Reference Signal Slot Configuration for Sidelink Communication

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, processes, and computer-readable media for wireless communication are disclosed. For example, an example of a process for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE) includes receiving, at the UE, a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. The resource block includes a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols. The processor further includes processing, at the UE, at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001]

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to sidelink positioning. For example, aspects of this disclosure relate to reference signal slot configurations for sidelink communication.

Background Art

[0002]

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation (1G) analog wireless telephone services, second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including provisional 2.5G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless services, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), and the like.

[0003]

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard requires, among other improvements, higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard (also referred to as "New Radio" or "NR") is designed, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, for example, with gigabit connection speeds for dozens of users in a common location such as on an office floor. To support the large-scale deployment of sensors, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections must be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communication should be significantly increased compared to the current 4G / LTE standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency must be increased and latency significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] This specification describes systems and techniques that provide various reference signal slot configurations for sidelink communication. In some aspects, the slot configuration can include self-contained reference signal slots (e.g., slots having self-contained positioning reference signal (PRS) resources or other reference signal resources). In some cases, such as self-contained PRS slots, the slot configuration can enable low-latency sidelink positioning using a wireless communication system.

[0005]

[0005] In one exemplary example, a method for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes receiving, at the UE, a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and processing, at the UE, at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot.

[0006]

[0006] In another example, an apparatus for performing sidelink positioning is provided, including at least one memory and at least one processor (e.g., implemented in a circuit) coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and process at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot.

[0007]

[0007] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided, and when the instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors are caused to receive a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and to process at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols in the slot.

[0008]

[0008] In another example, an apparatus for performing sidelink positioning is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and means for processing at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols in the slot.

[0009]

[0009] According to another exemplary example, a method for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes receiving, at the UE, a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and processing, at the UE, at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot.

[0010]

[0010] In another example, an apparatus for performing sidelink positioning is provided, including at least one memory and at least one processor (e.g., constituted by a circuit) coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including a plurality of slot portions, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions including a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and to process at least one resource in each slot portion of the plurality of slot portions of the slot.

[0011]

[0011] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided, and when the instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors are caused to receive a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a plurality of slot portions, wherein a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and to process at least one resource in each slot portion of the plurality of slot portions of the slot.

[0012]

[0012] In another example, an apparatus for performing sidelink positioning is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a plurality of slot portions, wherein a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and means for processing at least one resource in each slot portion of the plurality of slot portions of the slot.

[0013]

[0013] In some embodiments, the device is a UE such as a wearable device, an extended reality (XR) device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a head-mounted display (HMD) device, a wireless communication device, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone and / or a mobile handset and / or a so-called "smartphone" or other mobile device), a camera, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a vehicle or a computing device or component of a vehicle, another device, or a combination thereof, and is a part of and / or includes the UE. In some embodiments, the device includes one or more cameras that capture one or more images. In some embodiments, the device further includes a display that displays one or more images, notifications, and / or other displayable data. In some embodiments, the device described above may include one or more sensors (e.g., one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs) such as one or more gyroscopes, one or more gyroscopes, one or more accelerometers, any combination thereof, and / or other sensors).

[0014]

[0014] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to the entire specification of this patent, any or all of the drawings, and the appropriate portions of each claim.

[0015]

[0015] The above will become more apparent when considered in conjunction with the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings, along with other features and embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

[0016] Exemplary aspects of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the following figures.

Figure 1A

[0017] FIG. showing an exemplary wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 1B

[0018] FIG. showing an example of a non - aggregated base station architecture that can be employed by the disclosed system to provide a mini - slot for sidelink positioning using a wireless communication system according to some examples.

Figure 2A

[0019] FIG. showing an exemplary wireless network structure according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 2B

Figure 3

[0020] FIG. showing a block diagram of an example of a vehicle computing system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 4

[0021] FIG. showing an exemplary block diagram of a UE computing system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 5

[0022] FIG. showing an example of a device involved in wireless communication (e.g., sidelink communication) according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 6

[0023] FIG. showing an example of a resource block.

Figure 7

[0024] FIG. showing an example of an existing comb structure for reference signals.

Figure 8

[0025] FIG. showing an example of a slot structure including feedback resources.

Figure 9

[0026] FIG. showing an example of a process for sidelink control information having two stages for forward compatibility.

Figure 10A

[0027] It is a diagram showing an example of a slot structure including a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Figure 10B

[0028] It is a diagram showing exemplary resource elements (REs) of the PSCCH in the slot structure of FIG. 10A.

Figure 11A

[0029] It is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained slot structure for Ultra - Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLCC) for a downlink (DL) - centric data slot structure.

Figure 11B

[0030] It is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained slot structure for URLCC for an uplink (UL) - centric data slot structure.

Figure 12

[0031] It is a diagram showing an example of a system that may adopt the disclosed self - contained positioning resource slot structure for sidelink positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 13A

[0032] It is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure of a single mini - slot including both a transmission positioning resource and a reception positioning resource according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 13B

[0033] It is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure including a mini - slot according to some aspects of the present disclosure, where both the transmission positioning resource and the reception positioning resource are included in the same mini - slot.

Figure 14

[0034] It is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure including a mini - slot according to some aspects of the present disclosure, where the transmission positioning resource and the reception positioning resource are provided in different mini - slots.

Figure 15

[0035] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure including mini - slots, in which a transmission positioning resource, a reception positioning resource, and data transfer information are provided in different mini - slots.

Figure 16A

[0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure for a second UE, in which a transmission positioning resource, a reception positioning resource, and data transfer information are provided in the slot structure.

Figure 16B

[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure for a first UE, in which a transmission positioning resource, a reception positioning resource, and data transfer information are provided in the slot structure.

Figure 17

[0038] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 18

[0039] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of a process for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 19

[0040] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary computing system according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017]

[0041] Certain aspects of the present disclosure are provided below. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some of these aspects can be applied independently, and some of them can also be applied in combination. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, specific details are set forth to provide a complete understanding of the aspects of the present application. However, it will be apparent that the various aspects can be practiced without these specific details. The figures and the description are not intended to be limiting.

[0018]

[0042] The following description merely provides exemplary embodiments and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the following description of the exemplary embodiments provides those skilled in the art with an explanation that enables the implementation of the exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the functions and configurations of the elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0019]

[0043] The following description merely provides exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the following description of the exemplary embodiments provides those skilled in the art with an explanation that enables the implementation of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the functions and configurations of the elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0020]

[0044] The terms "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Similarly, the term "embodiments of the present disclosure" does not necessarily require that all embodiments of the present disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0021]

[0045] As described above, 5G mobile standards require, among other improvements, higher data transfer speeds, a larger number of connections, and better coverage. 5G is expected to support hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections. Therefore, there is room to improve the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications by enhancing signaling efficiency and reducing latency. One way such signaling efficiency and latency reduction can be achieved is by employing mini-slots for the transmission of reference signals, such as positioning reference signals (PRSs), sounding reference signals (SRSs), etc., for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning).

[0022]

[0046] Sidelink positioning uses reference signals (e.g., PRSs) to obtain the position of a UE relative to other objects such as other UEs. In particular, sidelink positioning utilizes the round-trip time (RTT) measurement of the positioning reference signal (PRS). For example, when two UEs wish to position themselves relative to each other, each UE transmits a PRS and measures the RTT of its respective transmitted signal. From the measured RTTs, each of the UEs can determine the distances between these UEs from each other and accordingly position themselves.

[0023]

[0047] Reference signals (e.g., PRSs) are predefined signals that occupy specific resource elements (REs) within the time-frequency grid (e.g., slot) of a resource block and can be exchanged on one or both of the downlink physical communication channel and the uplink physical communication channel. Each type of reference signal is, among other things, for specific purposes such as channel estimation, phase noise compensation, obtaining downlink / uplink channel state information, time and frequency tracking, etc., for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 rdIt is defined by the Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In particular, the PRS is defined by 3GPP as a downlink-specific signal used for positioning purposes.

[0024]

[0048] In 5G NR, a slot is a typical unit for transmission used by the scheduling mechanism. A 5G NR slot typically occupies either 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols (in the case of a normal cyclic prefix (CP)) or 12 OFDM symbols (in the case of an extended CP), which enables slot-based scheduling. A slot is a scheduling unit, and the aggregation of slots is allowed for scheduling purposes. The length of a slot can be scaled by the subcarrier spacing. 5G NR stipulates that transmission starts at any OFDM symbol of a slot and continues for the number of symbols required for communication.

[0025]

[0049] 5G NR time division duplexing (TDD) adopts a flexible slot configuration in which OFDM symbols within a slot can be classified as "downlink", "uplink", or "flexible". Flexible symbols can be configured for either uplink transmission or downlink transmission. If the slot configuration is not provided (e.g., by the network), all symbols within the slot are considered flexible by default. In 5G NR, the configuration of the slot format can be done statically, semi-statically, or completely dynamically. Static slot configurations and semi-static slot configurations are implemented using radio resource control (RRC), and dynamic slot configurations are implemented using physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) downlink control information (DCI).

