SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for positioning. A system and method for carrier phase positioning is presented. A wireless communication device may receive configuration information regarding a reference signal for positioning from a wireless communication node. The wireless communication device may measure the reference signal for positioning. The wireless communication device may transmit a report including a measurement result of the reference signal for positioning to a network.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Technical Field FIELD This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including, but not limited to, systems and methods for positioning. [Background technology]

[0002] background The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), a standards organization, is currently specifying a new air interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) and the Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN, or NGC). 5G NR has three main components: 5G Access Network (5G-AN), 5G Core Network (5GC), and User Equipment (UE). To facilitate the enablement of various data services and requirements, the elements of 5GC, also called network functions, are simplified, some of which are software-based and some of which are hardware-based, so that they can be applied as needed. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] overview The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium: A wireless communication device (e.g., UE) may receive configuration information regarding a reference signal for positioning (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS)) from a wireless communication node. The wireless communication device may measure the reference signal for positioning. The wireless communication device may transmit a report to the network including measurement results of the reference signal for positioning. The configuration information may indicate that when the wireless communication device reports its capabilities in a Phase Error Group (PEG), the wireless communication device can be configured to report a corresponding phase error of the PEG.

[0005] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured to report a phase error in the PEG when the wireless communication device reports a carrier phase (CP) measurement in the PEG. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured to report a phase error in the PEG when the wireless communication device reports a carrier phase (CP) measurement in the PEG, where the phase error is estimated in the PEG. The configuration information may indicate that subcarriers in one or more resource blocks (RBs) can be overlapped for signals in two adjacent symbols with different resource element (RE) offsets.

[0006] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may be configured to report a carrier phase (CP) at a nearest subcarrier with a subcarrier ID if there is no frequency center subcarrier or a direct current (DC) subcarrier. When performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device may assume that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device. When performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center. When performing the measuring step, in response to identifying that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device. When performing the measuring step, in response to identifying that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center.

[0007] In some embodiments, a DC position index for CP measurements in a reference signal may be configured by the network. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a reference signal resource characterized by a Comb size, a Comb offset, and a number of repetitions in a slot. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of a reference signal resource and a starting symbol index of a first one of the repetitions. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of a slot of a reference signal resource having different Comb offsets. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a Comb size of 1 (e.g., Comb size is 1; CombSize=1; all subcarriers in a symbol are assigned to the PRS) with repetitions in a slot.

[0008] In some embodiments, when performing the measuring step, the wireless communications device may be configured to measure one or more hops or a combination of one or more hops of the reference signal. The report may further include an indication of a combination of the one or more hops associated with the measurement results. The report may further include an indication of frequency related information associated with the measurement results. The report may further include an indication of resource related information associated with the measurement results. The report may further include measurement results regarding a combination of multiple segments of the reference signal resource. The report may further include measurement results regarding a combination of multiple bandwidths of the reference signal resource. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding any combination of the one or more hops. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding an indicated frequency. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding an indicated bandwidth.

[0009] In some embodiments, in response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, the wireless communications device may be enabled to drop one or more hops of the SRS transmission. The SRS transmission may involve half-duplex hopping for frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) UEs.

[0010] In response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, the wireless communication device may be enabled to continue the SRS transmission even if the corresponding SRS has a lower priority. The SRS transmission may involve half-duplex hopping for a frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) UE. If one hop receiving a reference signal is outside the PPW / MG, the wireless communication device may be enabled to continue receiving one or more other hops of the reference signal. One or more reserved bits in a downlink control information (DCI) received by the wireless communication device may be configured to trigger simultaneous SRS transmission for multiple carriers. A combination of bits in one or more fields in a DCI received by the wireless communication device may indicate simultaneous SRS transmission on multiple carriers.

[0011] In some embodiments, one or more reserved bits in a DCI received by a wireless communication device may be configured to trigger simultaneous reception for reference signals on multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0012] In some embodiments, a combination of bits in one or more fields in the DCI received by the wireless communication device may indicate simultaneous reception of reference signals on multiple positioning frequency layers. As a RedCap UE, the wireless communication device may be enabled to request the number of hops for a PRS transmission. The on-demand PRS transmission procedure allows the LMF to control and determine whether a PRS is transmitted and to change the characteristics of an ongoing PRS transmission. The on-demand PRS transmission procedure may be initiated by the UE or the LMF. The actual PRS change may be requested by the LMF regardless of whether the procedure is UE-initiated or LMF-initiated.

[0013] In some embodiments, the wireless communications device may be enabled as a RedCap UE to request an intra-slot repetition factor of a reference signal. The wireless communications device may be enabled as a RedCap UE to request frequency information of a reference signal.

[0014] In some embodiments, the wireless communications node may receive configuration information from a wireless communications device regarding a reference signal for positioning. The wireless communications node may measure the reference signal for positioning. The wireless communications node may transmit a report to the network including a measurement result of the reference signal for positioning. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a port ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a hopping ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a PEG ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with an SRS resource ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node may be configured to report SRS-related configuration information when the wireless communications node reports CP measurements. The SRS-related configuration information may include at least one of a band, a carrier index, an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), a carrier center frequency, a carrier center frequency of a hop, a start frequency of the hop, an end frequency of the hop, a bandwidth of this carrier, a bandwidth of the hop being measured, and a hopping ID.

[0015] In some embodiments, within an SRS measurement window, the wireless communication node may be configured to process SRS reception only while the wireless communication node drops all other signals or channels. Upon identifying that within an SRS processing window, the time gap between an SRS transmission and a PUSCH / PUCCH / PRACH transmission is less than the duration, the wireless communication node may be configured to continue processing the SRS transmission and drop other signals or channels even if the corresponding SRS has a lower priority. The wireless communication node may be requested by the network to measure CPs at the PEGs in the TEG when the wireless communication node performs timing related measurements. The configuration information may indicate that a symbol with index {{S,S+1,...,S+L-1}+i*L} may be assigned to the PRS, where i is an integer in {0,1,2,...,R-1}, R is the number of repetitions in the slot, L is the number of symbols of the PRS, and S is the starting symbol index. In some embodiments, the measurement may include that when the TRP measures a relative time of arrival (RTOA), the RTOA reference time may include a nominal start time of system frame number 0 provided by a system frame number initialization time of the first hop. The measurement may include that the TRP can be requested on a PRS transmission with positioning frequency layer (PFL) aggregation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below in conjunction with the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and merely illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Thus, the drawings should not be considered as limiting the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0017] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station and a user equipment device according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

[0019] [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] [Figure 4] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment of radio waves having multiple wavelengths, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] [Figure 6] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0023] [Figure 7] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of positioning according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0024] [Figure 8] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Detailed Description 1. Mobile communications technology and environment FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network and / or system 100 in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following description, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100." Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter BS 102, also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter UE 104, also referred to as a wireless communication device), which can communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), as well as a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 overlapping a geographic region 101. In FIG. 1, the BS 102 and the UE 104 are included within the corresponding geographic boundaries of the cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 may include at least one base station operating in its assigned bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users.

[0026] For example, the BS 102 may operate in an assigned channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to the UE 104. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which may include data symbols 122 / 128. In this disclosure, the BS 102 and the UE 104 are generally described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes" capable of practicing the methods disclosed herein. Such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication in accordance with various embodiments of the present solution.

[0027] 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present solution. System 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operational functions that need not be described in detail herein. In one exemplary embodiment, system 200 may be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment, such as wireless communication environment 100 of FIG. 1, as previously described.

[0028] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter "UE 204"). The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled and interconnected with each other as needed via a data communication bus 220. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled and interconnected with each other as needed via a data communication bus 240. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 over a communication channel 250, which may be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for the transmission of data as described herein.

[0029] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, system 200 may further include any number of modules other than those shown in FIG. 2. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the various example blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware, computer readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, the various example components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software may depend on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in an aspect suitable for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0030] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230 including a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each with circuitry coupled to the antenna 232. Alternatively, a duplexing switch (not shown) may couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time-duplexing manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210 including an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each with circuitry coupled to the antenna 212. Alternatively, a downlink duplexing switch may couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time-duplexing manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 at the same time that the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250. Conversely, the operation of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 at the same time that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250. In some embodiments, there is a close time synchronization with a minimum guard time between changes in duplex direction.

