications, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communications, etc., location-based communications such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication capability, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem QQ231 may include cellular communications, Wi-Fi communications, Bluetooth communications, and GPS communications. The network QQ243b may encompass wired and / or wireless networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, other similar networks, or any combination thereof. For example, the network QQ243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field wireless network. The power source QQ213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE QQ200.

[0163] The features, advantages, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE QQ200 or may be split across multiple components of the UE QQ200. Furthermore, the features, advantages, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Furthermore, the processing circuit QQ201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components via the bus QQ202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that perform the corresponding functions described herein as being performed by the processing circuit QQ201. In another example, the functions of any of such components may be split between the processing circuit QQ201 and the communication subsystem QQ231. In another example, the computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0164] FIG. QQ3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization refers to creating a virtual version of an apparatus or apparatus, including virtualizing a hardware platform, storage, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized wireless access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or component thereof, and relates to embodiments in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers running on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0165] According to some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ300 hosted by one or more of the hardware nodes QQ330. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual node is not a wireless access node or does not require wireless connectivity (e.g., a core network node), the network node may be fully virtualized.

[0166] The functionality may be implemented by one or more applications QQ320 (which may also be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operable to perform some of the features, functions, and / or advantages of some embodiments disclosed herein. The application QQ320 executes in a virtualization environment QQ300 that provides hardware QQ330 including a processing circuit QQ360 and a memory QQ390. The memory QQ390 includes instructions QQ395 executable by the processing circuit QQ360, such that the application QQ320 is operable to provide one or more of the features, advantages, and / or advantages disclosed herein.

[0167] The virtualization environment QQ300 includes a general-purpose or dedicated network hardware device QQ330 that includes a set of one or more processors or processing circuits QQ360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors. Each hardware device may have a memory QQ390-1, which may be a non-persistent memory, for temporarily storing instructions QQ395 or software executed by the processing circuitry QQ360. Each hardware device may include a network interface QQ380, which may be a physical network interface QQ390-2, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-3, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-4, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-5, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-6, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-7, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-8, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-9, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-10, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-11, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-12, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-13, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-14, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-15, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-16, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-17, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-18, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-19, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-20, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-21, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-22, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-31, which may be a physical network interface QQ380-14 -Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs), also known as face cards, QQ370. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage medium QQ390-2 having stored therein instructions executable by software QQ395 and / or processing circuitry QQ360. The software QQ395 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers QQ350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software for running virtual machine QQ340, and software enabling the implementation of the functions, features, and / or advantages described in association with some embodiments described herein.

[0168] The virtual machine QQ340 is a virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface - The virtual appliance QQ320 may have a virtual interface and virtual storage and may be executed by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ350 or hypervisor. Various embodiments of an instance of virtual appliance QQ320 may be implemented on one or more virtual machines QQ340, and the implementation may be done in different ways.

[0169] In operation, the processing circuitry QQ360 executes software QQ395 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer QQ350, sometimes referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), which can provide a virtual operating platform that appears to the virtual machine QQ340 as network hardware.

[0170] As shown in FIG. QQ3, the hardware QQ330 may be a standalone network node with a general or specific configuration. The hardware QQ330 may include an antenna QQ3225 and may implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware QQ330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed through a management and orchestration (MANO) QQ3100 that oversees, among other things, the lifecycle management of the application QQ320.

[0171] Hardware virtualization is implemented in some contexts as network function virtualization (NFV), which can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage (which may be in a data center), as well as customer premises equipment.

[0172] In the context of NFV, virtual machine QQ340 may be a software implementation of a physical device that executes programs as if it were running on a physical, non-virtualized device. Each virtual machine QQ340 and that portion of the hardware QQ330 on which it runs, i.e., the hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or the hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of virtual machines QQ340, form a separate Virtual Network Element (VNE).

[0173] Further, in the context of NFV, a Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling a specific network function running in one or more virtual machines QQ340 on top of the hardware networking infrastructure QQ330, and corresponds to application QQ320 in FIG. QQ3.

[0174] According to some embodiments, one or more wireless units QQ3200, each including one or more transmitters QQ3220 and one or more receivers QQ3210, may be connected to one or more antennas QQ3225. The wireless units QQ3200 may be connected to one or more suitable network interfaces. - It can communicate directly with the hardware node QQ330 via the interface and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide wireless functions such as a wireless access node or base station to the virtual node.

[0175] According to some embodiments, some signaling may be performed using a control system QQ3230, which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware node QQ330 and the wireless unit QQ3200.