[0026]

[0050] A mini-slot is a part of a slot and is the smallest scheduling unit used in 5G NR. Mini-slots may also be referred to herein as slot parts. A mini-slot can occupy as few as two OFDM symbols and can have a variable length (e.g., occupy two, four, or seven OFDM symbols). Mini-slots can be positioned asymmetrically with respect to the start of a standard slot. The use of mini-slots enables very low latency for critical data communications and minimizes interference to other radio frequency (RF) links. Mini-slots enable "non-slot-based scheduling" with a higher priority than normal enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) transmissions, and thus, mini-slots can preempt other eMBB transmissions. Therefore, the use of mini-slots helps achieve lower latency in the 5G NR architecture.

[0027]

[0051] Systems, apparatuses, processes (also referred to as methods), and computer-readable media (collectively referred to herein as systems and techniques) are described herein for providing reference signal slot configurations for sidelink communication. In some aspects, the slot configuration can include self-contained reference signal slots (e.g., slots having self-contained positioning reference signal (PRS) resources or other reference signal resources). In some cases, such as self-contained PRS slots, the slot configuration can enable low-latency sidelink positioning using a wireless communication system.

[0028]

[0052] In one or more aspects, a resource block, which may be referred to as a "slot," can include a plurality of symbols. The slot may (or may not) be divided into two or more mini-slots or slot portions. At least one symbol (e.g., of each mini-slot) can include a reference signal resource such as a positioning resource (e.g., a PRS resource). For example, the positioning resource can include a transmit (Tx) PRS resource or a receive (Rx) PRS resource. A slot having such a mini-slot (or slot portion) configuration that includes a positioning resource (e.g., a PRS resource) can be employed for sidelink positioning. When both the transmit positioning resource (e.g., the Tx PRS resource) and the receive positioning resource (e.g., the Rx PRS resource) are scheduled within the same slot (e.g., within the same mini-slot or within different mini-slots), the transmit positioning resource and the receive positioning resource are scheduled jointly and very closely in the time domain, thereby providing low latency in the sidelink positioning process.

[0029]

[0053] In one or more aspects, a self - contained PRS slot for sidelink positioning may have a self - contained transmission positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource) structure for various mini - slot configurations. In a first exemplary aspect, both the transmission positioning resource and the reception positioning resource may be included within the same mini - slot of the self - contained PRS slot (e.g., may be transmitted within the same mini - slot). In a second exemplary aspect, the transmission positioning resource and the reception positioning resource may be provided in different mini - slots of the self - contained PRS slot. In a third exemplary aspect, the transmission positioning resource, the reception positioning resource, and the data transfer information (e.g., sidelink measurement results) may be provided in different mini - slots of the self - contained PRS slot.

[0030]

[0054] In some aspects, a self - contained PRS slot for sidelink positioning may be employed for co - triggering within a single slot. For example, in such an aspect, the transmission positioning resource, the reception positioning resource, and the data transfer information (e.g., sidelink measurement results) may be provided within a self - contained PRS slot (e.g., a single self - contained PRS slot). During sidelink positioning, a first UE (e.g., UE1) may employ a first self - contained PRS slot, and a second UE (e.g., UE2) may employ a second self - contained PRS slot, where the first single self - contained PRS slot and the second single self - contained PRS slot reserve positioning resources in reverse for different UEs. For example, during a first period of operation (e.g., at time T1), the first self - contained PRS slot may be configured for the transmission positioning resource reserved for the first UE, and the second single self - contained PRS slot may be configured for the reception positioning resource reserved for the second UE. In another example, during a second period of operation (e.g., at time T2), the first self - contained PRS slot may be configured for the transmission positioning resource reserved for the first UE, and the second single self - contained PRS slot may be configured for the reception positioning resource reserved for the second UE.

[0031]

[0055] Additional features of the present disclosure are described in more detail below.

[0032]

[0056] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "network entity" are not intended to be specific to, or limited to, any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, and / or tracking device, etc.) used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network, a wearable (e.g., a smartwatch, smart glasses, wearable ring, and / or extended reality (XR) device, e.g., a virtual reality (VR) headset, augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses, or a mixed reality (MR) headset), a vehicle (e.g., a car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), and / or an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. The UE may be mobile or (e.g., at a certain time) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. Generally, the UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can be connected to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the IEEE802.11 communication standard, etc.), are also possible for the UE.

[0033]

[0057] The network entity can be implemented in an aggregate or monolithic base station architecture or, alternatively, in a non-aggregate base station architecture and can include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., having an aggregate / monolithic base station architecture or a non-aggregate base station architecture) can operate according to one of a plurality of RATs communicating with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and can alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or g-node B), etc. A base station can be mainly used to support wireless access by a UE, including supporting a data connection, a voice connection, and / or a signaling connection for the supported UE. In some systems, a base station can provide an edge node signaling function, while in other systems, it can provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE can send a signal to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send a signal to a UE is called a downlink (DL), or a forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, or a forward traffic channel, etc.). The term traffic channel (TCH), as used herein, can refer to any of an uplink, a reverse or downlink, and / or a forward traffic channel.

[0034]

[0058] The term "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., having a centralized / monolithic base station architecture or a non-centralized base station architecture) may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP), or multiple physical transmission-reception points (TRPs) that may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, that physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or some cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas of the base station (such as in the case of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium), or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals (or simply "reference signals") the UE is measuring. Since a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station as used herein should be understood to refer to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0035]

[0059] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a network entity or a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support a data connection, a voice connection, and / or a signaling connection for the UE), but instead may send to the UE a reference signal to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0036]

[0060] An RF signal includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that carries information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or a plurality of "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive a plurality of "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted along different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when the context makes it clear that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0037]

[0061] According to various aspects, FIG. 1A shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), can include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as “network entities” or “network nodes”. One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregate or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a disaggregated base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. The base stations 102 can include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations can include an eNB and / or an ng-eNB corresponding to a long term evolution (LTE) network of the wireless communication system 100, or a gNB corresponding to an NR network of the wireless communication system 100, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations can include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0038]

[0062] The base station 102 collectively forms the RAN and interfaces with the core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) through the backhaul link 122 and, through the core network 170, with one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base station 102 may perform functions related to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load distribution, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and warning message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC or 5GC) with each other via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired and / or wireless.

[0039]

[0063] The base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with the UE 104. Each of the base stations 102 can provide communication coverage regarding its respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by the base stations 102 within each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., via several frequency resources such as those referred to as carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI)) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may, depending on the context, refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a certain part of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0040]

[0064] The geographical coverage area 110 of the neighboring macro cell base station 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in the handover area), and some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by a larger geographical coverage area 110. For example, the small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that may provide services to a limited group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0041]

[0065] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also called reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (also called forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0042]

[0066] Wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 that communicates with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a device (e.g., a UE, etc.) that uses an ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum to communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc. The UWB spectrum may span from 3.1 to 10.5 GHz.

[0043]

[0067] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed frequency spectrum and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may utilize LTE technology or NR technology and may use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' that employs LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may expand the coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may sometimes be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0044]

[0068] Wireless communication system 100 may further include an mmW base station 180 that communicates with UE 182 and can operate at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW. The mmW base station 180 can be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture or, alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture (including, for example, one or more of CU, DU, RU, near RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength of 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band can be called millimeter waves. Near mmW can drop down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band ranges from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW and / or near mmW radio frequency band has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) via the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. Further, in an alternative configuration, it will be understood that one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be understood that the above examples are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0045]

[0069] Transmission beamforming is a technique for concentrating RF signals in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmission beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located with respect to the transmitting network node and emits a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster and more powerful RF signal to the receiving device (from the perspective of data rate). To vary the directivity of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (also referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that can create a beam of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are supplied to the individual antennas in an appropriate phase relationship such that the radio waves from the separate antennas combine together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while suppressing and removing the radiation in the unwanted directions.

[0046]

[0070] The transmission beams may be quasi-collocated, which means that, regardless of whether the transmission antennas of the network node are physically collocated or not, the receiver (e.g., UE) sees the transmission beams as having the same parameters. In NR, there are four types of quasi-collocation (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is of QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0047]

[0071] In receive beamforming, the receiver amplifies RF signals detected on a given channel using a receive beam. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting of an array of antennas in that direction and / or adjust the phase setting to amplify an RF signal received from a particular direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when the receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high compared to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains of other beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0048]

[0072] Received beams may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters of the transmission beam for the second reference signal can be derived from the information about the received beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), etc.) from a network node or entity (e.g., a base station). The UE can then form a transmission beam for transmitting one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to that network node or entity (e.g., a base station) based on the parameters of the received beam.

[0049]

[0073] Note that the "downlink" beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, when a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmission beam. However, when the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a reception beam for receiving the downlink reference signal. Similarly, the "uplink" beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, when a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink reception beam, and when the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmission beam.

