Positioning method and communication device

Abstract

A positioning method and a communication device are provided. In the method, a terminal device determines a first TA between the terminal device and an access network device at a first time point, and transmits a first parameter corresponding to the first TA to the network device. The terminal device determines a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point, and transmits a second parameter corresponding to the second TA to the network device. The network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device to position the terminal device. In this method, the terminal device can be positioned based on the communication between the terminal device and one network device, so that the method can be applied to a satellite communication scenario to solve the problem of positioning the terminal device when the terminal device can only be covered by one satellite.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular to a positioning method and communication device. [Background technology]

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210249735.2, entitled "POSITIONING METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS", filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on March 14, 2022, which Chinese patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and this application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210374283.0, entitled "POSITIONING METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS", filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on April 11, 2022, which Chinese patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0003] Compared with terrestrial communication, satellite communication has its own advantages. For example, satellite communication can provide a wider coverage area, and satellite base stations are not vulnerable to natural disasters or external forces. If satellite communication is introduced into the future 5G communication system, communication services can be provided to some areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial communication networks, such as oceans or forests, the reliability of the 5G communication system can be enhanced, for example, users on airplanes or trains can be ensured to obtain better communication services, and more resources for data transmission can be provided to the 5G communication system due to the increase in network speed. Therefore, supporting both terrestrial communication and satellite communication is the development direction of the future 5G communication system, and has great advantages in terms of wide coverage, reliability, multiple connections, high throughput, etc.

[0004] At present, satellite communication has been introduced into the 3GPP standard and is used as a communication scenario for 5G communication. In this standard, timing technology, synchronization technology, HARQ technology, and other technologies are enhanced to meet the characteristics of large delay and high mobility. However, in existing terrestrial communication, the network side can complete the positioning of the terminal device or complete the verification of the location reported by the terminal device. However, the 3GPP satellite communication system does not have this function. Therefore, how to perform the verification of the location reported by the terminal device by the communication satellite to further position the terminal device will be the direction of future research. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present invention provide a positioning method and a communication apparatus for positioning a terminal device.

[0006] According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a positioning method, the method including: a terminal device determines a first timing advance (TA) between the terminal device and an access network device at a first time point; the terminal device transmits a first parameter corresponding to the first TA to a network device; the terminal device determines a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point; the terminal device transmits a second parameter corresponding to the second TA to the network device, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device.

[0007] In the above embodiment of the present application, the terminal device transmits a first parameter corresponding to a first TA at a first time point and a second parameter corresponding to a second TA at a second time point to a network device, so that the network device or another network device configured to position the terminal device can position the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter. This method can be applied to a satellite communication scenario to solve the problem of positioning a terminal device when the terminal device can only be covered by one satellite. Furthermore, a trigger condition can be set for the terminal device to report the second parameter. In addition, since the accuracy of the TA may be inconsistent with the accuracy of the corresponding parameter, the difference between the corresponding parameter and the TA may be further reported to improve the accuracy of the reported TA.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the difference between the second TA and the first TA is within a preset range. In the above implementation, a corresponding trigger condition is set for the terminal device to report the second parameter, so that the terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter that meet the preset condition, and the network device can determine a more accurate TA difference based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the preset threshold value to improve the positioning accuracy. The trigger condition can be configured by the network device or pre-agreed in the protocol.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the difference between the second TA and the first TA and the difference between the second parameter and the first parameter are within a preset range. In the above implementation, a corresponding trigger condition is also set for the terminal device to report the second parameter, so that the terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter that meet the preset condition, and the network device can determine a more accurate TA difference based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the preset threshold value to improve the positioning accuracy.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the difference between the second time point and the first time point is within a preset range. The difference between the first time point and the second time point is the travel time of the network device (satellite). In general, if the travel time of the network device is within a preset range, the difference between the second TA and the first TA is accordingly within a required difference range, so that the network device or another device can position the terminal device.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the terminal device transmitting the first difference and the second difference to the network device, where the difference between the first difference and the difference between the first parameter and the first TA is within a preset range, and the difference between the second difference and the difference between the second parameter and the second TA is within a preset range, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter, the first difference, the second parameter, and the second difference, or the network device transmitting the first parameter, the first difference, the second parameter, and the second difference to another network device. Alternatively, the terminal device transmits the TA difference to the network device, whereby the difference between the TA difference and the difference between the first TA and the second TA is within a preset range, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the TA difference, or the network device transmits the first parameter, the second difference, and the TA difference to another network device. The terminal device transmits the first difference and the second difference to the network device, so that the network device can determine a more accurate TA and more accurately position the terminal device.

[0012] In a possible implementation, TA is the deviation between uplink and downlink subframes obtained by the terminal device by measuring the uplink and downlink signals. For example, the terminal device measures the time difference between downlink and uplink subframes i and uses the time difference as TA. In another possible implementation, TA is determined by the terminal device based on the location of the network device relative to the terminal device.

[0013] According to a second aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, the method including: a network device receives a first parameter transmitted by a terminal device, the first parameter being a parameter corresponding to a first timing advance (TA) between the terminal device and an access network device at a first time point; the network device receives a second parameter transmitted by the terminal device, the second parameter being a parameter corresponding to a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point; the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device, whereby the other network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the other network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to a network device configured to position the terminal device.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the difference between the second TA and the first TA is a preset threshold.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the difference between the second TA and the first TA and the difference between the second parameter and the first parameter are within a preset range.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the network device receiving the first difference and the second difference transmitted by the terminal device, the difference between the first difference and the difference between the first parameter and the first TA being within a preset range, and the difference between the second difference and the difference between the second parameter and the second TA being within a preset range. The network device positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter includes the network device determining a first TA based on the first difference and the first parameter, the network device determining a second TA based on the second difference and the second parameter, and the network device positioning the terminal device based on the first TA and the second TA. Alternatively, the method further includes the network device transmitting the first difference and the second difference to another network device.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the network device receiving the TA difference transmitted by the terminal device, and a difference between the TA difference and the difference between the first TA and the second TA being within a preset range. The network device positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter includes the network device positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the TA difference. Alternatively, the method further includes the network device transmitting the TA difference to another network device.

[0018] According to a third aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, the method including: a terminal device receiving a first common timing advance (TA) broadcasted by a network device; the terminal device transmitting a first reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA; the terminal device receiving a second common TA broadcasted by the network device; the terminal device transmitting a second reference signal to the network device based on the second common TA, so that the network device positions the terminal device based on an actual reception time of the first reference signal, a time determined based on the first common TA, an actual reception time of the second reference signal, and a time determined based on the second common TA.

[0019] In the above embodiment, the terminal device transmits a reference signal to the network device based on the common TA broadcast by the network device. Since there is a residual TA between the common TA broadcast by the network device and the TA actually required by the terminal device, the network device can determine the difference between the distances from the terminal device to the network device at different times based on the residual TAs at different times, and estimate the location information of the terminal device. This method can be applied to satellite communication scenarios to solve the problem of locating a terminal device when the terminal device can only be covered by one satellite.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the first common TA includes a first feeder TA and a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second feeder TA and a second service link TA, or the first common TA includes a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second service link TA.

[0021] According to a fourth aspect, the present application provides a positioning method. The method includes a network device broadcasting a first common timing advance (TA). The network device receives a first reference signal transmitted by a terminal device based on the first common TA. The network device broadcasts a second common TA. The network device receives a second reference signal transmitted by the terminal device based on the second common TA. The network device positions the terminal device based on an actual reception time of the first reference signal, a time determined based on the first common TA, an actual reception time of the second reference signal, and a time determined based on the second common TA.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the first common TA includes a first feeder TA and a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second feeder TA and a second service link TA, or the first common TA includes a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second service link TA.

[0023] According to a fifth aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, the method including: a terminal device transmitting a first message to a network device through a first beam; the terminal device transmitting a second message to the network device through a second beam, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on a pointing direction of the beam for receiving the first message and a pointing direction of the beam for receiving the second message.

[0024] In the above embodiment, the terminal device transmits a message to the network device through a separate beam, so that the network device determines the direction of the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the beam for receiving. This method can be applied to satellite communication scenarios, especially GEO scenarios, to solve the problem that the terminal device cannot be positioned based on TA due to the satellite being stationary with respect to the earth. Furthermore, separate configuration parameters such as time-frequency resources, scrambling / descrambling schemes, polarization schemes, and common TAs can be configured for the separate beams, so that the network device determines the beam for receiving the message transmitted by the terminal device.