[0031] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate over a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna array 212 / 232 capable of supporting a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In an exemplary embodiment, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards, such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard and the emerging 5G standard. However, it is understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to any particular standard and associated protocol. Rather, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variants thereof.

[0032] According to various embodiments, the BS 202 may be, for example, an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station. In some embodiments, the UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user devices, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented or realized with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0033] Furthermore, the steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, firmware, software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processor modules 210 and 230 can read information from and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be incorporated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230. Additionally, memory modules 216 and 234 may each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0034] The network communication module 218 generally represents hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and / or other components of the base station 202 that enable bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 may be configured to support Internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface to enable the base station transceiver 210 to communicate with a conventional Ethernet-based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network, e.g., a Mobile Switching Center (MSC). The terms "configured for," "configured to," and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically configured, programmed, formatted, and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

[0035] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "Open Systems Interconnection Model") is a conceptual and logical layout that defines the network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a conceptual collection of services provided to its upper and lower layers. The OSI model also defines logical networks, which effectively describe computer packet forwarding by using protocols at different layers. The OSI model may be referred to as the seven-layer OSI model or seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be the physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be the medium access control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, the third layer may be the radio link control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, the fourth layer may be the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, the fifth layer may be the radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, the sixth layer may be a non-access stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is some other layer.

[0036] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the present solution. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Furthermore, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is merely an example approach. The specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be rearranged based on design preferences while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or operations in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless otherwise specified.

[0037] 2. SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING The demand for positioning is increasing. For example, in parking lots (especially underground parking lots), it may not be easy to find a car (especially during peak hours). A fifth generation mobile communication system (e.g., 5G, new radio access technology, or 5G-NR) may provide a method for positioning on the radio side (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS from a base station (e.g., gNB)) and / or sounding reference signal (SRS from a user equipment (UE)). However, the positioning accuracy of existing 5G-NR based positioning solutions may not be high enough (e.g., 1 meter or even worse). In some harsh environments (e.g., dense urban areas), the positioning accuracy of existing 5G-NR based positioning solutions may be even worse. In some commercial cases, a positioning accuracy of 0.2 meters may be required. In some cases, the target (e.g., 0.2 meters) of some commercial cases may be difficult to achieve by existing 5G-NR based positioning solutions. The present disclosure relates to improving the positioning accuracy in 5G-NR based positioning.

[0038] The present disclosure relates to wireless communication on how to improve positioning accuracy in 5G-NR based positioning. In the downlink (DL) as shown in FIG. 3, positioning reference signals (PRS) can be transmitted by one or more gNBs. To achieve a "good" positioning accuracy, multiple gNBs (e.g., three base stations) can be involved. The UE may measure at least one PRS. The UE may report the measurement result (one or more) to the network (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) in a Core Network (CN) or a 5G CN (5GC)). The network element may include at least one of a gNB, a CN, or a UE.

[0039] In the uplink (UL) as shown in Figure 4, a sounding reference signal (SRS) may be transmitted by the UE. One or more gNBs (e.g., multiple gNBs) may measure the SRS. One or more gNBs may report the measurement result(s) to the network (e.g., LMF).

[0040] The transmission of PRS and / or SRS for positioning purposes is susceptible to the influence of radio propagation environments (e.g., fading, distortion). This may limit the positioning accuracy. The present disclosure may provide a method for higher positioning accuracy.

[0041] In FIG. 5, radio waves can travel from a transmitter to a receiver with multiple wavelengths. For all wavelengths, the corresponding carrier phase (or the carrier phase difference between the transmitter and receiver) can be 2π (equivalently, 0 phase). For a portion of the wavelengths, the corresponding carrier phase can be a value within (0,2π). If the carrier phase can be measured (and assuming no noise interference and line of sight (LOS) between the transmitter and receiver), the distance (D) between the transmitter and receiver is [ka] Φ may be a fraction of the measured carrier phase (in units of 2π, ranging from 0 to 1.0). N may be an integer part of the measured carrier phase. λ may be the wavelength of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitter. c may be the speed of light. f may be the carrier frequency of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitter.

[0042] In some embodiments, if the UE can measure the carrier phase (e.g., Φ, N, or Φ+N, where N can be searched for with a particular algorithm), the distance between the transmitter and receiver can be determined. In certain embodiments, the carrier phase can refer only to the fractional part (Φ) because the integer N cannot be "measured" directly (e.g., it can be inferred with minimal error).

[0043] Example 1: Carrier Phase Positioning (CPP) Phase Error Group (PEG) In carrier phase positioning (CPP), the measured carrier phase (CP) value may differ from the true CP value, i.e., there may be a (carrier) phase error in the CP measurement. If the (carrier) phase error is within a margin (e.g., 0.1%), the CP measurement may be very reliable.

[0044] A UE (or gNB, or transmit / receive point (TRP)) may be equipped with multiple antennas (including transmit and / or receive antennas). One antenna may have a different phase error than the other antennas. One or more antennas within the phase error margin may be grouped into a phase error group (PEG including transmit PEG (Tx PEG), receive PEG (Rx PEG), receive and transmit PEG (Rx-Tx PEG)).

[0045] All antennas in a PEG may have phase coherency (or phase consistency). For example, the CPs measured by antennas in a PEG may have coherent phase (e.g., these CPs are internally related to some degree). Alternatively, one or more antennas with phase coherency may be grouped into a PEG. Alternatively, the frequency error of the antennas in a PEG may be within a margin (e.g., 0.01 PPM). Alternatively, the timing error of the antennas in a PEG may be within a margin (e.g., 0.1 ns). Alternatively, the frequency error of the PEG may be within a margin. Alternatively, the timing error of the PEG may be within a margin.

[0046] When the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or capabilities in the CPP, or capabilities in the CP, or capabilities in the CP measurements), the UE may report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG (e.g., Rx PEG). Alternatively, when the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or CP), the UE may report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG's antenna.

[0047] When the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or capabilities in the CPP, or capabilities in the CP, or capabilities in the CP measurements), the UE may report the distribution of the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG. Alternatively, when the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or CP), the UE may report the distribution of the phase error (or phase error margin) of the antenna of the PEG.

[0048] When the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or capabilities in the CPP, or capabilities in the CP, or capabilities in the CP measurements), the UE may report the consistency of the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG. Alternatively, when the UE reports its capabilities in the PEG (or CP), the UE may report the consistency of the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG's antenna.

[0049] When the UE reports a CP measurement result on the PEG, the UE may report the phase error (or phase error margin) of this PEG, or when the UE reports a CP measurement result on the PEG, the UE may report the phase error (or phase error margin, or phase error margin value) of the antenna of this PEG.

[0050] When the UE reports a CP measurement result on the PEG, the UE may report a phase error (or a phase error margin) of this PEG, where the phase error (or the phase error margin) is estimated by the UE. Alternatively, when the UE reports a CP measurement result on the PEG, the UE reports a timing error (or a timing error margin) of the PEG. Alternatively, when the UE reports a CP measurement result on the PEG, the UE may report a timing error (or a timing error margin) of the antenna of this PEG.

[0051] When the UE reports CP measurements on a PEG, the UE may report the phase error (or phase error margin) using the PEG ID of the PEG. When the UE reports CP measurements on a PEG, the UE may report the phase difference of this PEG. The LMF may request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the PEG (e.g., Tx PEG or Rx PEG). The LMF may request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the antenna of the PEG.