[0050]

[0074] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 - 6000 Megahertz (MHz)), FR2 (24250 - 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi - carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier that operates on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell where the UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or starts the RRC connection re - establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE - specific control channels and can be a carrier within the licensed frequency (however, it is not always the case). The secondary carrier can be configured when an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and is a carrier that operates on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier within the unlicensed frequency. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE - specific, the secondary carrier is assumed to contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, there should be no UE - specific signaling information and signals within the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load across different carriers.Regardless of whether it is a PCell or an SCell, since a "serving cell" corresponds to a carrier frequency and / or a component carrier through which several base stations communicate, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency" can be used interchangeably.

[0051]

[0075] For example, still referring to FIG. 1A, one of the frequencies utilized by macro cell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by macro cell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCells"). In carrier aggregation, base station 102 and / or UE 104 can use a spectrum of bandwidth up to Y MHz per carrier (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 MHz) up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. Component carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other in the frequency spectrum. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., a greater or fewer number of carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz carriers aggregated within a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0052]

[0076] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, the base station 102 and / or the UE 104 comprises a plurality of receivers and / or transmitters. For example, the UE 104 may have two receivers, namely "Receiver 1" and "Receiver 2", where "Receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to the band (i.e., carrier frequency) "X" or band "Y", and "Receiver 2" is a one-band receiver that can only be tuned to band "Z". In this example, when the UE 104 is served in band "X", band "X" will be referred to as the PCell or active carrier frequency, and "Receiver 1" needs to tune from band "X" to band "Y" (SCell) (and vice versa) to measure band "Y". In contrast, regardless of whether the UE 104 is served in band "X" or band "Y", since there is a separate "Receiver 2", the UE 104 can measure band "Z" without interrupting the service on band "X" or "Y".

[0053]

[0077] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 that can communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for the UE 164.

[0054]

[0078] Wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs such as UE190 that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). In the example of FIG. 1A, UE190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UE104s connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA152 connected to WLAN AP150 (e.g., through which UE190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported using any well-known D2D RAT such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth®.

[0055]

[0079] FIG. 1B shows an example of a non-agglomerated base station architecture that can be employed by the disclosed system for providing a mini-slot for side link positioning using a wireless communication system, according to some examples. The deployment of a communication system such as a 5G NR system can be configured in multiple ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, network nodes, network entities, network mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network devices such as base stations (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) implementing base station functions can be implemented in an agglomerated architecture or a separated architecture. For example, a BS (e.g., Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, AP, transmission and reception point (TRP), or cell, etc.) can be implemented as an agglomerated base station (also known as a stand-alone BS or a monolithic BS), or a non-agglomerated base station.

[0056]

[0080] The centralized base station can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. The split base station can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central units or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs), etc.). In some embodiments, the CU can be implemented within the RAN node, and one or more DUs can be collocated with the CU or, alternatively, can be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. The DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0057]

[0081] The operation or network design of a base station type may consider the aggregation characteristics of base station functions. For example, a distributed base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as a network configuration supported by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Non-aggregation may include distributing functions across two or more units at various physical locations and virtually distributing the functions of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. The various units of a non-aggregated base station, or a non-aggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0058]

[0082] As described above, FIG. 1B shows a diagram illustrating the architecture of an exemplary non - centralized base station 101. The non - centralized base station 101 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 111 that can communicate directly with the core network 123 via a backhaul link or communicate indirectly with the core network 123 through one or more non - centralized base station units (e.g., a near - real - time (near - RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 127 via an E2 link, or a non - real - time (non - RT) RIC 117 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 107, or both). The CU 111 can communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 131 via respective mid - haul links such as an F1 interface. The DU 131 can communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 141 via respective front - haul links. The RU 141 can communicate with respective UEs 121 via one or more RF access links. In some implementations, a UE 121 can be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 141.

[0059]

[0083] Each of the units, namely, CU111, DU131, RU141, and the quasi-RT RIC127, non-RT RIC117, and SMO framework 107, may include one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired transmission medium or a wireless transmission medium, or may be coupled to such one or more interfaces. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of the unit, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, a unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as an RF transceiver), and the wireless interface is configured to receive signals from, transmit signals to, or both, one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0060]

[0084] In some aspects, CU111 can host one or more upper layer control functions. Such control functions can include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and the like. Each control function can be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU111. CU111 can be configured to handle user plane functions (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, CU111 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as the E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. CU111 can be implemented to communicate with DU131 as needed for network control and signaling.

[0061]

[0085] DU131 may correspond to a logical unit including one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU141. In some embodiments, DU131 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more upper physical (PHY) layers (such as modules related to forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation), at least partially in accordance with a function split such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some embodiments, DU131 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU131 or control functions hosted by CU111.

[0062]

[0086] The lower layer function can be implemented by one or more RU141s. In some deployments, the RU141s controlled by the DU131 can correspond to logical nodes that host the RF processing function, or the low PHY layer function (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, at least partially based on function splitting such as lower layer function splitting. In such an architecture, the RU141s can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs121. In some implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of the control plane communication and user plane communication with the RU141s can be controlled by the corresponding DU131. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU131 and CU111 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture such as a vRAN architecture.

[0063]

[0087] The SMO framework 107 can be configured to support the RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. In the case of non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 107 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements that can be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). In the case of virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 107 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 191) in order to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating a virtualized network element) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, a CU 111, a DU 131, an RU 141, and a quasi-RT RIC 127. In some implementations, the SMO framework 107 can communicate with the hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 113, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 107 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 141 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 107 can also include a non-RT RIC 117 configured to support the functions of the SMO framework 107.

[0064]

[0088] The non-RT RIC 117 may be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the quasi-RT RIC 127. The non-RT RIC 117 may be coupled to the quasi-RT RIC 127 or communicate with the quasi-RT RIC 127 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The quasi-RT RIC 127 may be configured to include logical functions that enable quasi-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface connecting one or more CU 111, one or more DU 131, or both, and the O-eNB 113 to the quasi-RT RIC 127 (e.g., via an E2 interface).

[0065]

[0089] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 117 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate an AI / ML model deployed in the quasi-RT RIC 127. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC 127 and may be received in the SMO framework 107 or the non-RT RIC 117 from a non-network data source or a network function. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 117 or the quasi-RT RIC 127 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 117 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ an AI / ML model to implement corrective measures through the SMO framework 107 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0066]

[0090] In accordance with various aspects, FIG. 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that cooperate to operate to form a core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, specifically to control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to the user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB 222s, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. Either gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1A).

[0067]

[0091] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that may communicate with the 5GC 210 to assist in locating the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as a plurality of distinct servers (e.g., physically distinct servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, via the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated with components of the core network or, alternatively, may be external to the core network. In some examples, the location server 230 may be operated by a carrier or provider of the 5GC 210, a third party, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the counterparty trademark, or other relevant parties. In some cases, multiple location servers, such as a location server for a carrier, a location server for an OEM of a particular device, and / or other location servers, may be provided. In such cases, location assistance data can be received from the carrier's location server, and other assistance data can be received from the OEM's location server.

[0068]

[0092] According to various aspects, FIG. 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, 5GC 260 can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262 that operate in cooperation to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically, to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 can also be connected to the 5GC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Further, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, with or without a gNB direct connection to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 can communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1A). The network nodes or network entities (e.g., base stations) of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0069]

[0093] The functions of the AMF264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE204 and the session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and / or security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF264 also include security context management (SCM). SCM receives from the SEAF a key that SCM uses to derive an access network specific key.The functions of the AMF 264 also include location service management for regulatory services, transport of location service messages between the UE 204 and the location management function (LMF) 270 acting as the location server 230, transport of location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of EPS bearer identifiers for interaction with the evolved packet system (EPS), and notification of mobility events of the UE 204. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0070]

[0094] The functions of the UPF 262 include, when applicable, acting as an anchor point for RAT-in / RAT-inter mobility, acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), performing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink and / or downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (mapping from a service data flow (SDF) to a QoS flow), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of user plane-based location service messages between the UE 204 and a location server such as the secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 272.

[0071]

[0095] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 for routing traffic to an appropriate destination, some control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0072]

[0096] In some aspects, the location and positioning functions may be assisted by a Location Management Function (LMF) 270 configured for communication with the 5GC 260, for example, to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, via the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support functions similar to those of the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the New RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) via the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0073]

[0097] In one aspect, the LMF 270 and / or the SLP 272 may be integrated with network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations) such as the gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224. When integrated with the gNB 222 and / or the ng-eNB 224, the LMF 270 and / or the SLP 272 may sometimes be referred to as a "Location Management Component" or "LMC". However, as used herein, references to the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 include both cases where the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 are components of the core network (e.g., the 5GC 260) and cases where the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 are components of network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations).

[0074]

[0098] As described herein, NR supports multiple cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. For example, the LMF 270 can enable positioning based on location measurements calculated for various positioning signal (PRS or SRS) resources. As used herein, a "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource identifier (identifier, ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (e.g., identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor) across slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length selected from 2 μ × {4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots and μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0075]

[0099] In some cases, the PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where the TRP can transmit one or more beams). For example, each PRS resource in the PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam". It should be noted that this has no meaning regarding whether the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0076]

[0100] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeated time frame (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply an "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0077]

[0101] The "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as "frequency layer" or "layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs having the same value for several parameters. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for the PDSCH are also supported for the PRS), the same Point A, the same value of downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" represents "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier and / or code that designates a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of 4 PRB, with a minimum of 24 PRB and a maximum of 272 PRB. Currently, a maximum of four frequency layers are defined, and up to two PRS resource sets per TRP can be configured for each frequency layer.