[0025] In possible implementations, the scrambling scheme used by the terminal device on the first beam is different from the scrambling scheme used on the second beam, or the time-frequency resources for transmitting a first message by the terminal device on the first beam are different from the time-frequency resources for transmitting a second message on the second beam, or the polarization scheme used by the terminal device on the first beam is different from the polarization scheme used on the second beam.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the terminal device receiving a first common timing advance (TA) through the first beam, and the terminal device receiving a second common TA through the second beam, the second common TA being different from the first common TA. The terminal device transmitting a first message to the network device through the first beam includes the terminal device transmitting the first message to the network device through the first beam based on the first common TA. The terminal device transmitting a second message to the network device through the second beam includes the terminal device transmitting the second message to the network device through the second beam based on the second common TA.

[0027] According to a sixth aspect, the present application provides a positioning method. The method includes a network device receiving a first message transmitted by a terminal device through a first beam. The network device receives a second message transmitted by the terminal device through a second beam. The network device positions the terminal device based on a pointing direction of the first beam and a pointing direction of the second beam.

[0028] In possible implementations, a descrambling scheme of the network device on a first beam is different from a descrambling scheme on a second beam, or a time-frequency resource for receiving a first message by the network device on a first beam is different from a time-frequency resource for receiving a second message on a second beam, or a polarization scheme used by the network device on a first beam is different from a polarization scheme used on a second beam.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the network device transmitting a first common timing advance (TA) through a first beam, and the network device transmitting a second common TA through a second beam, the second common TA being different from the second common TA. The network device receiving a first message transmitted by the terminal device through the first beam includes the network device receiving the first message transmitted by the terminal device through the first beam based on the first common TA. The network device receiving a second message transmitted by the terminal device through the second beam includes the network device receiving the second message transmitted by the terminal device through the second beam based on the second common TA.

[0030] According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device including a processor, and a memory and a communication interface separately coupled to the processor. The communication interface is configured to communicate with another device. The processor is configured to operate instructions or programs in the memory to perform a positioning method according to the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the third aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect, or the fifth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect through the communication interface.

[0031] According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device including a processor, and a memory and a communication interface separately coupled to the processor. The communication interface is configured to communicate with another device. The processor is configured to operate instructions or programs in the memory to perform a positioning method according to the second aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the fourth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect through the communication interface.

[0032] According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions which, when run on a computer, perform a method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects and possible implementations.

[0033] According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which when run on a computer, performs a method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects and possible implementations. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a UL-TOA algorithm according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a UL-TDOA algorithm according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a UL-AOA algorithm according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4a] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of satellite communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4b] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of satellite communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4c] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of satellite communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6] 2 is a diagram of a TA of a terminal device at different times according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7] 4 is a schematic flowchart of another positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8] 1 is a diagram of transmitting a reference signal by a terminal device at separate times according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the pointing directions of separate beams according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11] 1 is a diagram of a structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] There are several methods for positioning a terminal device in a terrestrial communication network. For example, the terminal device is positioned based on the delay of a reference signal, the delay difference, the reception angle, etc. Some common positioning methods are described individually below.

[0036] - Uplink time of arrival (UL-TOA) method

[0037] Each of the base stations measures the arrival time of the received reference signal transmitted by the terminal device, and calculates the distance between the base station and the terminal device based on the arrival time and the speed of light. Each base station draws a circle by using the base station as the center and the distance between the base station and the terminal device as the radius, as shown in Figure 1. Then, the location of the terminal device is estimated by using a positioning algorithm such as a trilateration algorithm or a least squares algorithm.

[0038] - Uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) method

[0039] The disadvantage of the UL-TOA method is that if the time is not synchronized between the base station and the terminal device, neither the base station nor the terminal device knows the absolute time to transmit the signal, resulting in calculation and positioning errors.

[0040] However, in the UL-TDOA method, the difference between the distances from the terminal device to the two base stations is calculated by measuring the arrival time difference of signals between the terminal device and the two base stations. From a mathematical point of view, the terminal device is located on a hyperbola that uses the two base stations as foci and the difference between the distances from the terminal device to the two base stations as a fixed difference. The locations of the terminal device and the multiple base stations are on a hyperbola that uses the two base stations as foci and the distance difference as a fixed difference. Based on the above principle, multiple hyperbolae can be obtained by using three or more base stations around the terminal device. As shown in Figure 2, the intersection of these hyperbolae can be the location of the terminal device.

[0041] - Uplink angle of arrival (UL-AOA) method

[0042] The base station measures the arrival angles, for example, θ1, -θ2, θ3, and -θ4 in Fig. 3, based on the beam for transmitting the reference signal by the terminal device, and then transmits the arrival angles obtained through the measurement to the network device used for positioning. The network device positions the terminal device based on the location of each base station and the arrival angles obtained through the measurement by the base station.

[0043] - Reference signal received power (RSRP) method

[0044] The power values ​​of the reference signal reflected by the terminal device when received by multiple surrounding base stations are measured. Based on the measured power, the ratio of distances between the terminal device and the multiple base stations can be determined. Then, the terminal device is located based on the location of each base station and the ratio of distances between the terminal device and the multiple base stations.

[0045] However, in a satellite communication scenario, the distance between the terminal device and the satellite is very long, resulting in a large transmission delay. The terminal device compensates for the transmission delay, specifically, determines a timing advance (TA), and performs transmission in advance based on the determined TA. The terminal device may report the determined TA to the satellite. However, the terminal device reports the TA in slot units, which is coarse in granularity, for example, the terminal device reports the TA in slot units, since the actual TA is 5.5 ms, and when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, one slot is 1 ms, in this case, the TA reported by the terminal device is 6 slots. If the terminal device is positioned based on the TA reported by the terminal device and based on the UL-TOA method or the UL-TDOA method, the error is large.

[0046] However, when the UL-AOA method is used for positioning, the base station needs to measure the arrival angle based on the antenna array. Currently, satellites usually use parabolic antennas instead of antenna arrays. Therefore, the UL-AOA method is also not applicable to the positioning of terminal devices in satellite communication scenarios.

[0047] Because the distance between the terminal device and the satellite is very long, the difference between the RSRPs is very small, and the detection ambiguity is high, so the RSRP method is also not applicable to the positioning of the terminal device in the satellite communication scenario.

[0048] In addition, all of the above methods rely on the case where multiple base stations receive the reference signal transmitted by the terminal device for measurement. However, in satellite communication scenarios, the scenario where the terminal device is located in the coverage area of ​​multiple satellites is rare. Therefore, the positioning of the terminal device jointly performed by multiple satellites has great limitations.

[0049] It can be understood that the positioning method of a general terminal device on the ground cannot be directly applied to a satellite communication scenario. In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a positioning method that can be applied to a satellite communication scenario, so as to meet the requirements for positioning a terminal device in a satellite communication scenario.

[0050] Figure 4a, Figure 4b and Figure 4c provide examples of possible application architectures of satellite communication. The positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to any of the network architectures in Figure 4a, Figure 4b and Figure 4c.

[0051] In the architecture shown in Figure 4a, base stations are deployed on the ground, satellites are connected to gateways through air interfaces, and the gateways can be connected to the base stations through wireless or wired links. Terminal devices on the ground access the mobile communication network through air interfaces (which can be various types of air interfaces, e.g., 5G air interfaces), and satellites are used as transmission nodes to transfer information about terminal devices.

[0052] In the architecture shown in Figure 4b, a base station is deployed on a satellite, which is connected to a gateway through an air interface, which may be connected to a core network through a wireless or wired link. A terminal device on the ground communicates with the satellite base station through the air interface to access the mobile communication network. As a base station, the satellite is connected to a gateway through an NG interface of the air interface, which may be connected to a core network through the NG interface. The NG interface may be in wireless or wired form.

[0053] Compared with the architecture shown in Fig. 4b, the architecture shown in Fig. 4c adds a communication scenario between satellite base stations. Specifically, the satellite base stations can communicate with each other through the Xn interface.