[0052] A positioning reference unit (PRU, similar to a UE with a known / fixed location) may transmit an SRS. The TRP (or gNB) may then measure the phase error of the PRU's Tx PEG by CP measurements on this SRS if the TRP's (or gNB's) receive phase is calibrated. Alternatively, the LMF may use the CP measurements from the TRP (or gNB) to calculate the phase error of the TRP's (or gNB's) Rx PEG. The LMF may then forward the phase error of the TRP's (or gNB's) Rx PEG to the TRP (or gNB). Alternatively, if the PRU's location is known to the TRP (or gNB), the TRP (or gNB) may calculate the receive phase error of the Rx PEG (TRP, or gNB) if the PRU's transmit phase error is calibrated. Alternatively, the CP measurements (or phase errors) measured by hardware (e.g., phase-locked loop PLL) may be reported. Alternatively, the CP measurements (or phase errors) measured by the panel (or antenna panel, or different panel) can be reported.

[0053] To support phase continuity between two (adjacent) symbols (or two positioning reference signal resources with different resource element offsets or Comb offsets), some resource elements (REs) or subcarriers in some resource blocks (RBs) may be overlapped in frequency (or with the same subcarriers, or with the same subcarrier index). Alternatively, muting for this / these RBs / REs / subcarriers between gNBs (or TRPs) may be applied.

[0054] During UE (or gNB, or TRP) capability reporting, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report its PEG (including Tx, Rx, Rx-Tx PEG) related information. Alternatively, the PEG related information may include the number of PEGs, the configuration of the PEG (e.g., the number of antennas), the phase error with granularity (e.g., 0.1 degree, or 0.01 of 2π, or 0.001 Rad), and the phase error margin with granularity (e.g., 0.1 degree, or 0.01 of 2π, or 0.001 Rad). Alternatively, the UE may report multiple CP measurements (or differential CP measurements, e.g., 8 measurements) associated with different DL PRS resources per UE Rx PEG per TRP (with PRS ID). Alternatively, the UE may measure / report CP measurements (or differential CP measurements) on PRS resources associated with the TRP (with PRS ID) using multiple different UE Rx PEGs (e.g., 8 Rx PEGs) with the same PRS reference information. Alternatively, when the UE reports CP measurements on a PEG (or PEG ID), the UE may report the relationship to a timing error group (TEG). For example, PEG 1 may be mapped to TEG 2 in CP measurements. Alternatively, the PEG may be a subset of the TEG (e.g., a TEG has two PEGs). Alternatively, the number of PEGs (e.g., 2 PEGs) may be less than or equal to the number of TEGs (e.g., 4 TEGs). Alternatively, the antennas (e.g., antenna #1, antenna #2) in the PEG may be a subset of the antennas (e.g., antenna #1, antenna #2, antenna #3, antenna #4) in the TEG. Alternatively, the antenna ports (e.g., port #0, port #1) of the PEG may be a subset of the antenna ports (e.g., port #0, port #1, port #2, port #3) of the TEG. Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may be requested by the network (e.g., LMF) to measure CP on the PEGs in the TEG.Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may be requested by the network to measure CPs on PEGs in a TEG when the UE (or gNB, or TRP) performs timing-related measurements (e.g., time difference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD)). Alternatively, the TEG may be a subset of PEGs. Alternatively, the number of TEGs (e.g., 2 TEGs) may be less than or equal to the number of PEGs (e.g., 4 PEGs). Alternatively, the antennas (e.g., antenna #1, antenna #2) of the TEG may be a subset of the antennas (e.g., antenna #1, antenna #2, antenna #3, antenna #4) of the PEG. Alternatively, the antenna ports (e.g., port #0, port #1) of the TEG may be a subset of the antenna ports (e.g., port #0, port #1, port #2, port #3) of the PEG.

[0055] For some PRS / SRS resources such as in FIG. 6, there may be no frequency center subcarrier or direct current (DC) subcarrier (e.g., there is no subcarrier with k=0 as the resource on symbol #1 with black block ■). Under this situation, the UE can measure / report CP on the nearest subcarrier with subcarrier ID. Or, if the PRS / SRS was not configured on the subcarrier with k=0, the UE can measure / report CP on the nearest subcarrier with subcarrier ID. Or, the UE can measure CP on the subcarrier with k≠0 and infer / report CP value on the subcarrier with k=0. Or, in symbol ID=0,1,2,...,CombSize-1, the UE can measure / report CP on the subcarrier whose subcarrier index is the symbol ID. Or, the LMF can configure which subcarriers can be measured / reported. Or, the reference point for CP measurement can be the antenna connector of the UE (or TRP). Alternatively, the UE (or TRP) may infer the CP value by assuming that the reference point of the CP measurement is the antenna phase center (e.g., according to the distance difference between the antenna connector and the antenna phase center). Alternatively, if the reference point of the CP measurement is the antenna connector of the UE (or TRP), the UE (or TRP) may infer the CP value by assuming that the reference point of the CP measurement is the antenna phase center of the UE (or TRP). Alternatively, if the reference point of the CP measurement is the antenna phase center, the UE (or TRP) may infer the CP value by assuming that the reference point of the CP measurement is the antenna connector of the UE (or TRP). Alternatively, the reference point of the CP measurement may be configured by the network (e.g., LMF). Alternatively, when the UE (or gNB, or TRP) measures the CP, the reference point of the CP measurement may be the same as the reference point of the timing-based positioning (e.g., time difference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), or the antenna connector of the UE, gNB, or TRP). Alternatively, the phase error may be signaled by the network (eg, the LMF) to the UE (or the TRP).Alternatively, the network (e.g., LMF) can configure whether the original CP value or the differential CP value is reported. Alternatively, for the reference TRP / reference PRS resource / reference (sub)carrier / reference segment, the original CP value can be reported. Alternatively, for the non-reference TRP / non-reference PRS resource / non-reference (sub)carrier / non-reference segment, the differential CP value (relative to the reference TRP) can be reported. Alternatively, a phase continuity indicator can be present when the UE reports the CP measurement. For example, in slots #1 and #2, the UE may measure the CP twice to find the phase discontinuity, and then the UE may report the CP with a phase continuity indicator (e.g., one bit "1" in this case).

[0056] For sidelink positioning, the DC position (or DC subcarrier) index for CP measurement on the sidelink PRS may be configured by the network (e.g., gNB / TRP / LMF) or other UEs. Alternatively, the last RB of the sidelink resource pool for positioning may be occupied by the sidelink PRS. Alternatively, the flex symbol (F) on the downlink / uplink may be occupied by the sidelink PRS. Alternatively, for sidelink positioning, for a certain Comb size (e.g., 4), only Comb / 2 (e.g., 4 / 2=2) UEs may multiplex on the symbol (or resource). Thereby, inter-subcarrier interference can be avoided. Alternatively, for sidelink positioning, the node ID (or UE ID, e.g., 16 bits) is accompanied by the gNB ID (or TRP ID, e.g., 10 bits). The ID may be used to generate a sequence of sidelink PRS. Alternatively, for sidelink positioning, for sidelink resource allocation scheme 2 (e.g., resource allocation by UE), if both random resource selection and sensing-based resource allocation are configured, sensing-based resource allocation may be selected first. Alternatively, the code domain power of the sidelink PRS may be measured for sensing-based resource allocation, where the reference point for sensing is the UE antenna connector.

[0057] In this way, the position calculation end (e.g., LMF) can select the appropriate antenna / PEG for CP measurement / reporting, thus minimizing the phase error and improving the positioning performance.

[0058] Example 2: UL Positioning using Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) for Carrier Phase Positioning (CPP) The UE (or gNB, or TRP) may be equipped with multiple antennas (including transmit and receive antennas). These antennas may form a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. The UE may transmit the SRS using a MIMO scheme (e.g., MIMO SRS).