[0078]

[0102] The concept of the frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carriers and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but differs in that component carriers and BWPs are used by one network node or entity (e.g., a base station, or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit data channels, whereas the frequency layer is used by multiple (usually three or more) network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations) to transmit PRS. The UE may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when the UE transmits its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. For example, the UE may indicate whether it can support one positioning frequency layer or four positioning frequency layers.

[0079]

[0103] Downlink-based location measurement values can include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, a UE measures the difference in arrival times (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, NRS, CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from a pair of network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations), referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement values, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers of a reference network node or entity (e.g., serving base station) and a plurality of non-reference network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations) in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between each of the reference network node or entity (e.g., reference base station) and the non-reference network nodes or entities (e.g., non-reference base stations). Based on the known locations of the participating network nodes / entities (e.g., base stations) and the RSTD measurement values, a positioning entity (e.g., LMF 270) can estimate the location of the UE. In the case of DL-AoD positioning, a network node or entity (e.g., a base station such as gNB 222) measures the angle of the downlink transmission beam and other channel characteristics (e.g., signal strength) used to communicate with the UE to estimate the location of the UE.

[0080]

[0104] The uplink-based positioning method includes uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA but is based on the uplink reference signal (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. In the case of UL-AoA positioning, the network node or entity (e.g., base station) measures the angle of the uplink reception beam and other channel characteristics (e.g., gain level) used to communicate with the UE to estimate the location of the UE.

[0081]

[0105] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT or multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, an initiator (a network node or entity such as a base station, or a UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a responder (UE or base station), and the responder returns an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, which is called the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurement value. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, which is called the "Tx-Rx" measurement value. The propagation time (also called the "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx measurement result and the Rx-Tx measurement result. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. In the case of multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs an RTT procedure with multiple network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations) in order to enable its location to be determined based on the known location of the network nodes (e.g., base stations) (e.g., using multi-lateration). The RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve the accuracy of the location.

[0082]

[0106] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, or other location server) can provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data can include identifiers of network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations or cells and / or TRPs of base stations) from which reference signals should be measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of positioning subframes, muting sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal IDs, reference signal bandwidths, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to specific positioning methods. Alternatively, the assistance data can be directly transmitted from a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) itself, such as in an overhead message that is periodically broadcast. In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes themselves without using the assistance data.

[0083]

[0107] In the case of DL-AoD, the UE 204 can provide DL-PRS beam RSRP measurement values to the LMF 270, and the gNB 222 can provide beam azimuth and elevation angle information. When using the UL AoA positioning method, the position of the UE 204 is estimated based on UL SRS AoA measurement values taken at different TRPs (not shown). For example, the TRP can directly report the AoA measurement values to the LMF 270. Using the angle information (e.g., AoD or AoA) together with the TRP coordinate information and beam configuration details, the LMF 270 can estimate the location of the UE 204.

[0084]

[0108] In the case of multi-RTT location measurement, the LMF270 can initiate procedures for a plurality of TRPs (not shown) and UEs to perform gNB Rx-Tx measurement and UE Rx-Tx measurement respectively. For example, the gNB222 and the UE204 can each transmit a downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) and an uplink sounding reference signal (UL-SRS), whereby the gNB222 configures the UL-SRS to the UE204 using, for example, the RRC protocol. Next, the LMF270 can provide the DL-PRS configuration to the UE204. The resulting location measurement values are reported to the LMF270 by the UE204 and / or the gNB222 for performing location estimation of the UE204.

[0085]

[0109] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) (e.g., Technical Specification (TS) TS22.261, etc.) requires location measurement of devices (e.g., UEs) with sub-meter level performance. Conventional techniques for determining location measurement values using terrestrial systems use "code phase" or RSTD measurement techniques based on the time of arrival (ToA) of signals to determine distance. In an example of RSTD measurement, the UE receives signals from a plurality of adjacent eNBs, and the ToA from each eNB is subtracted from the ToA of the reference eNB to produce the observed time difference of arrival (ODToA) of each neighboring eNB. Each ODToA determines a hyperbola based on a known function, and the point where the hyperbolas intersect corresponds to the location of the UE. To solve for two coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE, at least three different timing measurement values from geographically dispersed eNBs with good geometry are required. RSTD measurement cannot meet the requirements of location measurement with sub-meter level performance due to timing errors and location errors that propagate to each ODToA measurement and reduce the accuracy of location measurement.

[0086]

[0110] The ground-based system can implement an angle of departure (AoD) method or a Zenith angle of departure (ZoD) method to provide better accuracy and resource utilization within the 3GPP system. There have been contributions proposing the use of phase measurements to improve 5G / NR location measurements, but the feasibility and performance of such proposals have not been fully studied in 3GPP.

[0087]

[0111] In some cases, phase measurement-based location measurements can be achieved using non-terrestrial systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which employs carrier phase positioning techniques to provide centimeter-level accuracy. Carrier phase positioning can be performed by determining timing and / or distance measurements using the wavelength of sub-carrier signals. In contrast to the RSTD measurement technique, carrier phase positioning estimates the phase of sub-carrier signals in the frequency domain.

[0088]

[0112] An example of a GNSS measurement technique that provides sub-meter level performance is to improve the accuracy of current satellite navigation (e.g., GNSS-based) systems by configuring network entities (e.g., base stations such as eNBs, gNBs) to measure sub-carrier signals, and use real-time kinematic positioning (RTK). The network entity retransmits the measured phase of the carrier signal to the UE. The UE also measures the phase of the carrier signal from the satellite and compares the phase measurement value at the UE with the phase measurement value at the network entity to determine the distance of the mobile device from the network entity. RTK positioning provides better accuracy than conventional GNSS measurement methods, but the accuracy is limited based on the accuracy of the network entity (e.g., base station), the line of sight to the satellite, and environmental conditions that can affect the measurements from the satellite system. For example, buildings can generate reflections that increase the phase error measured by the mobile device and cloudy conditions. RTK positioning is also limited to outdoor environments because the receiver device requires a line of sight to the satellite.

[0089]

[0113] Bluetooth can also use carrier phase measurement to provide centimeter-level high-precision positioning services, but is limited to indoor environments due to the limited range of Bluetooth communication. Carrier phase measurement using Bluetooth can be inaccurate because the reference device that transmits the carrier signal may not be fixed, and the inaccuracy of the location of the reference device propagates to the carrier phase measurement.

[0090]

[0114] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle computing system 350 of vehicle 304. Vehicle 304 is an example of a UE that can communicate with a network (e.g., eNB, gNB, positioning beacon, position measurement unit, and / or other network entities) via a Uu interface and can communicate with other UEs using V2X communication via a PC5 interface (or other direct device-to-device interface such as a DSRC interface). As shown, vehicle computing system 350 can include at least a power management system 351, a control system 352, an infotainment system 354, an intelligent transport system (ITS) 355, one or more sensor systems 356, and a communication system 358. In some cases, vehicle computing system 350 can include or be implemented using any type of processing device or system such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application processors (APs), graphics processing units (GPUs), vision processing units (VPUs), neural network signal processors (NSPs), microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems.

[0091]

[0115] The control system 352 can be configured to control one or more operations of the vehicle 304, the power management system 351, the computing system 350, the infotainment system 354, the ITS 355, and / or one or more other systems of the vehicle 304 (e.g., a braking system, a steering system, a safety system other than the ITS 355, a cabin system, and / or other systems). In some examples, the control system 352 can include one or more electronic control units (ECUs). An ECU can control one or more of the electronic systems or subsystems within the vehicle. Specific examples of ECUs that can be included as part of the control system 352 include, among others, an engine control module (ECM), a powertrain control module (PCM), a transmission control module (TCM), a brake control module (BCM), a central control module (CCM), and a central timing module (CTM). In some cases, the control system 352 can receive sensor signals from one or more sensor systems 356 and communicate with other systems of the vehicle computing system 350 to operate the vehicle 304.

[0092]

[0116] The vehicle computing system 350 also includes a power management system 351. In some implementations, the power management system 351 can include a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a standby battery, and / or other components. In some cases, other systems of the vehicle computing system 350 can include one or more PMICs, batteries, and / or other components. The power management system 351 can perform power management functions for the vehicle 304, such as managing the power supply for the computing system 350 and / or other parts of the vehicle. For example, the power management system 351 can provide a stable power supply considering power fluctuations based on, for example, starting the vehicle's engine. In another example, the power management system 351 can perform thermal monitoring operations by, for example, checking the ambient temperature and / or the transistor junction temperature. In another example, based on detecting a specific temperature level, the power management system 351 can perform certain functions, such as, among other functions, cooling a specific component of the vehicle computing system 350 (such as a control system 352, e.g., one or more ECUs) by a cooling system (such as one or more fans, an air conditioning system, etc.), shutting off a specific function of the vehicle computing system 350 (such as restricting the infotainment system 354 by, for example, shutting off one or more displays, disconnecting from a wireless network, etc.).