[0176] FIG. QQ4 illustrates a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network, according to some embodiments. In particular, referring to FIG. QQ4, according to an embodiment, the communication system is a 3GPP type cellular network consisting of an access network QQ411, such as a wireless access network, and a core network QQ414. -The access network QQ411 includes a telecommunications network QQ410, such as a NB, eNB, gNB, or other type of wireless access point. The access network QQ411 has a number of base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c, such as NB, eNB, gNB, or other type of wireless access point, each of which defines a corresponding coverage area QQ413a, QQ413b, QQ413c. Each base station QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c can be connected to a core network QQ414 via a wired or wireless connection QQ415. A first UE QQ491 located in the coverage area QQ413c is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding base station QQ412c. A second UE QQ492 in the coverage area QQ413a can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station QQ412a. Although multiple UEs QQ491, QQ492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is within the coverage area or where a single UE is connected to a corresponding base station QQ412.

[0177] The telecommunications network QQ410 is itself connected to a host computer QQ430, which may be implemented in hardware and / or software as a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer QQ4 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The connections QQ421 and QQ422 between the telecommunications network QQ410 and the host computer QQ430 may extend directly from the core network QQ414 to the host computer QQ430, or may be via an optional intermediate network QQ420. The intermediate network QQ420 may be one or a combination of two or more of a public network, a private network, a hosted network, and if present, the intermediate network QQ420 may be a backbone network or the Internet, and in particular, the intermediate network QQ420 may have two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0178] The overall communication system of FIG. QQ4 provides connectivity between connected UEs QQ491, QQ492 and a host computer QQ430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ450. The host computer QQ430 and the connected UEs QQ491, QQ492 are configured to communicate data and / or signals through the OTT connection QQ450 using the access network QQ411, the core network QQ414, any intermediate network QQ420, and possibly further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection QQ450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection QQ450 passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station QQ412 would not be informed or need to be informed about the past routing of inbound downlink communications with data originating from host computer QQ430 that is forwarded (e.g., handed over) to connected UE QQ491. Similarly, base station QQ412 does not need to be aware of the future routing of outbound uplink communications originating from UE QQ491 toward host computer QQ430.

[0179] An exemplary implementation of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs according to one embodiment is described below with reference to FIG. QQ5. FIG. QQ5 illustrates a user terminal that is connected to the base station via the base station. DeviceIn the communication system QQ500, the host computer QQ510 includes hardware QQ515 including a communication interface QQ516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of another communication device of the communication system QQ500. The host computer QQ510 further includes a processing circuit QQ518 that may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit QQ518 may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer QQ510 further includes software QQ511 stored in or accessible by the host computer QQ510 and executable by the processing circuit QQ518. The software QQ511 includes a host application QQ512. The host application QQ512 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as the UE QQ530, that connects via an OTT connection QQ550 that terminates at the UE QQ530 and the host computer QQ510. In providing services to the remote user, the host application QQ512 may provide user data that is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ550.

[0180] The communication system QQ500 further includes a base station QQ520 provided in the communication system and equipped with hardware QQ525 enabling communication with the host computer QQ510 and the UE QQ530. The hardware QQ525 allows the interworking of the different communication devices of the communication system QQ500. - A communications interface for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface. - 5, and a wireless interface QQ526 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection QQ570 with a UE QQ530 located within a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 5) served by the base station QQ520. -The interface may include a QQ527. - The interface QQ526 may be configured to facilitate a connection QQ560 to the host computer QQ510. The connection QQ560 may be direct or may pass through a core network of the telecommunications system (not shown in FIG. QQ5) and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. According to the illustrated embodiment, the hardware QQ525 of the base station QQ520 further comprises a processing circuit QQ528, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station QQ520 further comprises software QQ521 stored therein or accessible via an external connection.

[0181] The communication system QQ500 further includes the UE QQ530 already referred to. The UE hardware QQ535 may include a radio interface QQ537 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection QQ570 with a base station serving the coverage area in which the UE QQ530 is currently located. The hardware QQ535 of the UE QQ530 further includes a processing circuit QQ538, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE QQ530 further includes software QQ531 stored in or accessible by the UE QQ530 and executable by the processing circuit QQ538. The software QQ531 includes a client application QQ532. The client application QQ532 is operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE QQ530 with the support of the host computer QQ510. In the host computer QQ510, a running host application QQ512 can communicate with a running client application QQ532 via an OTT connection QQ550 that terminates at the UE QQ530 and the host computer QQ510. In providing a service to a user, the client application QQ532 may receive request data from the host application QQ512 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection QQ550 can transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application QQ532 can interact with the user and generate user data to provide.