[0054] 4a to 4c, the terminal device may include various types of terminal devices that support new radio, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, in-vehicle terminal devices, and wearable terminal devices. The terminal device may access the satellite network through the air interface and initiate services such as calls or Internet access.

[0055] The base station is mainly configured to provide wireless access services, schedule radio resources to accessing terminal devices, provide reliable wireless transmission protocols, data encryption protocols, and so on.

[0056] The core network is mainly configured to provide functions such as user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, and charging. The core network includes multiple functional units, which may be classified into control plane functional entities and data plane functional entities. The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) entity is configured to be responsible for user access management, security authentication, mobility management, etc. The User Plane Function (UPF) entity is configured to be responsible for functions such as managing user plane data transmission and traffic statistics.

[0057] The gateway is primarily responsible for transferring signaling and service data between the satellite and the base station or between the satellite and the core network.

[0058] The air interface refers to the wireless link between the terminal device and the base station.

[0059] The Xn interface indicates an interface between satellite base stations and is primarily used for signaling exchanges such as handovers.

[0060] The NG interface refers to the interface between a base station and a core network, between a gateway and a core network, or between a satellite base station and a gateway (in this case the interface is a radio link), and is mainly used to exchange signaling such as NAS signaling of the core network and user service data.

[0061] 5 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application. The positioning method can be applied to a satellite communication scenario, in particular to a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO) satellite communication scenario or an unmanned aerial vehicle communication scenario. The unmanned aerial vehicle communication scenario is similar to the satellite communication scenario. For ease of description, the following uses the satellite communication scenario as an example for description.

[0062] In the NGEO satellite communication scenario, the distance between the terminal device and the satellite keeps changing because the satellite moves relative to the ground. Because the distance keeps changing, the transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite keeps changing too. The terminal device may adjust the TA as the distance changes to compensate for the transmission delay. The positioning method shown in FIG. 5 is to position the terminal device by using a procedure in which the terminal device reports the TA in the satellite communication scenario.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 5, the positioning method may include the following steps.

[0064] Step 501: The terminal device determines a first TA between the terminal device and an access network device at a first time point.

[0065] When this method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 4a, Figure 4b or Figure 4c, the access network device here may be a satellite as shown in Figure 4b or Figure 4c used as a base station, or a terrestrial base station as shown in Figure 4a.

[0066] In the NGEO scenario, the satellite moves relative to the ground. Therefore, the distance between the terminal device and the satellite may be different at different times. However, the different distances cause different transmission delays of communication between the terminal device and the satellite. The terminal device determines a TA at a first time. To distinguish it from the TA at another time, the TA at the first time is called a first TA.

[0067] The method for determining TA by the terminal device is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. For details, please refer to any existing TA determination method. For example, when a satellite is used as a base station and an uplink synchronization reference point is on the base station, the terminal device determines the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite based on the location of the satellite (which can be obtained through calculation based on ephemeris) and the location of the terminal device (which can be obtained based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS)). When a satellite is used as a transmission node, the base station is on the ground and the uplink synchronization reference point is on the base station. The TA not only includes the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite, but also includes the round-trip transmission delay between the satellite and the terrestrial base station. The transmission delay between the satellite and the terrestrial base station is generally notified to the terminal device by the network device. When a satellite is used as a base station but the synchronization reference point is not on the base station, the TA may include the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite and the round-trip transmission delay between the satellite and the synchronization reference point. The delay between the satellite and the synchronization reference point is typically signaled to the terminal device by the network device (satellite). As another example, the terminal device may measure the time difference between downlink subframe i and uplink subframe i and use that time difference as the TA.

[0068] Step 502: The terminal device sends a first parameter corresponding to a first TA to the network device.

[0069] The network devices here may include, but are not limited to, base stations (gNBs), access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, and location management functions (LMFs) in 5G communication systems, base stations (eNBs), transmission points (TPs), transmission reception points (TRPs), and gateways (GWs) in 4G communication systems.

[0070] When the method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 4a, the network device may be a satellite, a gateway, a base station, or a device in the core network. When the method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 4b or Figure 4c, the network device may be a satellite base station, a gateway, or a device in the core network.

[0071] The terminal device transmits a first parameter corresponding to a first TA to the network device, so that the network device or another device can position the terminal device based on the first parameter. For example, the network device may determine a difference between distances between the terminal device and the access network device at the multiple time points based on the parameters corresponding to the TAs at the multiple time points, and perform positioning based on the distance difference.

[0072] The terminal device may report the first parameter in a number of reporting manners.

[0073] In a possible implementation, the first parameter may be in slot units. Currently, the terminal device usually reports the TA in slot units. In this case, the terminal device determines the quantity of the first slots corresponding to the first TA, that is, the first parameter. It is assumed that the first TA determined by the terminal device is 4.4 ms. When the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, one slot is 1 ms. In this case, 4.4 ms corresponds to 5 slots. In other words, the first parameter is 5 slots. In this manner, when reporting the first parameter corresponding to the first TA, the terminal device may transmit the first parameter based on the existing signaling format, and there is little modification to the existing communication standard.

[0074] In another possible implementation, the first parameter may alternatively be in units of milliseconds, microseconds, etc. If the unit of the first TA determined by the terminal device is the same as the unit of the reported first parameter, for example, if both the first TA and the first parameter are in milliseconds, the determined first parameter is the first TA. The first parameter may alternatively be obtained by rounding the first TA. For example, if the first TA determined by the terminal device is 5.6 ms and 5.6 ms is rounded up to 6 ms, the first parameter is 6 ms.

[0075] Alternatively, the terminal device may determine the first parameter corresponding to the first TA in another pre-agreed manner, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0076] Optionally, when sending the first parameter to the network device, the terminal device may further send display information indicating the first time point to the network device, thereby causing the network device to determine location information of the access network device at the first time point and in a subsequent operation to position the terminal device based on the location information of the access network device at the first time point and the first parameter.

[0077] Step 503: The terminal device determines a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point.

[0078] In the scenario shown in FIG. 4a, FIG. 4b or FIG. 4c, the satellite moves relative to the ground, so the distance between the terminal device and the satellite at the second time point may be different from the distance between the terminal device and the satellite at the first time point, and therefore the TAs are different. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the TA of the terminal device at time point t1 is TA1, the TA at time point t2 is TA2, the TA at time point t3 is TA3, and the TA at time point t4 is TA4. Only the distance between the terminal device and the satellite at the first time point can be determined based on the TA at the first time point, but the location of the terminal device cannot be determined. In this case, the terminal device further needs to determine the TA at the second time point, calculate the distance between the terminal device and the satellite at the second time point, or calculate the difference between the distance at the first time point and the distance at the second time point, in order to determine the location information of the terminal device. For ease of distinction, the TA determined at the second time point is called the second TA.

[0079] The manner in which the terminal device determines the second TA at the second time point is the same as the manner in which the terminal device determines the first TA at the first time point, and the details will not be described again here.

[0080] When the terminal device is in a moving state, if the interval between the first time point and the second time point is large, the movement of the terminal device will result in a large displacement of the terminal device, so it is not appropriate for the interval between the second time point and the first time point to be excessively large. Optionally, the interval between the second time point and the first time point can be set to be within a preset time range to ensure the accuracy of locating the terminal device.

[0081] Step 504: The terminal device sends second parameters corresponding to the second TA to the network device.

[0082] The terminal device transmits a second parameter corresponding to the second TA to the network device, so that the network device or another device can position the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter. For example, the network device may determine a difference between distances between the terminal device and the access network device at the first time point and the second time point based on the first parameter and the second parameter, and perform positioning based on the distance difference.

[0083] The method for determining the second parameter by the terminal device based on the second TA is the same as the method for determining the first parameter based on the first TA. For example, the terminal device determines a first slot corresponding to the first TA in step 502, and determines a second slot corresponding to the second TA in step 504. Alternatively, the terminal device determines a first quantity of milliseconds corresponding to the first TA in step 502, and determines a second quantity of milliseconds corresponding to the second TA in step 504.

[0084] Optionally, when sending the second parameter to the network device, the terminal device may further send indication information indicating the second time point to the network device, so that the network device determines the location information of the satellite at the second time point. Since the satellite moves at a high speed and the location of the satellite at the first time point is different from the location of the satellite at the second time point, the terminal device is positioned based on the location information of the satellite at the second time point and the second parameter in a subsequent operation.