[0059] A channel / signal (e.g., SRS) transmission using MIMO may have a port (or antenna port with a port ID, e.g., port ID 6000) on which the channel / signal may be transmitted using beamforming. A MIMO port may have one or more antennas. Different MIMO SRS ports may have different (carrier) phase errors (or phase error margins). When the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB may measure / report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the MIMO SRS port. When the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB may measure / report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the MIMO SRS resource port. Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB may measure / report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the MIMO SRS port applied by the UE for MIMO SRS transmission. Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB (or TRP) may measure / report a phase error (or phase error margin) of a MIMO SRS port with a port ID. Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB (or TRP) may measure / report a phase error (or phase error margin) of a MIMO SRS port with an SRS resource (set) ID. Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports a CP measurement result, the gNB (or TRP) may measure / report a phase error (or phase error margin) of a MIMO SRS port with a hopping ID (HopID, if the SRS is transmitted with frequency hopping). Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports CP measurement results, the gNB (or TRP) may measure / report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the MIMO SRS port with the PEG ID (including Tx PEG ID, Rx PEG ID, Rx-Tx PEG ID). Alternatively, when the gNB (or TRP) measures / reports CP measurement results, the gNB (or TRP) may measure / report the phase error (or phase error margin) of the MIMO SRS port with the SRS resource (set) ID.Alternatively, the SRS resource may be mapped to one MIMO SRS port, or the SRS resource in the SRS resource set may be mapped to one MIMO SRS port.

[0060] In the case of MIMO SRS transmission with hopping, the carrier center frequency of the hop (or transmission with hopping) may be different from the carrier center frequency of the carrier of the SRS (or SRS resource). Thus, when the gNB (or TRP) reports CP measurements on the MIMO SRS (resource), the gNB (or TRP) may report SRS-related (configuration) information. Alternatively, the SRS-related (configuration) information may include at least one of the following: band, carrier index, absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), carrier center frequency, carrier center frequency of the hop, start frequency (of the hop / this hop), end frequency (of the hop / this hop), bandwidth of this carrier, bandwidth of this hop (being measured), hopping ID (or HopID).

[0061] In this way, the position calculation end (e.g., LMF) can select the appropriate antenna / MIMO SRS port for CP measurement / reporting, thus minimizing the phase error and improving the positioning performance.

[0062] Example 3: Intra-slot Rx hopping of PRS for RedCap UE For a reduced capability (RedCap) UE, the UE can only transmit / receive limited bandwidth (e.g., only 20 MHz in frequency range 1, FR 1). There may be no restriction on the gNB (or TRP) where the gNB (or TRP) can transmit a wide bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz in a carrier in FR 1).

[0063] The UE may be configured with PRS resources with repetition within a slot. Alternatively, the UE may be configured with PRS resources with comb size, comb offset (RE offset, within symbols), and number of repetitions within a slot. For example, the PRS resources may be with comb size 2 and 6 repetitions within a slot (2x6=12 symbols total, symbols #2-#13, repetition within slot) as in FIG. 7.

[0064] Alternatively, if the number of symbols in the PRS (resource) is L, the starting symbol index can be S and the number of repetitions in a slot (note: a repetition involves L symbols) can be R. Symbols with indices {{S,S+1,...,S+L-1}+i*L} can be assigned to the PRS, where i can be an integer in {0,1,2,...,R-1}. Alternatively, symbols with indices {S+i*L,S+i*L+1,...,S+i*L+L-1} can be assigned to the PRS. For example, if S=2, L=2, R=6, symbols with indices {{2,3}, {4,5}, {6,7}, {8,9}, {10,11}, {12,13}} can be assigned to the PRS (e.g., symbols #2-13). Alternatively, the number of repetitions R can be within a combination of multiple slots. For example, if there are 12 symbols in a slot, there can be 24 symbols in a combination of two slots. If S=2, L=4, R=4, symbols with indices {{2,3,4,5}, {6,7,8,9}, {10,11,12,13}, {14,15,16,17}} can be assigned to the PRS (Note: {14,15,16,17} can be on the second slot. The actual symbol ID can be {14,15,16,17}-14+S={2,3,4,5}, where "14" can be the number of symbols in the slot). Alternatively, in this case, the PRS (resource) can start on an even slot (e.g., the modulus of 2 in the slot ID can be 0). Alternatively, in frequency, this PRS resource can be configured outside the bandwidth portion (BWP) of this UE as in FIG. 7.

[0065] In this example, a Comb offset of 0 (i.e., RE offset 0) in symbols #2, 4, 6, 8, 10 can be assigned to the UE, while symbols #3, 5, 7, 11 serve as guard symbols (or gaps, or radio frequency, RF retuning times) for the UE. It should be noted that symbols #3, 5, 7, 11 can be assigned to other UEs while symbols #2, 4, 6, 8, 10 serve as guard symbols. In addition, a repetition offset (from 0 to repetition number minus 1) can be indicated to the UE.

[0066] In this example, the gNB (or TRP) may transmit the entire large bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz) in all repetitions of the PRS, but the UE receives only a subset of the repetitions of the PRS (e.g., symbols #2, 4, 6, 8, 10) with different frequency portions of the repetitions (e.g., 20 MHz each, with overlapping RBs between two adjacent repetitions or two adjacent hops). In this example, only one repetition (or transmission, or hop) of the PRS may be within the BWP of the UE, while the other is outside of the BWP. Alternatively, the UE may be configured with the number of repetitions of the PRS resource and the starting symbol index of the first repetition (or first transmission). Alternatively, the UE may be configured with the number of repetitions of the slots (e.g., equal to the comb size) of the PRS resource. Alternatively, the UE may be configured with the number of repetitions of the slots (e.g., equal to the comb size) of the PRS resource with different comb offsets (or RE offsets, or symbol offsets, e.g., in the case of RE offset + slot index, a modular value of the number of repetitions of the slots is used). Alternatively, the UE may be configured with Comb size 1 (e.g., all RE / subcarriers in a symbol are occupied) with repetition within a slot (i.e., intra-slot repetition). The number of repetitions may be configurable (e.g., 12 repetitions from symbols #2 to #13). Alternatively, the UE may be configured with Comb size 12 (e.g., 1 RE / subcarrier in an RB is occupied) with one symbol with RE offset and repetition within a slot (e.g., intra-slot repetition, such as 12 repetitions). At the same time, the UE may be configured with the number of repetitions of a slot (e.g., 4-slot repetition). Alternatively, the RE offset in each repetition may not be configurable and may be inferred from the symbol index and repetition number for all repetitions of intra-slot repetition and inter-slot repetition. For example, if the intra-slot repetition (M) is 12 and the inter-slot repetition (P) is 0, the PRS may start from Symbol ID 2, which is the number of symbols available for the PRS (W=12), in which case the RE offset may be (M+W*P-SymbolID) mod CombSize=(12+12*0-2) mod 12=10.Alternatively, the RE offset can be fixed at some value (eg, 0) that is useful for CP measurements.

[0067] In some embodiments, some subcarriers may be received again between adjacent receptions (e.g., with overlapping subcarriers in each reception), each for each repetition with a different RE offset among them. Alternatively, the UE may report its capability with a switching time between hops. Alternatively, if the UE supports a short switching time (e.g., one symbol, two symbols), intra-slot frequency hopping and a small Comb size may be configured with repetitions (e.g., 5, 6, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27 repetitions) (e.g., Comb=2). Alternatively, the UE may report its capability with PRS data buffering. For example, the UE may report that it can buffer 100 MHz data of the PRS. Alternatively, this capability for PRS data buffering may be related to data channel processing. For example, if the UE supports 8 Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes, where each HARQ process can have 20 MHz data of the data channel, the UE can process 8*20 MHz=160 MHz data of the PRS.

[0068] Alternatively, if the gNB (or TRP) measures the relative time of arrival (RTOA) of the SRS from the UE, the UL RTOA reference time may include T0. T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the system frame number (SFN) initialization time of the first hop for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the system frame number (SFN) initialization time of the last hop for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the system frame number (SFN) initialization time of the last hop of the SRS for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the system frame number (SFN) initialization time of the last hop of the SRS resource for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the SFN initialization time of the first SRS resource for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the SFN initialization time of the first SRS resource for hopping for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the SFN initialization time of the first segment of SRS resource for the RedCap UE. Alternatively, T0 may be the nominal start time of SFN 0 provided by the SFN initialization time of the first segment of SRS resource with hopping for the RedCap UE.