[0182] It should be noted that the host computer QQ510, base station QQ520, and UE QQ530 shown in Fig. QQ5 may be similar or identical to the host computer QQ430, one of the base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, and QQ412c, and one of the UEs QQ491 and QQ492 in Fig. QQ4, respectively, i.e., the internal operation of these entities may be as shown in Fig. QQ5 or may be independent therefrom, and the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. QQ4.

[0183] In FIG. QQ5, the OTT connection QQ550 is depicted abstractly to illustrate communication between the host computer QQ510 and the UE QQ530 via the base station QQ520, but the exact routing of messages through these devices is not explicitly mentioned to any intermediate device. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to be hidden from the UE QQ530, or from the service provider operating host computer QQ510, or both. The network infrastructure may further decide to dynamically change the routing while the OTT connection QQ550 is active (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0184] The wireless connection QQ570 between the UE QQ530 and the base station QQ520 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE QQ530 using the OTT connection QQ550 of which the wireless connection QQ570 forms the final segment.

[0185] A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, delay times, and other factors that may be improved by one or more embodiments. In addition, there may be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ550 between the host computer QQ510 and the UE QQ530 depending on the variability of the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ550 may be implemented in the software QQ511 and hardware QQ515 of the host computer QQ510, or in the software QQ531 and hardware QQ535 of the UE QQ530, or in both. According to some embodiments, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication device through which the OTT connection QQ550 passes, and the sensor may participate in the measurement procedure by providing values ​​of the monitoring quantities exemplified above or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities, from which the software QQ511, QQ531 may calculate or estimate the monitoring quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection QQ550 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration need not affect the base station QQ520 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station QQ520. Such procedures and functionality may be known and practiced in the art. According to some embodiments, measurements may include proprietary UE signaling to facilitate host computer QQ510 measurements of throughput, propagation time, delay, etc. Measurements may be performed by having software QQ511 and QQ531 send messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection QQ550 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0186] FIG. QQ6 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to FIG. QQ4 and QQ5. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. QQ6 are included in this section. In step QQ610, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step QQ611 of step QQ610 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step QQ630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits the user data carried in the host computer initiated transmission to the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ640 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0187] FIG. QQ7 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to FIG. QQ4 and QQ5. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. QQ7 are included in this section. In step QQ710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmitted signal may be passed through the base station according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried by the transmitted signal.

[0188] FIG. QQ8 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to FIG. QQ4 and QQ5. To simplify the disclosure, only the drawings that refer to FIG. QQ8 are included in this section. In step QQ810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step QQ820, the UE provides user data. In sub-step QQ821 (which may be optional) of step QQ820, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step QQ811 (which may be optional) of step QQ810, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further take into account user input received from a user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data is provided, the UE begins transmitting the user data to the host computer in sub-step QQ830 (which may be optional). In method step QQ840, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0189] FIG. QQ9 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to FIG. QQ4 and QQ5. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. QQ9 are included in this section. In step QQ910 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step QQ930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0190] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed via one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may comprise several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, and the like. The program code stored in memory has program instructions for implementing one or more communication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for implementing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional units to perform the functions corresponding thereto in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0191] In view of the above, embodiments herein generally include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may have processing circuitry configured to provide user data. The host computer may also process the user data via a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE). - A communications interface configured to transmit data to a network - The cellular - The network is wireless. - The present invention may include a base station having an interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the base station configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the base station.

[0192] According to some embodiments, the communication system further comprises a base station.

[0193] According to some embodiments the communication system further includes a UE, the UE configured to communicate with the base station.

[0194] According to some embodiments, the communication system further includes a location server, the location server configured to communicate with any one or more of the UE, the host computer, and the base station.

[0195] According to some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data, where the UE has processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0196] The embodiments herein may also be implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), and according to at least some embodiments, a location server. The method includes providing user data at the host computer. The method also includes providing a cellular location server having a base station at the host computer. -Initiating transmission carrying user data to the UE over the network. The base station may perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the base station.

[0197] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting the user data at the base station.

[0198] According to some embodiments, the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, in which case the method further comprises executing, at the UE, a client application associated with the host application.

[0199] The embodiments herein also include a user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with the base station. The UE may include a wireless interface configured to perform any of the embodiments described above for the UE. - The interface and processing circuitry.

[0200] Embodiments herein further include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer includes a processing circuit configured to provide user data and a cellular access point for transmitting the user data to a user equipment (UE). - A communications interface configured to transmit data to a network - The UE has a radio interface. - The UE may have a plurality of interfaces and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the UE.

[0201] According to some embodiments, the cellular - The network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0202] According to some embodiments, processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing user data. Processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application. Embodiments also include a method performed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE). The method includes, in the host computer, providing user data, and transmitting the user data to a cellular station having a base station. - and initiating transmission over the network to carry user data to the UE. The UE performs any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the UE.