[0093]

[0117] The vehicle computing system 350 further includes a communication system 358. The communication system 358 can include both software components and hardware components for transmitting signals to a network (e.g., a gNB or other network entity via the Uu interface) and / or other UEs, and receiving signals from the network and / or other UEs (e.g., to another vehicle or UE via a PC5 interface, a WiFi interface (e.g., DSRC), a Bluetooth™ interface, and / or other wireless and / or wired interfaces). For example, the communication system 358 is configured to wirelessly transmit and receive information via any suitable wireless network (e.g., a 3G network, a 4G network, a 5G network, a WiFi network, a Bluetooth™ network, and / or other networks). The communication system 358 includes various components or devices used to implement the wireless communication function, including a subscriber identity module (referred to as a SIM or SIM card) 360 for a partner trademark manufacturer (OEM), a user SIM 362, and a modem 364. Although the vehicle computing system 350 is shown as having two SIMs and one modem, in some implementations, the computing system 350 can have any number of SIMs (e.g., one SIM or three or more SIMs) and any number of modems (e.g., one modem, two modems, or three or more modems).

[0094]

[0118] A SIM is a device (e.g., an integrated circuit) that can securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and related keys (e.g., encryption - decryption keys) of a specific subscriber or user. The IMSI and keys can be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber of a specific UE. The OEM SIM360 can be used by the communication system 358 to establish a wireless connection for vehicle - based operations, among other things, to implement an emergency - calling (eCall) function and to communicate with the vehicle manufacturer's communication system (e.g., for software updates). The OEM SIM360 can be important for the OEM SIM to support emergency services such as eCall for making emergency calls in the event of a car accident or other emergency. For example, eCall can include a service that automatically dials an emergency call number (e.g., "9 - 1 - 1" in the United States, "1 - 1 - 2" in Europe, etc.) in case of a vehicle accident and transmits the vehicle's location to emergency services such as the police and fire departments.

[0095]

[0119] The user SIM 362 can be used by a communication system 358 to implement a wireless network access function to support a user data connection (for example, among other things, for services related to calls, messaging, and infotainment). In some cases, the user's user device can be connected to the vehicle computing system 350 via an interface (for example, PC5, Bluetooth (trademark), WiFI (trademark) (for example, DSRC), universal serial bus (USB) port, and / or other wireless or wired interfaces). When connected, the user device can transfer the wireless network access function from the user device to the vehicle's communication system 358, in which case the user device can stop implementing the wireless network access function (for example, while the communication system 358 is implementing the wireless access function). The communication system 358 can start interacting with a base station and perform one or more wireless communication operations, such as facilitating calls and transmitting and / or receiving data (for example, messaging, video, audio, etc.). In such cases, other components of the vehicle computing system 350 can be used to output the data received by the communication system 358. For example, the infotainment system 354 (described below) can display the video received by the communication system 358 on one or more displays and / or output the audio received by the communication system 358 using one or more speakers.

[0096]

[0120] A modem is a device that modulates one or more carrier signals to encode digital information for transmission and demodulates the signal to decode the transmitted information. Modem 364 (and / or one or more other modems of communication system 358) can be used for data communication for OEM SIM 360 and / or user SIM 362. In some examples, modem 364 can include a 4G (or LTE) modem, and another modem (not shown) of communication system 358 can include a 5G (or NR) modem. In some examples, communication system 358 can include one or more Bluetooth (trademark) modems (e.g., for Bluetooth (trademark) Low Energy (Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE) or other types of Bluetooth communication), one or more WiFi (trademark) modems (e.g., for DSRC communication and / or other WiFi communication), wideband modems (e.g., ultra-wideband (UWB) modems), any combination thereof, and / or other types of modems.

[0097]

[0121] In some cases, modem 364 (and / or one or more other modems of communication system 358) can be used to perform V2X communication (e.g., in V2V communication with other vehicles, in D2D communication with other devices, in V2I communication with infrastructure systems, in V2P communication with pedestrian UEs, etc.). In some examples, communication system 358 can include a V2X modem used to perform V2X communication (e.g., sidelink communication via a PC5 interface or a DSRC interface), in which case the V2X modem can be separate from one or more modems used for wireless network access functions (e.g., network communication via a network / Uu interface and / or sidelink communication other than V2X communication).

[0098]

[0122] In some examples, the communication system 358 may be, or may include, a telematics control unit (TCU). In some implementations, the TCU can include a network access device (NAD) (which may also be referred to as a network control unit or NCU in some cases). The NAD can include a modem 364, any other modems not shown in FIG. 3, an OEM SIM 360, a user SIM 362, and / or other components used for wireless communication. In some examples, the communication system 358 can include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In some cases, as described below, the GNSS can be part of one or more sensor systems 356. The GNSS can provide the vehicle computing system 350 with the ability to implement one or more location services, navigation services, and / or other services that utilize GNSS functionality.

[0099]

[0123] In some cases, the communication system 358 can further include one or more wireless interfaces for transmitting and receiving wireless communication (e.g., including one or more transceivers and one or more baseband processors for each wireless interface), one or more wired interfaces for communicating via one or more hardwired connections (e.g., a serial interface such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) input, a lightning connector, and / or other wired interfaces), and / or other components that can enable the vehicle 304 to communicate with a network and / or other UEs.

[0100]

[0124] The vehicle computing system 350 can also include an infotainment system 354 that can control content and one or more output devices of the vehicle 304 that can be used to output the content. The infotainment system 354 can also be referred to as an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system or an in-car entertainment (ICE) system. The content can include, among other things, navigation content, media content (e.g., video content, music or other audio content, and / or other media content). The one or more output devices can include one or more graphical user interfaces, one or more displays, one or more speakers, one or more extended reality devices (e.g., VR, AR, and / or MR headsets), one or more haptic feedback devices (e.g., one or more devices configured to vibrate a seat, a steering wheel, and / or other parts of the vehicle 304), and / or other output devices.

[0101]

[0125] In some examples, computing system 350 can include an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) 355. In some examples, ITS 355 can be used to implement V2X communication. For example, the ITS stack of ITS 355 can generate V2X messages based on information from the application layer of the ITS. In some cases, the application layer can generate messages for use by ITS 355 and / or determine whether certain conditions are met for generating messages to be sent to other vehicles (in the case of V2V communication), pedestrian UEs (in the case of V2P communication), and / or infrastructure systems (in the case of V2I communication). In some cases, communication system 358 and / or ITS 355 can obtain Controller Area Network (CAN) information (e.g., from other components of the vehicle via a CAN bus). In some examples, communication system 358 (e.g., TCU NAD) can obtain CAN information via a CAN bus and send the CAN information to the PHY / MAC layer of ITS 355. ITS 355 can provide the CAN information to the ITS stack of ITS 355. The CAN information can include vehicle-related information such as, among other things, the orientation of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, and crash information. The CAN information can be provided to ITS 355 continuously or periodically (e.g., every 1 millisecond (ms), every 10 ms, etc.).

[0102]

[0126] The conditions used to determine whether to generate a message can be determined using CAN information based on safety-related applications and / or other applications, including road safety, traffic efficiency, infotainment, business-related uses, and / or other uses. In one exemplary example, ITS355 can perform lane change assistance or negotiation. For example, using CAN information, ITS355 can determine that the driver of vehicle 304 is attempting to change lanes from the current lane to an adjacent lane (e.g., based on the turn indicator being activated, based on the user changing direction or steering towards the adjacent lane, etc.). Based on determining that vehicle 304 is attempting to change lanes, ITS355 can determine that the lane change conditions associated with the message to be sent to other vehicles in the adjacent lane near that vehicle are met. ITS355 can trigger the ITS stack to generate one or more messages for transmission to other vehicles, which can be used to negotiate a lane change with other vehicles. Other examples of uses include, among others, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, pedestrian avoidance or protection (e.g., when a pedestrian is detected near vehicle 304 based on V2P communication with the user's UE, etc.), traffic sign recognition.

[0103]

[0127] ITS355 can generate messages (e.g., V2X messages) using any suitable protocol. Examples of protocols that can be used by ITS355 include one or more SAE standards such as Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) J2735, SAE J2945, SAE J3161, and / or other standards, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

[0104]

[0128] The security layer of ITS355 can be used to securely sign messages from the ITS stack that are sent to and verified by other UEs configured for V2X communication, such as other vehicles, pedestrian UEs, and / or infrastructure systems. The security layer can also verify messages received from such other UEs. In some implementations, the signing and verification processes can be based on the vehicle's security context. In some examples, the security context may include one or more encryption-decryption algorithms, public and / or private keys used to generate signatures using the encryption-decryption algorithms, and / or other information. For example, each ITS message generated by ITS355 can be signed by the security layer of ITS355. The signature can be obtained using a public key and an encryption-decryption algorithm. A vehicle, pedestrian UE, and / or infrastructure system that receives the signed message can verify the signature to ensure that the message is from an approved vehicle. In some examples, one or more encryption-decryption algorithms can include one or more symmetric encryption algorithms (e.g., advanced encryption standard (AES), data encryption standard (DES), and / or other symmetric encryption algorithms), one or more asymmetric encryption algorithms using public and private keys (e.g., Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and / or other asymmetric encryption algorithms), and / or other encryption-decryption algorithms.