[0085] After the terminal device sends the first parameter and the second parameter to the network device, the network device may perform step 505a, or the network device may perform step 505b. Details are as follows.

[0086] Step 505a: The network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter.

[0087] In this implementation, the network device may position the terminal device.

[0088] For example, the network device may determine a first distance between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point based on the first parameter and the speed of light, and determine a second distance between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point based on the second parameter and the speed of light. The network device draws a circle by using the location of the access network device at the first time point as a center and the first distance as a radius, draws a circle by using the location of the access network device at the second time point as a center and the second distance as a radius, and then estimates the location of the terminal device by using a positioning algorithm such as a trilateration algorithm or a least squares algorithm.

[0089] As another example, the network device may alternatively determine a difference between a distance between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point and a distance between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point based on the first parameter and the second parameter, and then estimate a location of the terminal device based on the location of the access network device at the first time point, the location of the access network device at the second time point, and the distance difference.

[0090] Step 505b: The network device sends the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device.

[0091] In this implementation, the network device does not position the terminal device, but another network device positions the terminal device. For example, if the network device is a satellite shown in FIG. 4a used as a transmission node, the network device does not assume the function of a base station. In this case, the satellite may transmit the received first and second parameters to a terrestrial base station, and the terrestrial base station positions the terminal device based on the first and second parameters. Alternatively, the terrestrial base station may transmit the first and second parameters to a network device used for positioning, for example, an LMF, and the network device used for positioning positions the terminal device based on the first and second parameters. As another example, a satellite is used as a base station, but the base station does not perform an operation of positioning the terminal device, and another network device positions the terminal device. In this case, the satellite may instead transmit the first and second parameters to a network device used for positioning.

[0092] Optionally, when transmitting the first parameter and the second parameter to the other network device, the network device may alternatively transmit location information of the satellite at the first time point and location information of the satellite at the second time point to the other network device, so that the other network device can position the terminal device based on the location of the satellite at the first time point, the first parameter, the location of the satellite at the second time point, and the second parameter. Alternatively, the other network device may obtain the location of the satellite at the first time point and the location of the satellite at the second time point through calculation based on ephemeris.

[0093] As described above, the first parameter and the second parameter may be on a slot basis. In this implementation, transmission is performed based on the existing signaling format, and there is little modification to the existing communication standard. However, the reporting is performed on a slot basis, which is coarse-grained and difficult to accurately represent the corresponding TA. Therefore, in order to improve the positioning accuracy, the following four implementations are provided based on the above-mentioned positioning method, so that the network device obtains more accurate parameters used for positioning.

[0094] Method 1: The difference between the second TA and the first TA can be set to a preset threshold. Specifically, when the terminal device determines that the TA at the current time and the first TA at the first time reach a preset difference, the current time is the second time, and the terminal device sends a second parameter corresponding to the TA at the second time to the network device. It should be understood that it is an ideal case that the difference between the second TA and the first TA is exactly the preset threshold. In the actual operation process, the difference between the second TA and the first TA only needs to be within a preset range.

[0095] In the above manner, a corresponding trigger condition (specifically, the TA at the current time and the first TA at the first time reach a preset difference) is set for the terminal device to report the second parameter, so that the terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter that meet the preset condition, and the network device can determine a more accurate TA difference based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the preset threshold value to improve the positioning accuracy. The trigger condition can be configured on the network side or agreed upon in the protocol.

[0096] For example, the preset range is [0.5-δ, 0.5+δ] or [-0.5-δ, -0.5+δ] (unit: ms), where δ represents an allowable error value, and the subcarrier spacing is assumed to be 15 kHz. If the terminal device determines that the TA at time t1 is 5.6 ms, the terminal device sends indication information indicating 6 slots to the network device. The terminal device continuously updates the TA value. If the terminal device determines that the TA reaches 6.1 ms at time t2, the difference between 6.1 ms and 5.6 ms is within the preset range, so the terminal device sends a second parameter corresponding to the TA at time t2, in other words, indication information indicating 7 slots, to the network device. In this case, the display information received twice by the network device indicates 6 slots and 7 slots respectively, but the network device may determine that the difference between the TAs of the terminal device at time t2 and time t1 is 0.5 ms based on a preset threshold, and position the terminal device based on the exact TA difference, or send the difference between the TAs at time t2 and time t1 to the gateway, or directly forward the information sent by the terminal device to the gateway, whereby the gateway sends the information to a device configured to position the terminal device.

[0097] As another example, it is assumed that the preset threshold is 0.5 ms and the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. If the terminal device determines that the TA at time t1 is 4.4 ms, the terminal device sends indication information indicating 5 slots to the network device. The terminal device continuously updates the TA value. If the terminal device determines that the TA reaches 4.4+0.5=4.9 ms at time t2, the terminal device sends indication information indicating 5 slots to the network device. In this case, although the indication information received twice by the network device indicates 5 slots, the network device determines based on the preset threshold that the difference between the TAs of the terminal device at time t2 and time t1 is 0.5 ms, and positions the terminal device.

[0098] Method 2: The difference between the TA at the current time and the first TA can be called TA difference, and the difference between the parameter corresponding to the TA at the current time and the first parameter is called parameter difference. If the terminal device determines that the difference between the parameter difference and the TA difference at the current time is a preset threshold, the current time is a second time, and the terminal device sends the second parameter corresponding to the TA at the second time to the network device. It should be understood that it is an ideal case that the difference between the parameter difference and the TA difference is just the preset threshold. In the actual operation process, the difference between the parameter difference and the TA difference only needs to be within a preset range.

[0099] In the above scheme, a corresponding trigger condition is also set for the terminal device to report the second parameter (specifically, the difference between the parameter difference at the current time and the TA difference is a preset threshold). However, this trigger condition is different from the trigger condition in scheme 1, so that the terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter that meet the preset condition, and the network device can determine a more accurate TA difference based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the preset threshold to improve the positioning accuracy. The trigger condition can be configured on the network side or agreed upon in the protocol.

[0100] For example, it is assumed that the preset threshold is 1 ms, the preset range is ±0.05 ms, and the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. If the terminal device determines that the TA at time t1 is 4.4 ms and the corresponding first parameter is 5 slots, the terminal device sends indication information indicating 5 slots to the network device. The terminal device continuously updates the TA value. If the terminal device determines that the TA reaches 5.42 ms at time t2, the parameter corresponding to the TA is 6 slots. The TA difference is 5.42-4.4=1.02 ms, the parameter difference is 1 slot, which is equal to 1 ms, and the difference between the TA difference and the parameter difference is 0.02 ms, which is within the preset range. In this case, the terminal device sends indication information indicating the second parameter, in other words, 6 slots, to the network device. In this case, the network device may determine the difference between the TAs at time t2 and time t1 based on the difference between the parameters at time t2 and time t1 to position the terminal device.

[0101] Method 3: The difference between the second time point and the first time point is within a preset range. The difference between the first time point and the second time point is the travel time of the network device (satellite). Generally, if the travel time of the network device is within a preset range, the difference between the second TA and the first TA is accordingly within the required difference range, so that the network device or another device can position the terminal device.

[0102] In the above manner, a corresponding trigger condition (specifically, the difference between the current time point and the first time point is within a preset range) is also set for the terminal device to report the second parameter, so that the terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter that meet the preset condition, and the network device can perform high-precision positioning based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the preset range. The trigger condition can be configured on the network side or agreed upon in the protocol.

[0103] Manner 4: After reporting the first parameter corresponding to the first TA, the terminal device may further transmit a first difference between the first parameter and the first TA to the network device, for example, by using a non-access stratum (NAS) message, whereby the network device transmits the first difference to the network device configured to position the terminal device. After reporting the second parameter corresponding to the second TA, the terminal device may transmit a second difference between the second parameter and the second TA to the network device, for example, by using a NAS message, whereby the network device transmits the second difference to the network device configured to position the terminal device.

[0104] The terminal device reports the first parameter and the second parameter based on existing signaling for reporting TA to the network device. In this manner, regardless of whether the network device in steps 502 and 504 has completed a positioning procedure for the terminal device, the network device can obtain the relevant parameters for positioning the terminal device. However, in consideration of security, a user may expect that a network device with low security will not analyze the relevant parameters. Therefore, the terminal device may separately transmit the first difference and the second difference, which can be used for accurate positioning, so that the network device does not analyze the first difference or the second difference, and directly forwards the first difference and the second difference to the network device used for positioning.