[0069] In this method, a RedCap UE may receive a partial bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) of a repetition (e.g., 100 MHz) of a PRS. The UE may then concatenate each reception together to form a larger bandwidth. The UE may then measure the concatenated PRS. A concatenated bandwidth larger than the limited bandwidth (20 MHz) may improve positioning performance for the RedCap UE (e.g., the larger the bandwidth, the higher the positioning accuracy).

[0070] Example 4: (RedCap UE) Hopping in RRC_INACTIVE For a RedCap UE, before entering the Radio Resource Control (RRC) Inactive state (RRC_Inactive) from the RRC_Connected state, the UE may be configured with PRS / SRS hopping related information (e.g., via RRC release signaling, system information broadcast (SIB)).

[0071] Alternatively, the hopping order (or hopping sequence, e.g., which frequencies may be performed for hopping, which HoppingID / HopID may be indicated in order) may be included in the RRC signaling / SIB. Alternatively, the frequency resource related information (e.g., starting RB number, e.g., starting RB number may involve mod(#RB, 4)==0, where mod() is a modular operation, and may also involve RB length, end of RB, RB allocation granularity, e.g., granularity of 4 RB, number of overlapping RBs) may be included in the RRC signaling / SIB. Alternatively, the frequency resource related information of each hop may be included in the RRC signaling / SIB. Alternatively, the time resource related information of each hop (e.g., periodicity, slot, slot offset, and / or repetition) may be included in the RRC signaling / SIB. Alternatively, the PRS / SRS resource (set) related information per hop may be included in the RRC signaling / SIB. Alternatively, the PRS / SRS power control (or power allocation) related information for each hop can be included in the RRC signaling / SIB, or a constant energy per RE (EPRE) for the PRS / SRS for each hop can be allocated in the RRC signaling / SIB.

[0072] Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may measure one or more hops or combinations of hops or hop combinations of the PRS (or SRS). For example, the UE may measure hop combinations of {{1}, {1,2}, {1,2,3}, {1,2,3,4}, {1,2,3,4,5}}, where the number in brackets may be a hop ID (e.g., two numbers (e.g., {1,2}) for a combination of two hops, three numbers (e.g., {1,2,3}) for a combination of three hops). Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report measurements with an indication of the hop combination. For example, the UE may report measurement results for hop combinations of {{1}, {1,2}, {1,2,3}, {1,2,3,4}, {1,2,3,4,5}}, where {1} may represent that the measurement results are for hop ID #1 and {1,2} may represent that the measurement results are for the combination of hop IDs #1 and #2. Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report measurement results with an indication of frequency-related information (e.g., start frequency of the measurement, end frequency, and / or bandwidth of the measurement). Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report measurement results with an indication of resource-related information (e.g., PRS / SRS resource, PRS / SRS resource set). For example, the UE may report measurement results for the combination of PRS resource 1, PRS resource 2, and PRS resource 3. Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report measurement results for a combination of multiple segments (or multiple hops) of PRS / SRS resources (e.g., for a combination of segments {1,2,3} of wide bandwidth, e.g., 100 MHz). Alternatively, the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may report measurement results for a combination of multiple bandwidths of PRS / SRS resources (e.g., for a combination of bandwidths 20 MHz, 20 MHz, 20 MHz; e.g., equivalent to 60 MHz). Alternatively, the location calculation end (e.g., LMF) may request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report measurement results for any combination of hops. For example, the LMF may request the UE to report measurement results for the combination of hops {1,2,3}.

[0073] In some embodiments, the location calculation end (e.g., LMF) can request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report measurement results for an indicated frequency (e.g., from start frequency to end frequency, e.g., 2000 MHz to 2100 MHz, which can be represented by ARFCN). Alternatively, the location calculation end (e.g., LMF) can request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report measurement results for an indicated bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz, 20 MHz, 20 MHz). Alternatively, the location calculation end (e.g., LMF) can request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report measurement results for an indicated total bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz, which can be represented by the number of RBs in a subcarrier spacing (SCS)). Alternatively, the location calculation end (e.g., LMF) can request the UE (or gNB, or TRP) to report measurement results for any combination of PRS / SRS resources (e.g., for a combination of SRS resource 1, SRS resource 2, and SRS resource 3).

[0074] A RedCap UE can receive / transmit PRS / SRS outside its supported / configured BWP (e.g., outside a BWP of 20 MHz). For example, for SCS=30 kHz, there may be a total of 51 RBs, but a RedCap UE may receive 52 (or 56) RBs of PRS (with overlapping RBs for phase tracking between hops) for one hop. In another example, a RedCap UE may transmit 52 (or 56) RBs of SRS (with overlapping RBs for phase tracking between hops, in case of gNB / TRP) for one hop. Alternatively, a PRS / SRS-specific BWP may be configured for a UE that includes only PRS / SRS and no other signals / channels. Alternatively, signals in a PRS / SRS-specific BWP may be quasi-co-located (QCL) with a synchronization signal block (SSB). Alternatively, the number of PRS / SRS-specific BWPs (e.g., 20 BWPs, 32 BWPs) may be configured by the network (e.g., LMF). Alternatively, there may be multiple activated PRS / SRS-specific BWPs (e.g., 5 active BWPs). Alternatively, the switching order of the PRS / SRS-specific BWPs may be configured by the network (e.g., LMF). Alternatively, the PRS / SRS-specific BWPs may be configured within the PRS / SRS resources (including the start frequency and / or end frequency).

[0075] Alternatively, there may be a virtual wide bandwidth that includes multiple RB sets. Alternatively, a hop may be performed between two adjacent frequency RB sets. Alternatively, there may be PRS / SRS resources on the RB set. Alternatively, PRS / SRS resources may be configured on all RB sets. Alternatively, the number of hops may be configured by the network (e.g., LMF), and the virtual wide bandwidth is divided equally between hops / RB sets. Alternatively, the RB sets may be configured by the network (e.g., LMF).

[0076] In this method, a RedCap UE may receive a partial bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) of a repetition (e.g., 100 MHz) of a PRS. The UE may then concatenate each reception together to form a larger bandwidth. The UE may then measure the concatenated PRS. A concatenated bandwidth larger than the limited bandwidth (20 MHz) may improve positioning performance for the RedCap UE (e.g., a larger bandwidth may provide higher positioning accuracy).

[0077] Example 5: Priority Process for Hopping of RedCap UE For PRS measurements, the UE may be configured with a measurement gap (MG, eg, a certain period of time) or a PRS processing window (PPW, eg, a certain period of time).

[0078] For RedCap UEs with PRS reception hopping, if the duration of all hops is short (e.g., 2 slots), one MG instance (or PPW instance) may be sufficient. If the duration of all hops is long (e.g., 10 slots), multiple MG instances (or PPW instances) can be configured (but the number of instances can be limited, e.g., to a maximum of 2 instances to reduce signaling overhead). Alternatively, there may be a time overlap between two instances of MG / PPW.

[0079] In the case of PRS reception hopping, some PRS receptions may have collisions with other higher priority signals / channels. For example, in the case of PRS reception with PPW, the PRS may collide with a synchronization signal block (SSB) with higher priority. In this situation, one or more hops of the PRS reception may be dropped (e.g., the last two hops of five hops are dropped).

[0080] For SRS transmission with half-duplex hopping for frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) UEs, the SRS transmission may have collisions with the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) / physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) / other downlink signals / channels. In such cases, one or more hops of the SRS transmission may be dropped (e.g., the last 3 hops of 5 hops are dropped) even if the SRS transmission has a higher priority. Alternatively, for SRS transmission from HD-FDD UEs (e.g., periodic, semi-periodic, or aperiodic transmissions), at least N (e.g., N=6) symbols may be required between the PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH and the SRS transmission. If not (e.g., small N, e.g., N<6), the SRS transmission may continue even if the SRS has a lower priority. Alternatively, if not (e.g., small N, e.g., N<6), the SRS transmission may continue while the PDSCH is dropped even if the PDSCH has a higher priority.