[0203] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, at the UE, user data from the base station.

[0204] Embodiments herein further include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer is configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station via a communication interface. - The UE has a radio interface. - The UE has an interface and a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the UE.

[0205] According to some embodiments, the communication system further includes a UE.

[0206] According to some embodiments, the communication system further comprises a base station, where the base station is a wireless interface configured to communicate with the UE. - and a communications interface configured to transfer user data carried by the transmission from the UE to the base station to a host computer. - The face.

[0207] According to some embodiments, processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, and processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data.

[0208] According to some embodiments, processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to thereby provide the requested data, and processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to thereby provide user data in response to the requested data.

[0209] Embodiments herein also include a method performed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method including receiving, at the host computer, user data transmitted from the UE to the base station, the UE performing any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the UE.

[0210] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises providing, at the UE, user data to the base station.

[0211] According to some embodiments, the method may further include executing, at the UE, a client application to provide the user data for transmission. The method may further include executing, at the host computer, a host application associated with the client application.

[0212] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises executing, at the UE, a client application and receiving, at the UE, input data for the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, the user data to be transmitted being provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0213] An embodiment also includes a communication system including a host computer. The host computer is configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station via a communication interface. - The base station has a wireless interface. - The base station has an interface and a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the base station.

[0214] According to some embodiments, the communication system further comprises a base station.

[0215] According to some embodiments, the communication system further includes a UE, the UE being configured to communicate with the base station.

[0216] According to some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, and the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to provide user data received by the host computer.

[0217] Further embodiments include a method performed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method including receiving, at the host computer, user data from the base station, the user data originating from a transmission received by the base station from the UE, the UE performing any of the steps in any of the embodiments described above for the UE.

[0218] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, at the base station, user data from the UE.

[0219] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises initiating, at the base station, a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0220] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the+ element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise specified. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as after or before another step and / or it is implicit that a step must be after or before another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the accompanying embodiments will become apparent from the description.

[0221] The term unit may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronic equipment, electrical devices, and / or electronic devices, and may have, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing respective tasks, procedures, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc., as described herein.

[0222] As used herein, the term "A and / or B" encompasses embodiments having A alone, B alone, or both A and B together. Thus, the term "A and / or B" can equivalently mean "at least one of any one or more of A and B."

[0223] Some embodiments contemplated herein are more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments described herein, but rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0224] Exemplary embodiments Group A Embodiments A1. A method performed by a wireless device, said method comprising: receiving configuration information that configures the wireless device to support positioning of the wireless device in response to signal measurements performed on one or more non-terrestrial wireless links between the wireless device and one or more non-terrestrial network nodes; transmitting uplink (UL) signals to support the positioning of the wireless device in accordance with the configuration information; Includes.

[0225] A2. The method of embodiment A1, further comprising communicating with a location server in a communications network including the one or more non-terrestrial network nodes via an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) that has been extended to provide measurement and configuration information specific to positioning using non-terrestrial wireless links.

[0226] A3. The method of embodiment A1 or A2, further comprising reporting capability information to a location server or another network node of a communications network including the one or more non-terrestrial network nodes, the reporting being performed autonomously or in response to receiving a request, indicating the capabilities of the wireless device with respect to supporting positioning of the wireless device using non-terrestrial wireless links.

[0227] A4. A method of any of the Group A embodiments, wherein transmitting the UL signal in accordance with the configuration information includes transmitting a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) having one or more physical layer characteristics specified for positioning via a radio signal propagated over a non-terrestrial radio link.

[0228] A5. The method of embodiment A4, wherein the one or more physical layer characteristics include any one or more of a sequence parameter, a bandwidth, an SCS or symbol length, a cyclic prefix, a sequence generation, a frequency or frequency band, and a repetition factor.

[0229] A6. A method according to any of the Group A embodiments, wherein transmitting the UL signal in accordance with the configuration information includes transmitting the UL signal on designated radio resources, the UL signal being transmitted on a frequency or frequencies reserved for non-terrestrial radio use or transmitted using a repetition factor that compensates for a propagation path length associated with use of the one or more non-terrestrial network nodes to receive the UL signal.

[0230] AA. A method according to any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: Providing user data; transferring said user data to a host computer via said transmission to a base station; has.

[0231] Group B Embodiments B1. A method performed by a non-terrestrial network node, the method comprising: and reporting one or more parameters associated with a non-terrestrial uplink (UL) path associated with a wireless device to be positioned, the one or more parameters including at least one of a propagation delay associated with the non-terrestrial UL path and a transmission repetition factor used by the wireless device for uplink transmission, the one or more parameters being reported to a location server which takes into account the one or more parameters for positioning of the wireless device.