[0105] For example, it is assumed that the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. The terminal device determines that the TA at time t1 is 4.4 ms, the corresponding first parameter is 5 slots, and the first difference is 5-4.4=0.6 ms. After reporting the 5 slots to the network device, the terminal device transmits information about the 0.6 ms difference to the network device by using a NAS message, whereby the network device transmits the information to the LMF. The terminal device determines that the TA at time t2 is 5.6 ms, the corresponding second parameter is 6 slots, and the first difference is 6-5.6=0.4 ms. After reporting the 6 slots to the network device, the terminal device transmits information about the 0.4 ms difference to the network device by using a NAS message, whereby the network device transmits the information to the LMF, whereby the LMF can determine the TA of the terminal device at time t1 and time t2 to position the terminal device.

[0106] Optionally, the terminal device may alternatively transmit the first difference and the second difference to the network device together, and does not need to transmit the first difference and the second difference separately each time after determining the difference.

[0107] It should be understood that in an ideal case, the first difference reported by the terminal device is strictly equal to the difference between the first parameter and the first TA, and the second difference is strictly equal to the difference between the second parameter and the second TA. However, in actual operation, the first difference reported by the terminal device and the actual first difference may be within a preset range. For example, the preset range may be [-0.5, 0.5], (-0.5, 0.5], or [-0.5, 0.5), and may be in ms. The second difference reported by the terminal device and the actual second difference may also be within a preset range. For example, the terminal device determines that the accuracy of the first difference and the second difference may reach 0.01 ms, but the accuracy of the difference is only 0.1 ms when the terminal device transmits information. In this case, the terminal device is not able to transmit the accurate first difference and the accurate second difference to the network device.

[0108] In addition, the terminal device may further report the first parameter and the corresponding first difference to the network device. For example, TA1 determined by the terminal device at time 1 is 6.5 ms, parameter 1 is 7 slots (corresponding to 7 ms), and the first difference is 7-6.5=0.5 ms. In this case, the terminal device may report parameter 1 and the first difference, in other words, 7 slots and 0.5 ms. TA2 determined by the terminal device at time 2 is 6.3 ms, the second parameter is 6 slots (corresponding to 6 ms), and the second difference is -0.3 ms. In this case, the terminal device may report parameter 2 and the second difference, in other words, 6 slots and -0.3 ms.

[0109] Optionally, the terminal device may be configured to report the first parameter and the first difference to the LFM, or may report the first parameter to the network device and the second parameter to the LMF.

[0110] Scheme 5: The terminal device may transmit the difference between the first TA and the second TA to the network device. For example, it is assumed that the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. The terminal device determines that the first TA at time t1 is 4.4 ms and the corresponding first parameter is 5 slots, and determines that the second TA at time t2 is 5.6 ms and the corresponding second parameter is 6 slots. In this case, the difference between the first TA and the second TA is 4.4 ms-5.6 ms=-1.2 ms. In addition to transmitting the first parameter and the second parameter to the network device, the terminal device may further transmit the difference of -1.2 ms between the first TA and the second TA (or the difference of 1.2 ms between the second TA and the first TA) to the network device. The network device can locate the terminal device based on the difference between the TAs at time t2 and time t1.

[0111] It should be understood that in an ideal case, the difference between the first TA and the second TA reported by the terminal device may be exactly equal to the actual TA difference, however, in actual operation, the difference between the TA reported by the terminal device and the actual TA difference only needs to be within a preset range.

[0112] In the methods 1 to 5, the first and second parameters reported by the terminal device are parameters for positioning and need to meet the conditions in the above methods. However, the parameters reported by the terminal device based on existing procedures and used only to determine TA do not need to meet the above conditions. Optionally, in order to distinguish between the parameters reported in this embodiment of the present application used for positioning and the parameters used only to determine TA, when reporting the first and second parameters, the terminal device may include indication information in the transmitted message to indicate that the parameters reported this time are parameters used for positioning.

[0113] In the above embodiment of the present application, the terminal device transmits a first parameter corresponding to a first TA at a first time point and a second parameter corresponding to a second TA at a second time point to a network device, so that the network device or another network device configured to position the terminal device can position the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter. This method can be applied to a satellite communication scenario to solve the problem of positioning a terminal device when the terminal device can only be covered by one satellite. Furthermore, a trigger condition can be set for the terminal device to report the second parameter. In addition, since the accuracy of the TA may be inconsistent with the accuracy of the corresponding parameter, the difference between the corresponding parameter and the TA may be further reported to improve the accuracy of the reported TA.

[0114] In the above embodiment, an example in which the terminal device reports a first parameter at a first time point and a second parameter at a second time point is used for description. During practical application, the terminal device may further report parameters corresponding to more time points to improve the accuracy of locating the terminal device. For example, the network device may locate the terminal device based on the parameters reported by the terminal device at four time points. The manner of determining the third parameter corresponding to the third TA at the third time point and the fourth parameter corresponding to the fourth TA at the fourth time point is the same as the manner of determining the second parameter corresponding to the second TA at the second time point.

[0115] The embodiments of the present application further provide a positioning method for solving the problem of positioning a terminal device in a satellite communication scenario or an unmanned aerial vehicle communication scenario, which is particularly applicable to an NGEO satellite communication scenario.

[0116] A schematic flow chart of the positioning method can be shown in FIG. 7, which includes the following steps:

[0117] Step 701: A network device broadcasts a first common TA at a first time point.

[0118] The network devices here may include, but are not limited to, base stations (gNBs), access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, and location management functions (LMFs) in 5G communication systems, base stations (eNBs), transmission points (TPs), transmission reception points (TRPs), and gateways (GWs) in 4G communication systems.

[0119] When this method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 4a, Figure 4b, or Figure 4c, a satellite (including a satellite used as a satellite base station, or transmission point) may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 7, a gateway may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 7, a terrestrial base station may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 7, or a device in the core network may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 7.

[0120] The network devices may broadcast a common TA to the terminal devices, which may not necessarily meet the requirements of each terminal device for compensation of transmission delay, but may help the terminal devices complete the access procedure.

[0121] Step 702: The terminal device sends a first reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA.

[0122] In this embodiment of the present application, even if the terminal device calculates the TA actually required by the terminal device, during positioning, the terminal device still transmits a reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA broadcast by the network device. If the first common TA is not capable of meeting the requirements of the terminal device for compensation of transmission delay, the time when the first reference signal transmitted by the terminal device based on the first common TA actually arrives at the network device, i.e., the time when the network device receives the first reference signal may be different from the time when the network device expects to receive the first reference signal based on the first common TA, and the difference between these two types of times may be called residual TA. Specifically, the residual TA generated when the reference signal is transmitted based on the first common TA may be called the first residual TA.

[0123] Step 703: The network device broadcasts a second common TA at a second time point.

[0124] In order to facilitate the newly accessing terminal device to complete the access procedure, the network device may frequently broadcast the common TA. The second common TA broadcast by the network device at the second time point may be the same as or different from the first common TA.

[0125] Step 704: The terminal device sends a second reference signal to the network device based on the second common TA.

[0126] As mentioned above, during positioning, the terminal device still transmits a second reference signal to the network device based on the broadcasted second common TA, without considering the TA actually required by the terminal device. Specifically, the time when the second reference signal transmitted by the terminal device based on the second common TA actually arrives at the network device, i.e., the time when the network device receives the second reference signal, may be different from the time when the network device expects to receive the second reference signal based on the second common TA, and the difference between these two types of times is called the second residual TA.

[0127] Step 705: The network device determines a first residual TA based on a time when the first reference signal is received, determines a second residual TA based on a time when the second reference signal is received, and positions the terminal device based on the first residual TA and the second residual TA.

[0128] For example, the network device determines a difference between a distance between the terminal device and the network device at a first time point and a distance between the terminal device and the network device at a second time point based on the first residual TA and the second residual TA, and then estimates a location of the terminal device based on the location of the network device at the first time point, the location of the network device at the second time point, and the distance difference.