[0105]

[0129] In some examples, ITS355 can determine a specific action (e.g., a V2X-based action) to perform based on messages received from other UEs. The actions can include safety-related actions and / or other actions, such as actions for road safety, traffic efficiency, infotainment, business, and / or other purposes. In some examples, the actions can include causing the vehicle (e.g., control system 352) to perform automated functions, such as automated braking, automated steering (e.g., to maintain direction in a particular lane), automated lane change negotiation with other vehicles, etc. For example, for one illustration, a message indicating that another vehicle has made an emergency stop can be received by the communication system 358 from another vehicle (e.g., via a PC5 interface, a DSRC interface, or a direct interface between other devices). In response to receiving the message, the ITS stack can generate a message or command and send the message or command to the control system 352, thereby causing the control system 352 to automatically brake the vehicle 304 so that the vehicle 304 stops before colliding with the other vehicle. For another example, for illustration, the actions can include triggering the display of messages, such as a message warning the driver that there is another vehicle in the adjacent lane to the vehicle, a message warning the driver to stop the vehicle, a message warning the driver that there is a pedestrian at a crosswalk ahead, a message warning the driver that a toll booth is within a certain distance (e.g., within one mile) from the vehicle.

[0106]

[0130] In some examples, ITS355 can receive a number of messages from other UEs (e.g., vehicles, RSUs, etc.), in which case ITS355 will authenticate (e.g., decrypt and decapsulate) each of the messages and / or determine which actions should be performed. Such a number of messages can lead to a large computational load for the vehicle computing system 350. In some cases, the large computational load can increase the temperature of the computing system 350. The increase in temperature of the components of the computing system 350 can adversely affect the ability of the computing system 350 to process a large number of incoming messages. Based on the temperature of the vehicle computing system 350 (or its components) exceeding or approaching one or more thermal levels, one or more functions can be migrated from the vehicle 304 to another device (e.g., a user device, an RSU, etc.). Migrating one or more functions can reduce the computational load on the vehicle 304 and help lower the temperature of the components. A thermal load balancer can be provided to enable the vehicle computing system 350 to perform thermal-based load balancing to control the processing load according to the temperature of the computing system 350 and the processing capacity of the vehicle computing system 350.

[0107]

[0131] Computing system 350 further includes one or more sensor systems 356 (e.g., including a first sensor system to an Nth sensor system, where N is a value greater than or equal to 0). When including a plurality of sensor systems, sensor system 356 can include different types of sensor systems that can be disposed on or within different parts of vehicle 304. Sensor system 356 can include one or more camera sensor systems, light or sound-based sensors such as depth sensors that use any suitable technique for determining depth (e.g., based on time-of-flight (ToF), structured light, or light-based depth sensing techniques or systems), a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver system (e.g., one or more global positioning system (GPS) receiver systems), accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), infrared sensor systems, laser rangefinder systems, ultrasonic sensor systems, very low frequency sensor systems, microphones, any combination thereof, and / or other sensor systems. It should be understood that any number of sensors or sensor systems can be included as part of the computing system 350 of vehicle 304.

[0108]

[0132] Although vehicle computing system 350 is shown as including certain components and / or systems, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that vehicle computing system 350 can include more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 3. For example, vehicle computing system 350 can also include one or more input devices and one or more output devices (not shown). In some implementations, vehicle computing system 350 can also include at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-executable instructions executed by the at least one processor (e.g., as part of, or separate from, control system 352, infotainment system 354, communication system 358, and / or sensor system 356). The at least one processor is in communication with and / or electrically connected to (referred to as “coupled” or “communicatively coupled”) the at least one memory. The at least one processor can include, for example, one or more microcontrollers, one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more application processors (e.g., for running or executing one or more software applications), and / or other processors. The at least one memory can include, for example, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM) (e.g., static RAM (SRAM)), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, one or more buffers, one or more databases, and / or other memories.Computer-executable instructions stored at least in or on a memory can be executed to perform one or more of the functions or operations described herein.

[0109]

[0133] FIG. 4 shows an example of a computing system 470 of a user equipment (UE) 407. In some examples, the UE 407 can include a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, glasses, an XR device, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, and / or other devices used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 can include software and hardware components that can be electrically coupled via a bus 489 (or communicate in other ways as appropriate). For example, the computing system 470 can include one or more processors 484. The one or more processors 484 can include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems. The bus 489 can be used by the one or more processors 484 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.

[0110]

[0134] Computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, an antenna 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., camera, mouse, keyboard, touch-sensitive screen, touch pad, keypad, microphone, etc.), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., display, speaker, printer, etc.). As used herein, one or more wireless transceivers 478 can include one or more receiving devices (e.g., receivers) and / or one or more transmitting devices (e.g., transmitters).

[0111]

[0135] One or more wireless transceivers 478 can transmit and receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) via antenna 487 to and from one or more other UEs, network nodes, or entities (e.g., base stations such as eNBs and / or gNBs, WiFi routers, etc.), cloud networks, etc., one or more other devices. As described herein, one or more wireless transceivers 478 can include a combined transmitter / receiver, individual transmitters, individual receivers, or any combination thereof. In some examples, computing system 470 can include multiple antennas. Wireless signal 488 may be transmitted via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a WiFi network), a Bluetooth™ network, and / or other networks. In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 can include a radio frequency (RF) front end including one or more components such as, among other components, an amplifier, a mixer (also referred to as a signal multiplier) for signal downconversion, a frequency synthesizer (also referred to as an oscillator) that provides a signal to the mixer, a baseband filter, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), one or more power amplifiers, etc. The RF front end can generally handle the selection of wireless signal 488 and the conversion to a baseband or intermediate frequency and can convert the RF signal into the digital domain.

[0112]

[0136] In some cases, computing system 470 can include an encoding - decoding device (or CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 can include an encryption - decryption device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 (e.g., according to the AES and / or DES standards).

[0113]

[0137] Each of the one or more SIMs 474 can securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and associated keys assigned to a user of UE 407. The IMSI and keys can be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or carrier associated with the one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 can modulate one or more signals to encode information to be transmitted using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 can also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, the one or more modems 476 can include 4G (or LTE) modems, 5G (or NR) modems, Bluetooth (trademark) modems, modems configured for vehicle - to - everything (V2X) communication, and / or other types of modems. In some examples, the one or more modems 476 and the one or more wireless transceivers 478 can be used to communicate data for the one or more SIMs 474.

[0114]

[0138] Computing system 470 can also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), which can be local storage and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, etc., that can be programmable, flash-updateable, etc., but are not limited thereto. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage device, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0115]

[0139] In various aspects, the functionality may be stored in memory device 486 as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) and may be executed by one or more processors 484 and / or one or more DSPs 482. Computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located within one or more memory devices 486) including other code such as, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more application programs, which may include computer programs that implement the functionality provided in various aspects as described herein and / or are designed to implement a method and / or configure a system.

[0116]

[0140] In some aspects, UE 407 can include means for performing the operations described herein. The means can include one or more of the components of computing system 470. For example, the means for performing the operations described herein may include one or more of input device 472, SIM 474, modem 476, wireless transceiver 478, output device 480, DSP 482, processor 484, memory device 486, and / or antenna 487.

[0117]

[0141] In some aspects, UE407 can include means for receiving a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. The resource block can include a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols. In some aspects, UE407 can further include means for processing at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot. UE407 can further include means for transmitting data such as the second sidelink PRS resource or other data or resources.

[0118]

[0142] In some aspects, UE407 can include means for receiving a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. The resource block includes a plurality of slot parts. In some cases, a first slot part among the plurality of slot parts includes a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols. In some aspects, UE407 can further include means for processing at least one resource in each slot part among the plurality of slot parts of the slot. UE407 can further include means for transmitting data such as the first sidelink PRS resource, the second sidelink PRS resource, or other data or resources.

[0119]

[0143] In some examples, the means for receiving can include one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more modems 476, one or more SIMs 474, one or more processors 484, one or more DSPs 482, one or more memory devices 486, any combination thereof, or other components of the client device. In some examples, the means for processing can include one or more processors 484, one or more DSPs 482, one or more memory devices 486, any combination thereof, or other components of the client device. In some examples, the means for transmitting can include one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more modems 476, one or more SIMs 474, one or more processors 484, one or more DSPs 482, one or more memory devices 486, any combination thereof, or other components of the client device.

[0120]

[0144] In some cases, a computing device or apparatus can include various components such as one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcomputers, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and / or other components configured to perform the steps of the processes described herein. In some examples, the computing device may include a display, one or more network interfaces configured to communicate and / or receive data, any combination thereof, and / or other components. The one or more network interfaces may be configured to communicate and / or receive wired data and / or wireless data, including data according to 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards, data according to the Wi-Fi (802.11x) standard, data according to the Bluetooth (trademark) standard, data according to the Internet Protocol (IP) standard, and / or other types of data.