[0232] B2. The method of embodiment B1, further comprising communicating with the location server according to an extension of NRPPa that has been extended to provide measurement and configuration information specific to positioning using wireless signals propagated over non-terrestrial wireless links.

[0233] B3. The method of embodiment B1 or B2, further comprising reporting capability information to a location server or another network node of the communications network regarding capabilities of the non-terrestrial network node with respect to positioning of a wireless device using the non-terrestrial wireless link, said reporting being performed autonomously or in response to receiving a request.

[0234] B4. A method performed by a non-terrestrial network node, the method comprising: determining a configuration for an uplink (UL) signal received from the wireless device via a non-terrestrial wireless link between the wireless device and a non-terrestrial receiving point included in or coupled to the non-terrestrial network node; performing positioning related measurements on said UL signals; reporting said positioning related measurements or results derived therefrom to a location server; and Includes.

[0235] BB. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising obtaining user data and transferring said user data to a host computer or wireless device.

[0236] Group C Embodiments C1. A method performed by a location server, the method comprising: receiving information indicative of one or more parameters associated with a non-terrestrial wireless link between a wireless device and a non-terrestrial transmitting / receiving point, the one or more parameters being at least one of a delay associated with the non-terrestrial wireless link and a repetition factor used by the wireless device to repeat an UL transmission; determining a positioning configuration or assistance data for at least one of: one or more non-terrestrial network nodes used to receive UL signals for positioning measurements from the wireless device; one or more non-terrestrial network nodes used to transmit downlink (DL) signals for positioning measurements by the wireless device; and the wireless device; Includes.

[0237] C2. The method of embodiment C1, further including communicating with a non-terrestrial network node for positioning of the wireless device in accordance with an extended version of NRPPa extended to provide measurement and configuration information specific to positioning using wireless signals propagated over non-terrestrial wireless links.

[0238] C3. The method of embodiment C1 or C2 further includes communicating with the wireless device according to an extension of the NRLPP, the NRLPP being extended to provide measurement and configuration information specific to positioning using wireless signals propagated over non-terrestrial wireless links.

[0239] C4. Any of the embodiments of C1-C3 further including receiving capability information from the wireless device and / or from one or more non-terrestrial network nodes regarding a capability to position the wireless device using non-terrestrial wireless links, the reporting being performed autonomously or in response to the location server sending a request.

[0240] CC. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: Obtaining location data; and transmitting the location data to a host computer or wireless device; Includes.

[0241] Group D embodiment D1. A wireless device configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0242] D2. A wireless device having processing circuitry configured to perform any step in any embodiment of Group A.

[0243] D3. A wireless device, A communication circuit; A processing circuit configured to perform any step of any embodiment of Group A. has.

[0244] D4. A wireless device, A processing circuit configured to perform any step of any embodiment of Group A; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device; has.

[0245] D5. A wireless device, The wireless device may have a processing circuit and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the wireless device is configured to perform any step in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0246] D6. A user equipment (UE), an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit coupled to the antenna and to a processing circuit and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit; The processing circuitry is configured to perform any step of any embodiment of Group A; and an input interface coupled to the processing circuit and configured to enable input of information to the UE for processing by the processing circuit; - Face and an output interface coupled to the processing circuit and configured to output information processed by the processing circuit from the UE; - Face and a battery coupled to the processing circuit and configured to power the UE; has.

[0247] D7. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor in a wireless device, cause the wireless device to perform the steps of any of the embodiments in group A.

[0248] D8. A carrier comprising the computer program of embodiment D7, the carrier being one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0249] D9. A radio network node configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0250] D10. A radio network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any step of any of the embodiments of group B.

[0251] D11. A radio network node, comprising: A communication circuit; a processing circuit configured to perform the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; has.

[0252] D12. A radio network node comprising: a processing circuit configured to perform any step of any of the embodiments of Group B; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the radio network node; Includes.

[0253] D13. A radio network node comprising: A processing circuit and a memory, the memory including instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the radio network node is configured to perform any step in any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0254] D14. A radio network node as described in any of embodiments D9-D13, wherein the radio network node is a base station.

[0255] D15. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a radio network node, cause the radio network node to perform the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0256] D16. The computer program product of embodiment D15, wherein the radio network node is a base station.

[0257] D17. A carrier containing the computer program according to any of embodiments D15-D16, the carrier being one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0258] D18. A location server configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments of group C.

[0259] D19. A location server comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any step in any embodiment of Group C.