[0129] The residual TA determined by the network device may be in slots, ms, or another time unit.

[0130] The common TA broadcast by the network device may be a feeder TA and a service link common TA, or may include only a service link common TA. A feeder link is a communication link between a satellite and a gateway, and a feeder TA is a TA through which the satellite communicates with the gateway. A service link is a communication link between a satellite and a terminal device, and a service link common TA is a TA through which the terminal device communicates with the satellite. If the network device is a satellite base station, the common TA may not include a feeder TA, and the terminal device transmits a reference signal based only on the service link common TA.

[0131] Optionally, the network device may alternatively transmit the first residual TA and the second residual TA to another device that can be used for positioning, whereby the other device positions the terminal device.

[0132] In the above embodiment, the terminal device transmits a reference signal to the network device based on the common TA broadcast by the network device. Since there is a residual TA between the common TA broadcast by the network device and the TA actually required by the terminal device, the network device can determine the difference between the distances from the terminal device to the network device at different times based on the residual TAs at different times, and estimate the location information of the terminal device. This method can be applied to satellite communication scenarios to solve the problem of locating a terminal device when the terminal device can only be covered by one satellite.

[0133] In the above embodiment, an example is used in which the terminal device reports a first reference signal based on a first common TA and reports a second reference signal based on a second common TA. During practical application, the terminal device may further report reference signals based on more common TAs, so that the network device determines more residual TAs to improve the accuracy of positioning the terminal device. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a satellite base station may broadcast a first common TA at time t1, and the terminal transmits SRS1 based on the first common TA, the satellite base station may broadcast a second common TA at time t2, and the terminal transmits SRS2 based on the second common TA, the satellite base station may broadcast a third common TA at time t3, and the terminal transmits SRS3 based on the third common TA, and the satellite base station may broadcast a fourth common TA at time t4, and the terminal transmits SRS4 based on the fourth common TA. In this case, the satellite base station can determine four residual TAs and position the terminal based on the four residual TAs, or transmit the determined residual TAs to a location measurement center, whereby the location measurement center positions the terminal.

[0134] In a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication scenario, since the satellite is stationary with respect to the earth, for a terminal device in a stationary state, the TA does not change, and for a terminal device in a moving state, the change in TA may be too small to trigger a reporting procedure. Therefore, the above-mentioned method for positioning a terminal device based on a parameter corresponding to TA is not applicable to a GEO satellite communication scenario.

[0135] Therefore, an embodiment of the present application further provides a positioning method, which can be applied to a satellite communication scenario, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication scenario, or a NGEO satellite communication scenario, in which a terminal device is positioned based on a pointing direction of a beam.

[0136] When the carrier frequency is high, the radio signal transmitted at the carrier frequency will undergo serious fading in the spatial propagation process, and it is even difficult for the receiving end to detect the radio signal. Therefore, beamforming (BF) technology can be used to obtain a beam with good directivity, increase the power in the transmission direction, and increase the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) at the receiving end. When the transmitting end and the receiving end communicate through a narrow beam, better communication quality can be obtained only when the beams used for transmission and reception are aligned in the direction of direction. Two aligned beams can be called a beam pair. A satellite can communicate with a terminal device in a separate direction through a beam with a separate direction of direction. Or a terminal device can communicate with a transceiver node (such as a satellite) in a separate direction through a beam with a separate direction of direction.

[0137] Based on the aforementioned technology, a schematic flowchart of a positioning method can be shown in FIG. 9, which includes the following steps:

[0138] Step 901a: The terminal device transmits a first message to the network device through a first beam.

[0139] Step 901b: The network device receives a first message through a second beam.

[0140] The network devices here may include, but are not limited to, base stations (gNBs), access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, and location management functions (LMFs) in 5G communication systems, base stations (eNBs), transmission points (TPs), transmission reception points (TRPs), and gateways (GWs) in 4G communication systems.

[0141] When this method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 4a, Figure 4b, or Figure 4c, a satellite (including a satellite used as a satellite base station, or transmission point) may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 9, or another device on the ground may be used as a network device in the method shown in Figure 9. When the network device is a terrestrial device, the satellite reflects information received through a separate beam, so that the network device on the ground receives the information through the separate beam.

[0142] The first beam of the terminal device and the second beam of the network device can form a beam pair. Specifically, the network device can receive a message transmitted by the terminal device through the first beam through the second beam, and the terminal device can receive a message transmitted by the network device through the second beam through the first beam. For ease of distinction, the first beam of the terminal device and the second beam of the network device can be referred to as beam pair 1.

[0143] Step 902a: The terminal device transmits a second message to the network device through a third beam.

[0144] Step 902b: The network device receives a second message through a fourth beam.

[0145] To ensure communication quality, there is an overlap in the spatial ranges covered by beams with separate pointing directions, so that network devices and terminal devices can communicate with each other through beam pair 1 or beam pair 2.

[0146] The third beam of the terminal device and the fourth beam of the network device may form a beam pair. Specifically, the network device may receive a message transmitted by the terminal device through the third beam through the fourth beam, and the terminal device may receive a message transmitted by the network device through the fourth beam through the third beam. For ease of distinction, the third beam of the terminal device and the fourth beam of the network device may be referred to as beam pair 2.

[0147] Step 903: The network device positions the terminal device based on the direction of the second beam and the direction of the fourth beam.

[0148] After receiving the message transmitted by the terminal device through the second beam and the fourth beam, the network device may determine that the terminal device is located in an area covered by both the second beam and the fourth beam, and may position the terminal device.

[0149] In order to help the network device identify the beam through which the received information is received, a separate time-frequency resource may be assigned to the message transmitted through the separate beam pair. Specifically, the network device may assign separate time-frequency resources to the reference signal transmitted through the separate beam pair and inform the terminal device of the assigned time-frequency resource. For example, the beam a of the network device and the beam a' of the terminal device may form the beam pair A, and the beam b of the network device and the beam b' of the terminal device may form the beam pair B. The network device assigns the time-frequency resource 1 to the sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted through the beam pair A, and assigns the time-frequency resource 2 to the SRS transmitted through the beam pair B. In this case, when receiving the SRS, the network device may determine the beam through which the SRS is received based on the time-frequency resource for receiving the SRS.

[0150] Alternatively, the network device may configure separate scrambling / descrambling schemes for information transmitted through separate beam pairs. The network device configures scrambling / descrambling scheme 1 for beam pair 1 and scrambling / descrambling scheme 2 for beam pair 2. In this case, when the terminal device transmits a message to the network device through a beam in beam pair 1, scheme 1 is used for scrambling, and when the terminal device transmits a message to the network device through a beam in beam pair 2, scheme 2 is used for scrambling. When receiving a message, the network device may determine the beam through which the received message is received based on the descrambling scheme.

[0151] Alternatively, separate polarization schemes may be configured for separate beam pairs. For example, the network device and the terminal device may use a vertical polarization scheme for beam pair 1 and a horizontal polarization scheme for beam pair 2.

[0152] Alternatively, the network device may configure separate common TAs for separate beam pairs (these may be feeder TAs and service link common TAs, or only service link common TAs). When sending a message to the network device through a separate beam, the terminal device sends the message based on the common TA corresponding to the beam pair serving the terminal device, thereby generating separate residual TAs for the separate beam pairs. In this case, the network device may determine the beam through which the received message is received based on the separate residual TAs.

[0153] In another possible implementation, after receiving information transmitted by the network device through the second beam, the terminal device may execute step 901a. In this case, the first message transmitted by the terminal device may include an identifier of the second beam or an identifier of beam pair 1. Correspondingly, after receiving information transmitted by the network device through the fourth beam, the terminal device may execute step 902a. In this case, the second message transmitted by the terminal device may include an identifier of the fourth beam or an identifier of beam pair 2.

[0154] In the above embodiment, the terminal device transmits a message to the network device through a separate beam, so that the network device determines the direction of the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the beam for receiving. This method can be applied to satellite communication scenarios, especially GEO scenarios, to solve the problem that the terminal device cannot be positioned based on TA due to the satellite being stationary with respect to the earth. Furthermore, separate configuration parameters such as time-frequency resources, scrambling / descrambling schemes, polarization schemes, and common TAs can be configured for the separate beams, so that the network device determines the beam for receiving the message transmitted by the terminal device.