[0081] Alternatively, if there is a collision between the SRS transmission and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) / physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the SRS transmission may be dropped if it had a lower priority. Alternatively, if there is a collision between the SRS transmission and the PUSCH / PUCCH, the SRS transmission may be dropped even if it had a higher priority. Alternatively, if the (one hop) PRS reception was outside the PPW / MG, the UE may continue to receive this (hop) PRS. Alternatively, if the last hop of the PRS reception was outside the PPW / MG, the UE may receive this hop of the PRS.

[0082] Alternatively, in the uplink (or downlink) or sidelink, there may be an SRS transmission window (e.g., 10 slots) where there is only SRS transmission while there are no other signals / channels. Alternatively, in the uplink, an SRS measurement window (i.e., a period of time) may be configured for the gNB (or TRP) by the network (e.g., LMF). Within this window, the gNB (or TRP) may only process SRS reception. Alternatively, within this window, the gNB (or TRP) may only process SRS for positioning while it drops all other signals / channels. Alternatively, in the uplink, an SRS processing window (i.e., a period of time) with signal / channel priority may be configured for the gNB (or TRP). Within this window, the gNB (or TRP) may process SRS reception according to the signal / channel priority. For example, if the SRS has a higher priority than other signals / channels, this SRS reception may be processed. In another example, if the SRS has a lower priority than one signal / channel, this SRS reception may be dropped. Alternatively, if the time gap between the SRS transmission and the scheduled (or configured) PUSCH / PUCCH / Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission is less than a certain time (e.g., one slot, e.g., seven symbols), the SRS transmission may be processed. Alternatively, if the time gap between the SRS transmission and the scheduled (or configured) PUSCH / PUCCH / PRACH transmission is less than a certain time (e.g., one symbol), the SRS transmission may be processed while other signals / channels may be dropped. Alternatively, if the time gap between the SRS transmission and the scheduled (or configured) PUSCH / PUCCH / PRACH transmission is less than a certain time (e.g., two symbols), the SRS transmission may be processed while other signals / channels may be dropped, even if the SRS has a lower priority than the other signals / channels.

[0083] In this way, PRS / SRS transmission can be secured, and thus the positioning performance can be maintained or improved.

[0084] Example 6: Positioning under Carrier Aggregation (CA) Downlink control information (DCI) in the PDCCH may be used to trigger one SRS transmission for uplink channel estimation. Alternatively, the DCI may be used to trigger SRS transmission for positioning measurements on multiple cells (or carriers, or frequency layers). Alternatively, one or more reserved bits in the DCI may be used to trigger simultaneous SRS transmission (e.g., carrier aggregation, CA) for positioning measurements on multiple carriers. For example, three reserved bits (first or last) may be used to indicate which carriers may have (simultaneous) SRS transmission (e.g., value "1" represents SRS transmission; e.g., the first, second, and third bits are for the first, second, and third carriers). In another example, the first two reserved bits are used to indicate which carrier cab has SRS transmission (e.g., a code point, e.g., decimal value of the bit, e.g., "00" for no trigger, "01" for first and second carriers can have simultaneous SRS transmission / CA, "10" for second and third carriers can have simultaneous SRS transmission / CA, "11" for first, second and third carriers can have simultaneous SRS transmission / CA. The decimal values ​​"00", "01", "10", and "11" can be 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively).

[0085] Alternatively, a bit combination in one or more fields in the DCI may indicate (simultaneous) SRS transmission. For example, for the Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field, if FDRA is all 0 bits, SRS transmission on all carriers may be simultaneous (e.g., CA). As another example, if FDRA is all 0 bits, the first three bits of the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field may indicate which SRS transmissions on carriers are simultaneous (or which SRS resources / SRS resource sets are transmitted simultaneously on carriers).

[0086] Alternatively, one or more reserved bits in the DCI may be used to trigger simultaneous PRS transmission on multiple carriers (e.g., CA of PRS, or bandwidth aggregation of positioning frequency layers) from a gNB (or TRP). Alternatively, one or more reserved bits in the DCI may be used to trigger simultaneous PRS reception on multiple carriers at the UE. Alternatively, one or more reserved bits in the DCI may be used to trigger simultaneous PRS reception on multiple positioning frequency layers at the UE. Alternatively, a bit combination in one or more fields in the DCI may indicate (simultaneous) PRS transmission from a gNB (or TRP). Alternatively, a bit combination in one or more fields in the DCI may indicate (simultaneous) PRS reception on multiple carriers for the UE. Alternatively, a bit combination in one or more fields in the DCI may indicate (simultaneous) PRS reception on multiple positioning frequency layers at the UE.

[0087] The PDCCH carrying the DCI may occupy 4, 8, 16, or 32 control channel elements (CCEs) with 4, 2, 1, or 1 candidate, respectively. Alternatively, the PDCCH carrying the DCI may occupy 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, or 28 CCEs, all of which have one candidate (or candidate location).

[0088] Alternatively, the transmit power of the PRS / SRS can be allocated equally among the multiple carriers. Alternatively, the transmit power per RE (e.g., EPRE) of the PRS / SRS can be allocated equally among the multiple carriers. Alternatively, if the total transmit power of the SRS exceeds the transmit power granted to the UE before transmission, the transmit power of the SRS can be scaled and allocated equally. Alternatively, if the transmit power of the SRS on each carrier exceeds the transmit power granted to the UE's carrier before transmission, the transmit power of the SRS can be scaled and allocated equally, which is determined by the carrier with the lowest allowed EPRE.

[0089] This method can ensure carrier aggregation of PRS / SRS, which can provide more accurate positioning accuracy (e.g., larger bandwidth means higher positioning accuracy), thus improving the positioning performance.

[0090] Example 7: On-Demand PRS / SRS for RedCap UE The UE (or gNB, or TRP) can request the network (e.g., LMF) to configure a suitable configuration for PRS reception (or SRS transmission, i.e., on-demand transmission). After receiving this request, the network (e.g., LMF) can configure a better configuration for the UE (or gNB, or TRP).

[0091] The RedCap UE may request PRS resource bandwidth at a single hop (or each hop). The RedCap UE may request the total PRS resource bandwidth of all hops. Or the RedCap UE may request the total PRS resource bandwidth of all hops after concatenation of these hops. Or the RedCap UE may request the total PRS resource bandwidth of all hops after concatenation of these hops and removal of overlapping bandwidth. Or the RedCap UE may request the total PRS resource bandwidth of all hops after concatenation of these hops where resources (or resource blocks (RBs)) do not overlap, for example, if a 20 MHz bandwidth has a PRS of 48 RB@SCS=30 kHz for each hop with 1 RB overlap, there may be 6 hops and the total bandwidth requested may be (48-1)*(6-1)+48=283 RBs. Since 283 is greater than a 100 MHz bandwidth with 272 RBs for PRS, the final total bandwidth requested may be 272 RBs). Alternatively, the RedCap UE may request the number of hops of the PRS hopping. Alternatively, the RedCap UE may request the number of hops of the PRS transmission hopping. Alternatively, the RedCap UE may request the number of hops and the bandwidth of each hop of the PRS hopping. This may be useful for positioning in the 700 MHz band.

[0092] For RedCap UE, PRS / SRS normal cyclic prefix may be configured (or fixed). PRS cyclic prefix requirement may be disabled (e.g., not applicable or not present). For RedCap UE, PRS / SRS comb size N=2 (or N=1) may be configured (or fixed). PRS comb size requirement may be disabled.

[0093] For RedCap UEs, a short periodicity (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots) of PRS / SRS may be requested, which can reduce the total measurement delay. Alternatively, for RedCap UEs, a periodicity and offset of PRS / SRS may be requested (e.g., 2^u slot periodicity, where u=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for SCS=15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, 960 kHz, respectively, and slot offsets are 0, 1, ..., 2^u-1; e.g., 2*2^u slots; e.g., 3*2^u slots).