[0260] D20. A location server, comprising: A communication circuit; A processing circuit configured to perform any step of any embodiment of Group C; has.

[0261] D21. A location server, comprising: A processing circuit configured to perform any step of any embodiment of Group C; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the location server; has.

[0262] D22. A location server comprising: A processing circuit and a memory, the memory including instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the location server is configured to perform any step in any embodiment of group C.

[0263] D23. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a location server, cause said location server to perform the steps of any of the embodiments of group C.

[0264] D24. A carrier containing the computer program of embodiment D23, the carrier being one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0265] Group E embodiments E1. A communication system including a host computer, The host computer includes a processing circuit configured to provide user data; The user data is transmitted to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE). - A communications interface configured to transmit data to a network - Face and having The cellular - The network is wireless. - The present invention also includes a base station having an interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the base station being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0266] E2. The communication system of the preceding embodiment, further comprising a base station.

[0267] E3. The communication system of the previous two embodiments, further including the UE, the UE configured to communicate with the base station.

[0268] E4. The communication system of any of the three preceding embodiments, processing circuitry of the host computer configured to execute a host application and thereby provide user data; The UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0269] E5. A method carried out in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; In the host computer, a cellular - initiating a transmission conveying the user data to the UE over a network; having The base station performs any of the steps in any of the Group B embodiments.

[0270] E6. The method of the preceding embodiment further comprises, at the base station, transmitting user data.

[0271] E7. The method of the two preceding embodiments, wherein user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, and the method further includes executing, at the UE, a client application associated with the host application.

[0272] E8. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, said UE being configured to communicate with a wireless interface - and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the three embodiments described above.

[0273] E9. A communication system including a host computer, The host computer includes a processing circuit configured to provide user data; The user data is transmitted to a cellular device (device) for transmission to a user equipment (UE). - A communications interface configured to transmit data to a network - Face and having The UE is a wireless interface - The UE may have an interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0274] E10. The communication system of any preceding embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0275] E11. The communication system of the preceding two embodiments, further comprising a location server configured to perform any step in any of the embodiments of group C.

[0276] E12. The communication system of any of the previous three embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application thereby providing the user data; The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0277] E13. A method carried out in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; In the host computer, a cellular - initiating a transmission conveying the user data to the UE over a network; having The UE performs any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0278] E14. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising: receiving, at the UE, the user data from the base station.

[0279] E15. A communication system including a host computer, The host computer includes a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station. - having a face, The UE is a wireless -The UE has an interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the UE configured to perform any step in any embodiment of group A.

[0280] E16. The communication system of the above embodiment, further comprising the UE.

[0281] E17. The communication system of the two preceding embodiments, further comprising the base station, the base station comprising a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to transfer the user data carried by transmissions from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0282] E18. The communication system of any of the three preceding embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with a host application, thereby providing the user data.

[0283] E19. A communications system according to any of the preceding four embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application thereby to provide request data, and the processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application thereby to provide the user data in response to the request data.

[0284] E20. A method carried out in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, at the host computer, user data transmitted from the UE to the base station; The UE performs any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0285] E21. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.

[0286] E22. The method of the previous two embodiments, further comprising: executing, at the UE, a client application thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; executing, on the host computer, a host application associated with the client application; has.

[0287] E23. The method of any of the preceding three embodiments, further comprising: executing, at the UE, a client application; receiving, at the UE, input data for the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application; The transmitted user data is before This is provided by the client application.

[0288] E24. A communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station - A communication system including a host computer having a base station and a wireless interface. - The base station may have a processing interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0289] E25. The communication system of any preceding embodiment, further comprising a base station.

[0290] E26. The communication system of the two preceding embodiments, further comprising the UE, the UE configured to communicate with the base station.

[0291] E27. A communication system according to any one of the three preceding embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; The UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0292] E28. A method carried out in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: The method includes receiving, at the host computer, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission received by the base station from the UE, and the UE performing any of the steps in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0293] E29. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising receiving, at the base station, the user data from the UE.

[0294] E30. The method of the previous two embodiments, further comprising initiating, at the base station, transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0295] Abbreviations At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. In case of discrepancies between the abbreviations, how it is used above shall prevail. If listed multiple times below, the first listing shall prevail over any subsequent listings.