[0155] In the above embodiment, an example is used in which the network device communicates with the terminal device through two beam pairs. During practical application, more beam pairs may be used to improve the accuracy of locating the terminal device. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the network device configures a common TA1 for the terminal device through beam 1, a common TA2 for the terminal device through beam 2, and a common TA3 for the terminal device through beam 3. Since the terminal device is located in an area jointly covered by the three beams, the terminal device may accordingly transmit a reference signal to the network device through the three beams. In this case, after receiving the reference signals transmitted by the terminal device through beam 1, beam 2, and beam 3 respectively, the network device can determine that the terminal device is located in an area jointly covered by the three beams. In this manner, the terminal device is more accurately located.

[0156] 11 is a diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device includes a processing module 1101 and a transceiver module 1102. The processing module 1101 is configured to perform data processing performed by the communication device. The transceiver module 1102 is configured to perform information receiving and transmitting processing in the above-mentioned method embodiment. It should be understood that the processing module 1101 in this embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or called a processing circuit), and the transceiver module 1102 can be implemented by a receiver, a receiver-related circuit component, a transmitter, or a transmitter-related circuit component.

[0157] For example, the communications apparatus may be a communications apparatus device, or may be a chip used in the communications apparatus device, or another combined device or component having the functionality of the communications apparatus device.

[0158] When the communication apparatus implements the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 as a terminal device, the processing module 1101 is configured to determine a first timing advance (TA) between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point. The transceiver module 1102 is configured to transmit a first parameter corresponding to the first TA to the network device. The processing module 1101 is further configured to determine a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point. The transceiver module 1102 is further configured to transmit a second parameter corresponding to the second TA to the network device, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device.

[0159] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0160] When the communication device implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 as a network device, the transceiver module 1102 receives a first parameter transmitted by the terminal device, the first parameter being a parameter corresponding to a first timing advance TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point, and receives a second parameter transmitted by the terminal device, the second parameter being a parameter corresponding to a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point. The processing module 1101 is configured to position the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1102 transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device, whereby the other network device positions the terminal device based on the first slot and the second slot, or the other network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to a network device configured to position the terminal device.

[0161] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0162] 7 as a terminal device, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive a first common timing advance TA broadcasted by the network device and transmit a first reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA under the control of the processing module 1101. The transceiver module 1102 is further configured to receive a second common TA broadcasted by the network device and transmit a second reference signal to the network device based on the second common TA under the control of the processing module 1101, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the actual reception time of the first reference signal, the time determined based on the first common TA, the actual reception time of the second reference signal, and the time determined based on the second common TA.

[0163] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0164] 7 as a network device, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to broadcast a first common timing advance TA, receive a first reference signal transmitted by a terminal device based on the first common TA, broadcast a second common TA, and receive a second reference signal transmitted by a terminal device based on the second common TA. The processing module 1101 is configured to position the terminal device based on the actual reception time of the first reference signal, the time determined based on the first common TA, the actual reception time of the second reference signal, and the time determined based on the second common TA.

[0165] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0166] When this communication apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 as a terminal device, the transceiver module 1102, under the control of the processing module 1101, transmits a first message to the network device via a first beam and transmits a second message to the network device via a second beam, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the beam for receiving the first message and the pointing direction of the beam for receiving the second message.

[0167] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0168] 9 as a network device, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive a first message transmitted by the terminal device through a first beam and a second message transmitted by the terminal device through a second beam. The processing module 1101 is configured to position the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the first beam and the pointing direction of the second beam.

[0169] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0170] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a processor 1201 and a communication interface 1202 connected to the processor 1201, as shown in FIG.

[0171] The processor 1201 may be a general-purpose processor, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, one or more integrated circuits configured to control program execution of the solutions in the present application, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be performed and completed directly by using a hardware processor, or may be performed and completed by using a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0172] The communication interface 1202 uses any transceiver type device to communicate with another device or a communication network such as a RAN.

[0173] In this embodiment of the application, the processor 1201 is configured to call the communication interface 1202 to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions and to execute the positioning method according to any one of the possible implementations mentioned above.

[0174] Further, the communication device may include a memory 1203 and a communication bus 1204 .

[0175] The memory 1203 is configured to store program instructions and / or data, whereby the processor 1201 calls the instructions and / or data stored in the memory 1203 to perform the aforementioned functions of the processor 1201. The memory 1203 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or any other medium capable of being accessed by a computer that can be used to carry or store expected program code in the form of instructions or data structures. The memory 1203 may exist independently, for example, an off-chip memory, and be connected to the processor 1201 through a communication bus 1204. The memory 1203 may alternatively be integrated with the processor 1201.

[0176] The communication bus 1204 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

[0177] For example, the communication device may be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, or may be a network device in the above method embodiment.

[0178] The processor 1201 is configured to perform data processing operations of the communication device. The communication interface 1202 is configured to perform receiving and transmitting operations of the communication device.

[0179] When this communications apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 as a terminal device, the processor 1201 is configured to execute, through the communications interface 1202, an operation of determining a first timing advance (TA) between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point, an operation of transmitting a first parameter corresponding to the first TA to the network device, an operation of determining a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point, and an operation of transmitting a second parameter corresponding to the second TA to the network device, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device.

[0180] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0181] When the communications apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 as a network device, the processor 1201 is configured to perform, through the communications interface 1202, an operation of receiving a first parameter transmitted by a terminal device, the first parameter being a parameter corresponding to a first timing advance TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a first time point, an operation of receiving a second parameter transmitted by the terminal device, the second parameter being a parameter corresponding to a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time point, and an operation of positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or transmitting the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device, whereby the other network device positions the terminal device based on the first slot and the second slot, or the other network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to a network device configured to position the terminal device.

[0182] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0183] When this communications apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 as a terminal device, the processor 1201 is configured to perform, through the communications interface 1202, operations of receiving a first common timing advance TA broadcasted by the network device, transmitting a first reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA, receiving a second common TA broadcasted by the network device, and transmitting a second reference signal to the network device based on the second common TA, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the actual reception time of the first reference signal, the time determined based on the first common TA, the actual reception time of the second reference signal, and the time determined based on the second common TA.

[0184] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0185] When the communications device implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 as a network device, the processor 1201 is configured to perform, through the communications interface 1202, an operation of broadcasting a first common timing advance TA, an operation of receiving a first reference signal transmitted by a terminal device based on the first common TA, an operation of broadcasting a second common TA, an operation of receiving a second reference signal transmitted by the terminal device based on the second common TA, and an operation of positioning the terminal device based on the actual reception time of the first reference signal, the time determined based on the first common TA, the actual reception time of the second reference signal, and the time determined based on the second common TA.

[0186] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0187] When this communication apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 as a terminal device, the processor 1201 is configured to perform, through the communication interface 1202, an operation of transmitting a first message to the network device through a first beam and an operation of transmitting a second message to the network device through a second beam, whereby the network device positions the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the beam for receiving the first message and the pointing direction of the beam for receiving the second message.

[0188] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0189] When this communication apparatus implements the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 as a network device, the processor 1201 is configured to perform, through the communication interface 1202, an operation of receiving a first message transmitted by the terminal device through a first beam, an operation of receiving a second message transmitted by the terminal device through a second beam, and an operation of positioning the terminal device based on the pointing direction of the first beam and the pointing direction of the second beam.

[0190] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support another process executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 and any implementation of the embodiment. For beneficial effects, please refer to the above description. Details will not be described again here.

[0191] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-readable instructions, which, when run on a computer, executes a positioning method according to any one of the possible implementations described above.

[0192] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which when run on a computer, enables the aforementioned method embodiments to be performed.

[0193] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" describes an association relationship between associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" may indicate three cases: "only A exists", "both A and B exist", and "only B exists". In the present application, "multiple" means two or more.

[0194] In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, terms such as "first", "second", "third", etc. are intended for the purpose of distinction for descriptive purposes only, and should not be understood as an indication or implication of relative importance or an indication or implication of sequence. References to "embodiments", "some embodiments", etc. described herein mean that one or more embodiments of this application include the particular features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments. Thus, statements appearing in various places in this specification, such as "in embodiments", "some embodiments", "some other embodiments", and "other embodiments", do not necessarily mean to refer to the same embodiment. Instead, such statements mean "one or more, but not all, of the embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "comprise", "include", "have", and variations thereof all mean "including, but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0195] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program including instructions for performing the method embodiments described above.