[0094] For RedCap UEs, a PRS / SRS intra-slot repetition factor (e.g., 6 repetitions in a slot, or 6 repetitions in 12 symbols, each repetition having 2 consecutive symbols) may be required. In this manner, better channel estimation may be achieved and measurement delay may be reduced. For RedCap UEs, a PRS / SRS symbol number (e.g., 12 symbols) may be required. Alternatively, the number may be a multiple of the comb size (e.g., 2 of comb size 2, e.g., 2×2=4). Alternatively, the number may be a multiple of 2, 3, 4, or 6 in a slot. Alternatively, the number may be a multiple of 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 for 2 (or more) consecutive slots for PRS / SRS.

[0095] For RedCap UEs, the QCL information of PRS / SRS can be configured (or fixed, e.g., QCL with SSB with type C). The request for QCL information of PRS may be disabled. Alternatively, for RedCap UEs, a QCL with Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) or TRS for UEs under RRC_Inactive / RRC_Idle may be requested.

[0096] For RedCap UEs, frequency information of PRS / SRS can be requested. For example, ARFCN of a hop (or ARFCN of all hops) can be requested. Alternatively, each hop may have frequency information (e.g., ARFCN). For RedCap UEs, duration of PRS / SRS of each hop (or all hops) can be requested.

[0097] The gNB (or TRP) may be requested by the network (e.g., LMF) or the UE (via the LMF) with PRS transmission with hopping. For example, after receiving a request from the UE for PRS transmission with hopping, the network (e.g., LMF) may forward the request to the gNB (or TRP). In another example, after receiving a request from the UE with PRS transmission with hopping, the network (e.g., LMF) may request the gNB (or TRP) with PRS transmission with hopping based on the request from the UE.

[0098] Alternatively, the request from the UE (or gNB, or TRP) may be UE-specific (or TRP-specific), PRS / SRS resource-specific, FR-specific, band-specific, or carrier-specific. Alternatively, the UE (or LMF) may request a PRS transmission with a wider bandwidth from the gNB (or TRP). Alternatively, the UE (or LMF) may request a PRS transmission with positioning frequency layer (PFL) aggregation (e.g., 3 PFL aggregation, 3×100 MHz=300 MHz) from the gNB (or TRP). This wider bandwidth may improve positioning accuracy. Alternatively, the LMF (or UE) may request an SRS transmission with SRS carrier aggregation (e.g., 2 carrier aggregation, 2×100 MHz=200 MHz) from the gNB (or TRP). In some embodiments, the SRS may be controlled by the gNB. The gNB may be requested.

[0099] In this way, a better configuration for RedCap UEs (e.g., wider bandwidth) can be achieved, and thus the positioning performance can be improved.

[0100] It should be understood that one or more features from the above embodiments are not limited to a particular embodiment, but can be combined in any manner (e.g., in any priority and / or order, simultaneously or otherwise).

[0101] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 800 for carrier phase positioning. The method 800 may be implemented using any one or more of the components and devices detailed herein in connection with FIGs. 1-2. In summary, the method 800 may be performed by a wireless communication device or a wireless communication node in some embodiments. Depending on the embodiment, additional, fewer, or different operations may be performed in the method 800. At least one aspect of these operations is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium.

[0102] A wireless communication device (e.g., UE) may receive configuration information regarding a reference signal for positioning (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS)) from a wireless communication node. The wireless communication device may measure the reference signal for positioning. The wireless communication device may transmit a report to the network including measurement results of the reference signal for positioning. The configuration information may indicate that when the wireless communication device reports its capabilities in a phase error group (PEG), the wireless communication device can be configured to report the corresponding phase error of the PEG.

[0103] In some embodiments, the configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured to report a phase error in the PEG when the wireless communication device reports a carrier phase (CP) measurement in the PEG. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured to report a phase error in the PEG when the wireless communication device reports a carrier phase (CP) measurement in the PEG, where the phase error is estimated in the PEG. The configuration information may indicate that subcarriers in one or more resource blocks (RBs) can be overlapped for signals in two adjacent symbols with different resource element (RE) offsets.

[0104] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may be configured to report a carrier phase (CP) at a nearest subcarrier with a subcarrier ID if there is no frequency center subcarrier or a direct current (DC) subcarrier. When performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device may assume that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device. When performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center. When performing the measuring step, in response to identifying that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device. When performing the measuring step, in response to identifying that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device, the wireless communication device may be configured to infer a CP value by assuming that a reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center.

[0105] In some embodiments, a DC position index for CP measurements in a reference signal may be configured by the network. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a reference signal resource characterized by a Comb size, a Comb offset, and a number of repetitions in a slot. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of a reference signal resource and a starting symbol index of a first one of the repetitions. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of a slot of a reference signal resource having different Comb offsets. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communication device can be configured with a Comb size of 1 (e.g., Comb size is 1; CombSize=1; all subcarriers in a symbol are assigned to the PRS) with repetitions in a slot.

[0106] In some embodiments, when performing the measuring step, the wireless communications device may be configured to measure one or more hops or a combination of one or more hops of the reference signal. The report may further include an indication of a combination of the one or more hops associated with the measurement results. The report may further include an indication of frequency related information associated with the measurement results. The report may further include an indication of resource related information associated with the measurement results. The report may further include measurement results regarding a combination of multiple segments of the reference signal resource. The report may further include measurement results regarding a combination of multiple bandwidths of the reference signal resource. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding any combination of the one or more hops. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding an indicated frequency. The wireless communications device may be requested to report measurement results regarding an indicated bandwidth.

[0107] In some embodiments, in response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, a wireless communication device may be enabled to drop one or more hops of the SRS transmission. In response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, a wireless communication device may be enabled to continue the SRS transmission even if the corresponding SRS has a lower priority. If one hop receiving a reference signal is outside the PPW / MG, the wireless communication device may be enabled to continue receiving one or more other hops of the reference signal. One or more reserved bits in a downlink control information (DCI) received by the wireless communication device may be configured to trigger simultaneous SRS transmission for multiple carriers. A combination of bits in one or more fields in a DCI received by the wireless communication device may indicate simultaneous SRS transmission on multiple carriers.

[0108] In some embodiments, one or more reserved bits in a DCI received by a wireless communication device may be configured to trigger simultaneous reception for reference signals on multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0109] In some embodiments, a combination of bits in one or more fields in the DCI received by the wireless communication device may indicate simultaneous reception of reference signals on multiple positioning frequency layers. As a RedCap UE, the wireless communication device may be enabled to request the number of hops for a PRS transmission. The on-demand PRS transmission procedure allows the LMF to control and determine whether a PRS is transmitted and to change the characteristics of an ongoing PRS transmission. The on-demand PRS transmission procedure may be initiated by the UE or the LMF. The actual PRS change may be requested by the LMF regardless of whether the procedure is UE-initiated or LMF-initiated.

[0110] In some embodiments, the wireless communications device may be enabled as a RedCap UE to request an intra-slot repetition factor of a reference signal. The wireless communications device may be enabled as a RedCap UE to request frequency information of a reference signal.

[0111] In some embodiments, the wireless communications node may receive configuration information from a wireless communications device regarding a reference signal for positioning. The wireless communications node may measure the reference signal for positioning. The wireless communications node may transmit a report to the network including a measurement result of the reference signal for positioning. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a port ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a hopping ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a PEG ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node can be configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with an SRS resource ID when the wireless communications node reports a CP measurement result. The configuration information may indicate that the wireless communications node may be configured to report SRS-related configuration information when the wireless communications node reports CP measurements. The SRS-related configuration information may include at least one of a band, a carrier index, an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), a carrier center frequency, a carrier center frequency of a hop, a start frequency of the hop, an end frequency of the hop, a bandwidth of this carrier, a bandwidth of the hop being measured, and a hopping ID.