[0296] 1xRTT: 1x wireless transmission technology in CDMA2000 3GPP: Third Generation Partnership Project 5G: Fifth generation ABS: Almost blank subframe ARQ: Automatic Repeat Request AWGN: Additive White Gaussian Noise BCCH: Broadcast Control Channel BCH: Broadcast Channel CA: Carrier Aggregation CC: Carrier Component CCCH SDU: Common Control Channel SDU CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access CE: Control element CGI: Cell Global Identifier CIR: Channel Impulse Response CP: Cyclic Prefix CPICH: Common Pilot Channel CPICH Ec / No: Received energy per chip in CPICH divided by power density of the band CQI: Channel Quality Information C-RNTI: Cell RNTI CSI: Channel State Information DCCH: Dedicated Control Channel DCI: Downlink Control Information DL: Downlink DM: Recovery DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal DRB: Data Radio Bearer DRX: Discontinuous reception DTX: Intermittent transmission DTCH: Dedicated Traffic Channel DU: Digital Unit DUT: Under test E-CID: Enhanced Cell ID (positioning method) E-SMLC: Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center ECGI: Evolutionary CGI eNB: E-UTRAN Node B ePDCCH: Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel E-SMLC: Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center E-UTRA: Evolved UTRA E-UTRAN: Evolved UTRAN FDD: Frequency Division Duplex FFS: Further Considerations GEO: Geosynchronous GERAN: GSM EDGE Radio Access Network gNB: NR base station GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request HO: Handover HSPA: High Speed ​​Packet Access HRPD: High Rate Packet Data ISL: Inter Satellite Link LOS: Line of sight LPP: LTE Positioning Protocol LTE: Long Term Evolution MAC: Medium Access Control MBMS: Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service MBSFN: Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS: Nearly blank subframes in MBSFN MDT: Minimizing Drive Testing MIB: Master Information Block MME: Mobility Management Entity MSC: Mobile Switching Center NON-GEO: non-geosynchronous NPDCCH: Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel NR: New Radio NTN: Non-terrestrial network OCNG: OFDMA Channel Noise Generator OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access OSS: Operational Support System OTDOA: Observed Time Difference of Arrival O&M: Operation and Maintenance PBCH: Physical Broadcast Channel P-CCPCH: Primary Common Control Physical Channel PCell: Primary Cell PCFICH: Physical Control Format Indicator Channel PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel PDP: Profile Delay Profile PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel PGW: Packet Gateway PHICH: Physical Hybrid / -ARQ Indicator Channel PLMN: Public Land Mobile Network PMI: Precoder Matrix Indicator PRACH: Physical Random Access Channel PRS: Positioning Reference Signal PSCELL: Primary Secondary Cell PSS: Primary Synchronization Signal PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation RACH: Random Access Channel RAN: Radio Access Network RAT: Radio Access Technology RLF: Radio Link Failure RLM: Radio Link Management RNC: Radio Network Controller RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identification RRC: Radio Resource Control RRM: Radio Resource Management RS: Reference signal RSCP: Received signal code power RSRP: Reference symbol received power or reference signal received power RSRQ: Reference signal reception quality or reference symbol reception quality RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator RSTD: Reference signal time difference SAT: Satellite SCH: Synchronous Channel SCell: Secondary cell SDU: Service Data Unit SFN: System Frame Number SGW: Serving Gateway SI: System Information SIB: System Information Block SMTC: SS / PBCH block measurement time setting SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio SON: Self-optimizing Networks SR: Scheduling Request SRB: Signalling Radio Bearer SRI: Satellite Radio Interface SS: Synchronization signal SSS: Secondary Synchronization Signal TDD: Time Division Duplex TDoA: Time difference of arrival ToA: Time of arrival TSS: Tertiary Synchronization Signal TTI: Transmission Time Interval UAS: Unmanned Aerial Systems UE: User Equipment UL: Uplink UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System USIM: Universal Subscriber Identity Module UTDOA: Uplink Time Difference UTRA: Universal Terrestrial Radio Access UTRAN: Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network WCDMA(registered trademark): Wideband CDMA WLAN: Wide Area Local Area Network

Claims

1. 1. A method for supporting round trip time (multi-RTT) measurements of multiple cells involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node, the method being performed by the NTN node, determining propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE; transmitting the propagation delay information to a location server for determining multi-RTT assistance data; The method according to claim 1,

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location server is a node in a core network (CN) of a wireless communication network that includes the NTN and further includes one or more terrestrial network nodes that provide at least one other cell of the multicell.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the propagation delay information indicates a service link propagation delay.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the propagation delay information is indicative of a feeder link propagation delay.

5. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the propagation delay information comprises one or more timing advance (TA) offsets used by the UE with respect to the NTN node, the one or more TA offsets being based on downlink and uplink frame timing at the UE.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the NTN node is a base station implemented on a satellite or an unmanned aerial system (UAS).