[0196] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which when run on a computer, enables the computer to perform the method embodiments described above.

[0197] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application may use the form of a hardware-only embodiment, a software-only embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. In addition, the present application may use the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer usable storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical memory, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0198] The present application is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that computer program instructions can be used to implement each process and / or each block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of processes and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or another programmable data processing device to produce a machine, whereby the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or another programmable data processing device produce an apparatus for implementing a particular function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0199] These computer program instructions may alternatively be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of instructing a computer or another programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a work product that includes an instruction apparatus that implements a particular function or functions in one or more processes in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0200] These computer program instructions may alternatively be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, whereby a sequence of operations and steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process. Thus, the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing a particular function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0201] Although the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, other changes and modifications to these embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concepts are understood. Therefore, the following claims are intended to be interpreted as covering the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present application.

[0202] It is obvious that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. In this manner, the present application is intended to cover these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application as long as they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalent technologies in the present application.

Claims

1. 1. A positioning method, comprising: determining, by a first communication device, a first timing advance (TA) between said first communication device and an access network device at a first time point; transmitting, by the first communication device, first parameters corresponding to the first TA to a network device; determining, by the first communications device, a second TA between the first communications device and the access network device at a second time; transmitting, by the first communication device, second parameters corresponding to the second TA to the network device, whereby the network device positions the first communication device based on the first parameters and the second parameters, or the network device transmits the first parameters and the second parameters to another network device. A method comprising:

2. a difference between the second TA and the first TA is within a preset range; The method of claim 1.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a difference between the second TA and the first TA and a difference between the second parameter and the first parameter are within a preset range.

4. transmitting, by the first communication device, the first difference and the second difference to the network device, where the difference between the first difference and the difference between the first parameter and the first TA is within a preset range and the difference between the second difference and the difference between the second parameter and the second TA is within the preset range, whereby the network device positions the first communication device based on the first parameter, the first difference, the second parameter, and the second difference, or the network device transmitting the first parameter, the first difference, the second parameter, and the second difference to another network device; or transmitting, by the first communication device, a TA difference to the network device, where a difference between the TA difference and a difference between the first TA and the second TA is within a preset range, whereby the network device positions the first communication device based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the TA difference, or the network device transmits the first parameter, the second parameter, and the TA difference to another network device. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

5. 1. A positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a second communication device, a first parameter transmitted by a terminal device, the first parameter being a parameter corresponding to a first timing advance (TA) between the terminal device and an access network device at a first time point; receiving, by the second communication apparatus, second parameters transmitted by the terminal device, the second parameters being parameters corresponding to a second TA between the terminal device and the access network device at a second time; positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or transmitting the first parameter and the second parameter to another network device, whereby the other network device positions the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter, or the other network device transmits the first parameter and the second parameter to a network device configured to position the terminal device. A method comprising:

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the difference between the second TA and the first TA is a preset threshold.

7. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein a difference between the second TA and the first TA and a difference between the second parameter and the first parameter are within a preset range.

8. The method comprises: receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a first difference and a second difference transmitted by the terminal device, wherein a difference between the first difference and a difference between the first parameter and the first TA is within a preset range, and a difference between the second difference and a difference between the second parameter and the second TA is within the preset range. Further comprising: The step of positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter by the second communication apparatus includes: determining, by the second communication device, the first TA based on the first difference and the first parameter, determining, by the second communication device, the second TA based on the second difference and the second parameter, and positioning, by the second communication device, the terminal device based on the first TA and the second TA. Contains, or The method of claim 5 , further comprising transmitting, by the second communication device, the first difference and the second difference to the other network device.

9. The method comprises: receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a TA difference transmitted by the terminal device, the difference between the TA difference and a difference between the first TA and the second TA being within a preset range; Further comprising: The step of positioning the terminal device based on the first parameter and the second parameter by the second communication apparatus includes: positioning, by the second communication apparatus, the terminal device based on the first parameter, the second parameter, and the TA difference. Contains, or The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step of transmitting, by the second communication device, the TA difference to the other network device.

10. 1. A positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a first communication device, a first common timing advance (TA) broadcast by a network device; transmitting, by the first communication device, a first reference signal to the network device based on the first common TA; receiving, by the first communication device, a second common TA broadcast by the network device; transmitting, by the first communication device, a second reference signal based on the second common TA to the network device, whereby the network device positions the first communication device based on an actual reception time of the first reference signal, a time determined based on the first common TA, an actual reception time of the second reference signal, and a time determined based on the second common TA; A method comprising:

11. The first common TA includes a first feeder TA and a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second feeder TA and a second service link TA; or The method of claim 10 , wherein the first common TA includes a first service link TA and the second common TA includes a second service link TA.

12. 1. A positioning method, comprising: broadcasting, by a second communication device, a first common Timing Advance (TA); receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a first reference signal transmitted by a terminal device based on the first common TA; broadcasting, by the second communication device, a second common TA; receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a second reference signal transmitted by the terminal device based on the second common TA; positioning, by the second communication device, the terminal device based on an actual reception time of the first reference signal, a time determined based on the first common TA, an actual reception time of the second reference signal, and a time determined based on the second common TA; A method comprising:

13. The first common TA includes a first feeder TA and a first service link TA, and the second common TA includes a second feeder TA and a second service link TA; or The method of claim 12 , wherein the first common TA includes a first service link TA and the second common TA includes a second service link TA.

14. 1. A positioning method, comprising: transmitting, by a first communication device, a first message to a network device over a first beam; transmitting a second message to the network device through a second beam by the first communication device, whereby the network device determines the position of the first communication device based on a pointing direction of the first beam for receiving the first message and a pointing direction of a beam for receiving the second message; A method comprising:

15. the scrambling scheme used by the first communication device on the first beam is different from the scrambling scheme used on the second beam; or a time-frequency resource for transmitting the first message by the first communication device on the first beam is different from a time-frequency resource for transmitting the second message on the second beam; or The method of claim 14 , wherein the polarization scheme used by the first communication device on the first beam is different from the polarization scheme used on the second beam.

16. The method comprises: receiving, by the first communication device, a first common timing advance (TA) through the first beam; receiving, by the first communication device, a second common TA through the second beam, the second common TA being different from the first common TA; Further comprising: The step of transmitting a first message by the first communication device to the access network device through the first beam includes: transmitting, by the first communication device, the first message to the access network device through the first beam based on the first common TA; transmitting a second message by the first communication device to the access network device through a second beam, 16. The method of claim 14 or 15, comprising transmitting, by the first communication device, the second message to the access network device through the second beam based on the second common TA.

17. 1. A positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a second communication device, through the first beam, a first message transmitted by the terminal device; receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a second message transmitted by the terminal device through a second beam; positioning the terminal device based on a direction of the first beam and a direction of the second beam by the second communication device; A method comprising:

18. a descrambling scheme of the second communication device on the first beam is different from a descrambling scheme on the second beam; or a time-frequency resource for receiving the first message by the second communication device on the first beam is different from a time-frequency resource for receiving the second message on the second beam; or 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the polarization scheme used by the second communication device on the first beam is different from the polarization scheme used on the second beam.

19. The method comprises: transmitting, by the second communication device, a first common timing advance (TA) through the first beam; transmitting, by the second communication device, a second common TA through the second beam, the second common TA being different from the second common TA; Further comprising: The step of receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a first message transmitted by the terminal device through the first beam, includes: receiving, by the second communication apparatus, the first message transmitted by the terminal device through the first beam based on the first common TA; receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a second message transmitted by the terminal device through a second beam; 19. The method of claim 17 or 18, comprising receiving, by the second communication apparatus, the second message transmitted by the terminal device through the second beam based on the second common TA.

20. A communications device comprising a processor and a memory and a communications interface separately coupled to the processor, the communications interface configured to communicate with another device, and the processor configured to operate instructions or programs in the memory and to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 through the communications interface.

21. 20. A computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.

22. A communication system comprising a terminal device and a network device, the terminal device being configured to execute a method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 10, 11 and 14 to 16, and the network device being configured to execute a method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, 12, 13 and 17 to 19.

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