[0121]

[0145] Components of a computing device can be implemented in circuitry. For example, the components can include one or more programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors, graphics processing units (GPUs), DSPs, central processing units (CPUs), and / or other suitable electronic circuits), and / or can include computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof, and / or can include, and / or can be implemented using, an electronic circuit or other electronic hardware that can perform the various operations described herein.

[0122]

[0146] A wireless communication network can support both access links and sidelinks for communication between wireless devices. An access link can refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) or other client device) and a base station (e.g., a 3GPP gNB, 3GPP eNB, Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station). For example, an access link can support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, and the like.

[0123]

[0147] Side link may refer to any communication link between client devices (e.g., UE, STA, etc.). For example, side link may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and / or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, message relaying, discovery signaling, beacon signaling, or any combination of these or other signals transmitted over the air from one UE to one or more other UEs. Depending on the desired implementation, side link communication may be implemented according to the 3GPP communication protocol side link (e.g., using the PC5 side link interface according to LTE, 5G, etc.), according to the Wi-Fi direct communication protocol (e.g., DSRC protocol), or using any other device-to-device communication protocol. As used herein, the term side link may refer to 3GPP side link (e.g., using the PC5 side link interface), Wi-Fi direct communication (e.g., according to the DSRC protocol), or using any other direct device-to-device communication protocol. In some examples, side link communication may be transmitted using a licensed frequency spectrum or an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz or 6 GHz).

[0124]

[0148] FIG. 5 shows an example 500 of wireless communication between devices based on sidelink communication such as V2X or other D2D communication. The communication may be based on a slot configuration (e.g., resource block) including the aspects described in relation to FIG. 8. For example, the transmitting UE 502 may transmit a transmission 514 including, for example, a control channel and / or a corresponding data channel, and the transmission 514 may be received by the receiving UEs 504, 506, 508. At least one UE may include a vehicle (e.g., a ground or air vehicle). The control channel may include information for decoding the data channel and may be used by the receiving device to avoid interference by refraining from transmitting on the occupied resources during data transmission. The number of TTIs and the resource blocks (RBs) occupied by the data transmission may be indicated by a control message from the transmitting device. Each of the UEs 502, 504, 506, 508 may be capable of operating as a transmitting device in addition to operating as a receiving device. Thus, UEs 506, 508 are shown as transmitting transmissions 516, 520. The transmissions 514, 516, 520 (and 518 by RSU 507) may be broadcast or multicast to nearby devices. For example, UE 514 may transmit a communication intended to be received by other UEs within the range 501 of UE 514. Additionally / alternatively, RSU 507 may receive communication 518 from UEs 502, 504, 506, 508 and / or may transmit communication 518 to them.

[0125]

[0149] Data or information communicated using access link or side link-based signals may be included in one or more resource blocks. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a resource block (RB) 600 (also referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) 600). The RB 600 has a time domain on the horizontal (or x-) axis and a frequency domain on the vertical (or y-) axis. As shown, the RB 600 may be 180 kilohertz (kHz) wide in frequency and 1 slot length in time (a slot is 1 millisecond (ms) in time). In some cases, a slot may include 14 symbols (e.g., in slot configuration 0). The RB 600 includes 12 subcarriers (along the y-axis) and 14 symbols (along the x-axis). The intersection of a symbol and a subcarrier may be referred to as a resource element (RE) or tone. For example, an RE is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol and is the smallest discrete part of a subframe. An RE contains a single complex-valued representing data from a physical channel or signal.

[0126]

[0150] A combined (comb) structure (also referred to as a tone pattern) may be defined as a specific arrangement of REs in a given resource block for the transmission of a reference signal. Comb structures are currently predefined in 3GPP communication standards (e.g., 5G / NR, 4G / LTE, etc.) and may be known to both user equipment (UE) and corresponding network entities (e.g., a base station or a part thereof).

[0127]

[0151] An example of a comb structure for a reference signal (e.g., PRS, SRS, etc.) is shown in FIG. 7. For example, the comb structure 710 is a comb 2 structure having two symbols (shown as a comb 2 / 2 symbol structure). According to the comb 2 / 2 symbol structure of the comb structure 710, every other symbol is allocated to a reference signal resource. The comb pattern in FIG. 7 is for one transmit-receive point (TRP). An overview of the comb structures 710, 712, 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, and 724 is shown in Table 1 below.

[0128]

Table 1

[0129]

[0152] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a slot structure 800 including a feedback resource (e.g., a feedback channel resource 820). In FIG. 8, the slot structure 800 has a time domain arranged on the horizontal (or x-) axis and a frequency domain arranged on the vertical (or y-) axis. The slot structure 800 can be 1 slot length in the time domain (e.g., 1 millisecond (ms) in time). The slot structure 800 can be composed of 14 (or alternatively 12) OFDM symbols. In FIG. 8, the slot structure 800 is shown as including 14 OFDM symbols. In one or more examples, the slot structure 800 can be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning).

[0130]

[0153] In FIG. 8, the slot structure 800 may include a plurality of different resources, which may include a gain control channel resource 812, a control channel resource 814, a shared sidelink channel resource 816, and a feedback channel resource 820. In one or more examples, the gain control channel resource 812 may be an automatic gain control (AGC) channel, each of the control channel resources 814 may be a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), each of the shared sidelink channel resources 816 may be a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and / or each of the feedback channel resources 820 may be a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). In some examples, the gain control channel resource 812 may include one OFDM symbol, the control channel resource 814 may include three OFDM symbols, the shared sidelink channel resource 816 may include nine OFDM symbols, and the feedback channel resource 820 may include two OFDM symbols. In some aspects, the different resources of the slot structure 800 (e.g., the gain control channel resource 812, the control channel resource 814, the shared sidelink channel resource 816, and the feedback channel resource 820) may include more or fewer OFDM symbols than those shown in the slot structure 800 of FIG. 8.

[0131]

[0154] In the case of the slot structure 800 of FIG. 8, the control channel resource 814 (e.g., PSCCH) may be frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) with at least some of the shared sidelink channel resources 816 (e.g., PSSCH). By frequency division multiplexing the control channel resource 814 with at least some of the shared sidelink channel resources 816, additional symbols become available for the control channel resource 814.

[0132]

[0155] In one or more examples, one OFDM symbol is dedicated to each feedback channel resource 820 (e.g., PSFCH). In some examples, the first symbol of the feedback channel resource 820 (e.g., PSFCH) can be a repetition of the second symbol of the slot structure 800 for automatic gain control (AGC) setting. In one or more examples, the feedback control resource 820 (e.g., PSFCH) can be configured using a period of 0, 1, 2, or 4 slots.

[0133]

[0156] The slot structure 800 of FIG. 8 may also include gaps 818a, 818b. The first gap 818a can be located between the last symbol of the shared sidelink channel resource 816 (e.g., PSSCH) and the first symbol of the feedback channel resource 820 (e.g., PSFCH). The second gap 818b can be located after the last symbol of the feedback channel resource 820 (e.g., PSFCH). There is no data in the gaps 818a and 818b (e.g., the gaps 818a, 818b may not contain any data and thus can be simply empty symbols). In one or more examples, the slot structure 800 may include more or fewer gaps 818a, 818b than those shown in FIG. 8.

[0134]

[0157] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of process 900 for sidelink control information having two stages for forward compatibility. In FIG. 9, during the operation of process 900, a first stage control 912 (e.g., sidelink control information type 1 format, SCI-1) can be transmitted on a control channel resource (e.g., PSCCH). The first stage control 912 (e.g., SCI-1) can include information for a resource allocation 914 (e.g., allocation of slots for positioning), and can include information for decoding a second stage control 916 (e.g., sidelink control information type 2 format, SCI-2). The second stage control 916 (e.g., SCI-2) can be transmitted on a shared sidelink channel resource (e.g., PSSCH). The second stage control 916 (e.g., SCI-2) can include information for decoding data 918 (e.g., on a shared channel (SCH)). SCI-2 can include information for the resource allocation 914 related to the symbol allocation of the allocated slots for PRS resources.

[0135]

[0158] In one or more examples, both the SCI-1 format and the SCI-2 format can employ a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) polar code. The polar code is used as an error correction code that polarizes a data channel into an extremely good bit channel and a bad bit channel.

[0136]

[0159] In some aspects, the first stage control 912 (e.g., SCI-1) can be decodable by a UE in all releases (e.g., releases 17 and 18), and a new SCI-2 format can be introduced in a future release (e.g., release 19). By doing so, this ensures that new features can be introduced while avoiding any possible resource collisions between releases.