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising receiving the multi-RTT assistance data from the location server, performing measurements on one or more uplink (UL) signals received at the NTN node from the UE in accordance with the multi-RTT assistance data; providing the multi-RTT assistance data to the UE for use by the UE in performing one or more downlink (DL) measurements on signals received at the UE from the NTN node; The method comprising performing at least one of the following:

8. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising controlling transmission timing of a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by the NTN node for the UE according to the multi-RTT assistance data.

9. 1. A non-terrestrial network (NTN) node configured to support multi-cell round trip time (multi-RTT) measurements involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with the non-terrestrial network (NTN) node, the NTN node comprising: A communication interface circuit; a processing circuit, the processing circuit comprising: determining propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE; transmitting, via said communications interface circuitry, said propagation delay information to a location server for determining multi-RTT assistance data; An NTN node configured as follows.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the location server is a node in a core network (CN) of a wireless communication network including the NTN, and further includes one or more terrestrial network nodes providing at least one other cell of the multicell.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the propagation delay information indicates a service link propagation delay.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the propagation delay information is indicative of a feeder link propagation delay.

13. A method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the propagation delay information comprises one or more timing advance (TA) offsets used by the UE with respect to the NTN node, the one or more TA offsets being based on downlink and uplink frame timing at the UE.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13. The method, wherein the node is a base station implemented on a satellite or an unmanned aerial system (UAS).

15. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, comprising receiving the multi-RTT assistance data from the location server and further comprising: performing measurements on one or more uplink (UL) signals received at the NTN node from the UE in accordance with the multi-RTT assistance data; passing the multi-RTT assistance data to the UE for use by the UE in performing one or more downlink (DL) measurements on signals received at the UE from the NTN node; and performing at least one of the following:

16. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, further comprising controlling transmission timing of a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by the NTN node for the UE according to the multi-RTT assistance data.

17. 1. A method for supporting round trip time (multi-RTT) measurements for multiple cells involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node, the method being performed by a location server, the method comprising: receiving propagation delay information associated with one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and a UE; determining multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both; transmitting the multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE or both; The method according to claim 1,

18. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the location server is a node in a Core Network (CN) of a wireless communication network that includes the NTN, and further includes one or more terrestrial network nodes that provide at least one other cell of the multicell.

19. 19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein the propagation delay information is indicative of a service link propagation delay.

20. The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the propagation delay information is indicative of a feeder link propagation delay.

21. A method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the propagation delay information comprises one or more timing advance (TA) offsets used by the UE with respect to the NTN node, the one or more TA offsets being based on downlink and uplink frame timing at the UE.

22. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the location server comprises a Location Management Function (LMF).

23. 23. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the assistance data comprises determining a measurement configuration for the UE for use in measuring a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the NTN node, and transmitting the assistance data comprises transmitting the assistance data to the UE via the NTN node or indirectly via a terrestrial node.

24. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein determining the assistance data includes determining a measurement configuration for the NTN node to be used for measuring an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) to be transmitted by the UE, and transmitting the assistance data includes transmitting the assistance data to the NTN node.

25. 1. A location server configured to support multi-cell round trip time (multi-RTT) measurements involving a user equipment (UE), at least one of the multiple cells being associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node, the location server comprising: A communication interface circuit; a processing circuit, the processing circuit comprising: receiving, via the communication interface circuitry, propagation delay information relating to one or both of a feeder link between the NTN node and a ground station or a service link between the NTN node and the UE; determining multi-RTT assistance data for the NTN node or the UE or both; transmitting the multi-RTT assistance data to the NTN node or the UE or both via the communication interface circuit; A location server configured to:

26. 26. A location server as described in claim 25, wherein the location server is a node in a core network (CN) of a wireless communication network including the NTN and further including one or more terrestrial network nodes providing at least one other cell of the multicell.

27. 27. A location server according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the propagation delay information indicates a service link propagation delay.

28. A location server according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein the propagation delay information indicates a feeder link propagation delay.

29. 27. A location server as claimed in claim 25 or 26, wherein the propagation delay information comprises one or more Timing Advance (TA) offsets used by the UE with respect to the NTN node, the one or more TA offsets being based on downlink and uplink frame timing at the UE.

30. A location server according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein said location server comprises a Location Management Function (LMF).

31. A location server as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 30, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the assistance data as a measurement configuration for use by the UE for measurement of a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the NTN node, and is further configured to transmit the assistance data to the UE via the NTN node or indirectly via a terrestrial node.

32. A location server as described in any one of claims 25 to 30, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the assistance data as a measurement configuration for the NTN node for use in measuring an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) to be transmitted by the UE, and is further configured to transmit the assistance data to the NTN node.

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