[0112] In some embodiments, within an SRS measurement window, the wireless communication node may be configured to process SRS reception only while the wireless communication node drops all other signals or channels. Upon identifying that within an SRS processing window, the time gap between an SRS transmission and a PUSCH / PUCCH / PRACH transmission is less than the duration, the wireless communication node may be configured to continue processing the SRS transmission and drop other signals or channels even if the corresponding SRS has a lower priority. The wireless communication node may be requested by the network to measure CPs at the PEGs in the TEG when the wireless communication node performs timing related measurements. The configuration information may indicate that a symbol with index {{S,S+1,...,S+L-1}+i*L} may be assigned to the PRS, where i is an integer in {0,1,2,...,R-1}, R is the number of repetitions in the slot, L is the number of symbols of the PRS, and S is the starting symbol index. In some embodiments, the measurement may include that when the TRP measures a relative time of arrival (RTOA), the RTOA reference time may include a nominal start time of system frame number 0 provided by a system frame number initialization time of the first hop. The measurement may include that the TRP can be requested on a PRS transmission with positioning frequency layer (PFL) aggregation.

[0113] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that the embodiments are presented only as examples and not as limitations. Similarly, various diagrams may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those skilled in the art to understand example features and functionality of the present solution. However, such skilled in the art will understand that the present solution is not limited to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. Furthermore, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of other embodiments described herein. Thus, the scope and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the exemplary embodiments described above.

[0114] It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as "first," "second," etc., does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first element and a second element does not imply that only two elements can be used or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0115] Additionally, those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols that may be referred to in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0116] Moreover, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, any of the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes incorporating instructions (which may be conveniently referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0117] Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein can be implemented in or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which can include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits can further include an antenna and / or a transceiver for communicating with various components in a network or device. The general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration for performing the functions described herein.

[0118] If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that can enable a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0119] As used herein, the term "module" refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purposes of explanation, various modules are described as individual modules; however, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs associated functions according to embodiments of the present solution.

[0120] Furthermore, memory or other storage devices, as well as communication components, may be used in embodiments of the solution. For clarity, it will be appreciated that the above description describes embodiments of the solution with reference to various functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements, or domains may be used without detracting from the solution. For example, functionality illustrated as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Thus, references to specific functional units do not indicate a strict logical or physical structure or organization, but merely to suitable means for providing the described functionality.

[0121] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the following claims.

Claims

1. 1. A wireless communication method, comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device, configuration information from a wireless communication node regarding a reference signal for positioning; measuring, by the wireless communication device, the reference signal for positioning; transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a report to a network including measurement results of the reference signal for positioning; A wireless communication method comprising:

2. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that when the wireless communication device reports its capabilities in a Phase Error Group (PEG), the wireless communication device is configured to report a corresponding phase error of the PEG.

3. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication device is configured to report a carrier phase (CP) measurement in a PEG when the wireless communication device reports the PEG phase error.

4. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that when the wireless communication device reports a carrier phase (CP) measurement in a PEG, the wireless communication device is configured to report a phase error in the PEG, where the phase error is estimated.

5. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that subcarriers in one or more resource blocks (RBs) can be overlapped for signals in two adjacent symbols with different resource element (RE) offsets.

6. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to report a carrier phase (CP) at a nearest subcarrier with a subcarrier ID if a frequency center subcarrier or a direct current (DC) subcarrier is not present.

7. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein when performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device assumes that a reference point for CP measurements is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device.

8. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein when performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device is configured to infer a CP value by assuming a reference point for CP measurement is an antenna phase center.

9. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein, when performing the measuring step, in response to identifying a reference point for a CP measurement to be an antenna phase center, the wireless communication device is configured to infer a CP value by assuming that the reference point for the CP measurement is an antenna connector of the wireless communication device.

10. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein, when performing the measuring step, in response to identifying a reference point of a CP measurement to be an antenna connector of the wireless communication device, the wireless communication device is configured to infer a CP value by assuming that the reference point of the CP measurement is an antenna phase center.

11. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein a DC position index for CP measurements in the reference signal is configured by the network.

12. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication device can be configured with reference signal resources characterized by a Comb size, a Comb offset, and a number of repetitions within a slot.

13. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of a reference signal resource and a starting symbol index of a first one of the repetitions.

14. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication device can be configured with a number of repetitions of slots of reference signal resources having different Comb offsets.

15. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication device can be configured with a Comb size of 1 with repetition in a slot.

16. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein when performing the measuring step, the wireless communication device is configured to measure one or more hops or a combination of one or more hops of the reference signal.

17. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the report further includes an indication of one or more hop combinations associated with the measurement results.

18. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the report further includes an indication of frequency related information associated with the measurement results.

19. The wireless communication method of claim 1 , wherein the report further includes an indication of resource-related information associated with the measurement results.

20. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the report further comprises measurement results regarding a combination of multiple segments of a reference signal resource.

21. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the report further includes measurement results regarding a combination of multiple bandwidths of reference signal resources.

22. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is requested to report measurements for any combination of one or more hops.

23. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is requested to report measurements on indicated frequencies.

24. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is requested to report measurements on an indicated bandwidth.

25. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein in response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, the wireless communication device is enabled to drop one or more hops of the SRS transmission.

26. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein in response to identifying a collision between an SRS transmission and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or other downlink signal / channel, the wireless communication device is enabled to continue the SRS transmission even if a corresponding SRS has a lower priority.

27. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein if one hop from which the reference signal is received is outside a PPW / MG, the wireless communication device is enabled to continue receiving one or more other hops of the reference signal.

28. 10. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein one or more reserved bits in downlink control information (DCI) received by the wireless communication device are configured to trigger simultaneous SRS transmission for multiple carriers.

29. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein a combination of bits in one or more fields in a DCI received by the wireless communication device indicates simultaneous SRS transmission on multiple carriers.

30. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein one or more reserved bits in a DCI received by the wireless communication device are configured to trigger simultaneous reception for the reference signal on multiple positioning frequency layers.

31. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein a combination of bits in one or more fields in a DCI received by the wireless communication device indicates simultaneous reception of the reference signal on multiple positioning frequency layers.

32. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is enabled to request a hop count for a PRS transmission as a RedCap UE.

33. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is enabled to request an intra-slot repetition factor of the reference signal as a RedCap UE.

34. 2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is enabled as a RedCap UE to request frequency information of the reference signal.

35. 1. A wireless communication method, comprising: receiving, by the wireless communications node, configuration information from the wireless communications device regarding a reference signal for positioning; measuring, by the wireless communication node, the reference signal for positioning; transmitting, by said wireless communication node, a report to a network including measurement results of said reference signals for positioning; A wireless communication method comprising:

36. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port when the wireless communication node reports a CP measurement result.

37. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a port ID when the wireless communication node reports a CP measurement result.

38. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a hopping ID when the wireless communication node reports a CP measurement result.

39. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with a PEG ID when the wireless communication node reports a CP measurement result.

40. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report a phase error of a MIMO SRS port with an SRS resource ID when the wireless communication node reports a CP measurement result.

41. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the configuration information indicates that the wireless communication node is configured to report SRS-related configuration information when the wireless communication node reports CP measurements.

42. 42. The wireless communication method of claim 41, wherein the SRS related configuration information includes at least one of a band, a carrier index, an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), a carrier center frequency, a carrier center frequency of a hop, a start frequency of a hop, an end frequency of a hop, a bandwidth of this carrier, a bandwidth of the hop being measured, a hopping ID.

43. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein within an SRS measurement window, the wireless communication node is configured to process SRS reception only while the wireless communication node drops all other signals or channels.

44. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein upon identifying a time gap between an SRS transmission and a PUSCH / PUCCH / PRACH transmission within an SRS processing window that is less than a duration, the wireless communication node is configured to continue processing the SRS transmission and drop other signals or channels even if the corresponding SRS has a lower priority.

45. 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the wireless communication node is requested by the network to measure CPs at PEGs in a TEG when the wireless communication node performs timing related measurements.

46. The configuration information is an index {{S, S+1 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein i is an integer in {0, 1, 2, ..., R-1}, R is a repetition number in a slot, L is a number of symbols of the PRS, and S is a starting symbol index.

47. The measurement may include When the TRP measures the relative time of arrival (RTOA), the RTOA reference time includes the nominal start time of system frame number 0 provided by the system frame number initialization time of the first hop; 36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, comprising:

48. The measurement may include The TRP is required for PRS transmission via positioning frequency layer (PFL) aggregation.

36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, comprising:

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