[0137]

[0160] FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of a slot structure 1000 including a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) 1014. FIG. 10B is a diagram showing exemplary resource elements (REs) 1010 of the PSCCH 1014 of the slot structure 1000 of FIG. 10A. In FIG. 10A, the slot structure 1000 has a time domain on the horizontal (or x-) axis and a frequency domain on the vertical (or y-) axis. The slot structure 1000 may be 1 slot length in the time domain (e.g., 1 ms in time). The slot structure 1000 may include 14 (or alternatively 12) OFDM symbols. In FIG. 10A, the slot structure 1000 is shown as including 14 OFDM symbols. In some examples, the slot structure 1000 may be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning).

[0138]

[0161] In FIG. 10A, the slot structure 1000 may include a plurality of different resources, which may include a gain control channel resource 1012, a control channel resource 1014, and a shared sidelink channel resource 1016. In one or more examples, the gain control channel resource 1012 may be an AGC channel, each of the control channel resources 1014 may be a PSCCH, and each of the shared sidelink channel resources 1016 may be a PSSCH. In some examples, the gain control channel resource 1012 may include 1 OFDM symbol, the control channel resource 1014 may include 3 OFDM symbols, and the shared sidelink channel resource 1016 may include 12 OFDM symbols.

[0139]

[0162] In one or more examples, the first symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) of the slot structure 1000 may be utilized for the gain control channel resource 1012 (e.g., AGC). In some examples, the first symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) of the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH) may be the second symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) of the slot structure 1000 (e.g., after the first symbol of the slot structure 1000 that may be used for the gain control channel resource 1012).

[0140]

[0163] In some aspects, the various resources of the slot structure 1000 (e.g., the gain control channel resource 1012, the control channel resource 1014, and the shared sidelink channel resource 1016) may include more or fewer symbols than those shown in the slot structure 1000 of FIG. 10A. The slot structure 1000 of FIG. 10A may also include a gap 1018 without any data. The gap 1018 may be located after the last symbol of the shared sidelink channel resource 1016 (e.g., PSSCH). In one or more examples, the slot structure 1000 may include more gaps 1018 than those shown in FIG. 10A.

[0141]

[0164] In the case of the slot structure 1000 of FIG. 10A, the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH) may be frequency division multiplexed with at least some of the shared sidelink channel resources 1016 (e.g., PSSCH). By frequency division multiplexing the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH) with at least some of the shared sidelink channel resources 1016 (e.g., PSSCH), additional symbols become available for the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH).

[0142]

[0165] In one or more examples, the duration of the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH) may be preconfigured to include two or three symbols. In some examples, the control channel resource 1014 (e.g., PSCCH) may be preconfigured to span 10, 12, 15, 20, or 25 physical resource blocks (PRBs) limited to a single subchannel.

[0143]

[0166] Figure 10B shows exemplary resource elements (REs) 1010 that can be employed for the PSCCH 1014 of the slot structure 1000 of Figure 10A. In Figure 10B, the exemplary REs 1010 for the PSCCH 1014 are shown to include a plurality of PSCCH resource elements (REs) 1030 and a plurality of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) REs 1020. For example, in Figure 10B, at least one DMRS RE 1020 can be present in every PSCCH 1014 symbol (e.g., at least one DMRS RE 1020 can be present in each of the three PSCCH 1014 symbols). In some examples, the DMRS REs 1020 can be arranged on every fourth RE of each PSCCH 1014 symbol, as shown for the REs 1010 in Figure 10B. In one or more examples, a frequency domain-orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) can be applied to the DMRS REs 1020 to reduce any impact of colliding PSCCH 1014 transmissions. In some examples, the transmitting (Tx) UE can randomly select the FD-OCC to be used from a predefined set of FD-OCCs.

[0144]

[0167] Figure 11A is a diagram showing an example of a self-contained slot structure 1100 for ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLCC) for a downlink (DL) centric data slot structure. Figure 11B is a diagram showing an example of a self-contained slot structure 1110 for URLCC for an uplink (UL) centric data slot structure. URLCC enables meeting the stringent reliability and latency requirements of mission and safety-critical applications. Such mission-critical cases can be found, for example, in industrial automation, real-time control, extended reality / virtual reality-based applications, and consumer-oriented services.

[0145]

[0168] In one or more examples, the self - contained slot structures 1100, 1110 of FIGS. 11A and 11B enable a significant improvement in UL / DL turnaround time compared to LTE by providing feedback within the same slots 1100, 1110 that enable data scheduling at the symbol level. In one or more examples, for 5G NR, the slot structures 1100, 1110 may have a scalable slot duration, such as 500 microseconds (μs) at a 30 kilohertz (kHz) tone spacing to 125 μs for a 125 kHz tone spacing, to further reduce any possible air - interface latency. The self - contained slot structures 1110, 1110 of FIGS. 11A and 11B may be utilized for time - division duplexing (TDD).

[0146]

[0169] In one or more examples, the self - contained slot structures 1100, 1110 of FIGS. 11A and 11B provide UL and / or DL scheduling, data, and / or an acknowledgment that occur within the same slot. The self - contained slot structure 1100 of FIG. 11A shows an example of a DL - centric data slot that provides DL scheduling, DL data, and UL feedback within the same slot. In particular, the self - contained slot structure 1100 of FIG. 11A includes DL control 1102 by one of the symbols of this slot structure, DL data 1103 by four of the symbols of this slot structure, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) processing time 1104 at eight of the symbols of this slot structure, and an acknowledgment (ACK) 1105 to provide feedback at one of the symbols of this slot structure.

[0147]

[0170] The self - contained slot structure 1110 in FIG. 11B shows an example of a UL - centric data slot that provides DL scheduling, UL data, and DL feedback in the next slot. Specifically, the self - contained slot structure 1110 in FIG. 11B includes DL control 1112 by one of the symbols of this slot structure, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) preparation time 1114 with eight of the symbols of this slot structure, and UL data 1113 with five of the symbols thereof.

[0148]

[0171] In some aspects, self - contained slots (e.g., the slot structures 1100, 1110 in FIGS. 11A and 11B) can be employed (e.g., for processing time or preparation time) to accommodate special cases of slots that include DL, UL, and guard symbols for various use cases (e.g., for ultra - reliable and low - latency communication (URLCC)). In one or more examples, a first use case can enable low - latency DL data transfer. In the first use case, the UE can use the last symbol in a DL slot (e.g., the slot structure 1100 in FIG. 11A) mainly to send hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. In some examples, the HARQ feedback can include the result of a cyclic - redundancy check (CRC) for a transport block corresponding to the DL data portion of the same slot. This first use case provides improved latency for re - transmission.

[0149]

[0172] In one or more examples, the second use case may enable low latency UL data transfer. For the second use case, the UE may decode a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in an initial symbol (e.g., the first, second, or third symbol) of a slot (e.g., slot structure 1110 of FIG. 11B) and use the remaining symbols after a guard time (e.g., a preparation time) to potentially transmit UL data along with UL control. This second use case provides improved latency between scheduling and UL data transmission.

[0150]

[0173] In some aspects, whether the UE supports the use of self - contained slots (e.g., slot structures 1100, 1110 of FIGS. 11A and 11B) may depend on the UE capabilities. In some cases, the UE may communicate its capabilities during radio resource control (RRC) connection setup. Since the same HARQ process ID may be reused for another transmission after data and feedback are transmitted, self - contained slots (e.g., slot structures 1100, 1110 of FIGS. 11A and 11B) can reduce the number of HARQ processes required for continuous data scheduling.

[0151]

[0174] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system 1200 that may employ a disclosed self - contained positioning resource slot structure (e.g., slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605 of FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14, 15, 16A, and 16B) for sidelink positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In FIG. 12, system 1200 is shown to include a plurality of network devices and network entities. The plurality of network devices can be of various different types of forms including, but not limited to, mobile devices or phones (e.g., UE1210a, 1210b), extended reality (XR) devices such as augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) headsets, network - connected or smart watches, and vehicles (e.g., vehicle 304 of FIG. 3), including UE1210a, 1210b. The network entity can be in the form of a location server 1230 such as a location management function (LMF). The network entity can be in the form of a base station 1220 (e.g., gNB or eNB), or a part of a base station (e.g., one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near - real - time (near - RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non - real - time (non - RT) RIC). In one or more examples, the network entities (e.g., base station 1220 and location server 1230) can be collocated together or located remotely from each other.

[0152]

[0175] System 1200 may include more or fewer network devices and / or more or fewer network entities than those shown in FIG. 12. Additionally, system 1200 may include more or fewer different types of network devices (e.g., vehicles) and / or network entities (e.g., network servers) than those shown in FIG. 12. Additionally, in one or more examples, network devices (e.g., UE1210a, 1210b) may be equipped with heterogeneous capabilities including, but not limited to, C-V2X / DSRC capabilities, 4G / 5G cellular connectivity, GPS capabilities, camera capabilities, or other sensor-based capabilities (e.g., optical or sound-based sensors such as depth sensors using any suitable technique for determining depth).

[0153]

[0176] Network devices (e.g., UE1210a, 1210b) and network entities (e.g., base station 1220 and location server 1230) may be capable of performing communication (e.g., 5G NR communication). In such a case, UE1210a, 1210b may transmit signal 1240 to each other. UE1210a, 1210b and base station 1220 may transmit signals 1260a, 1260b to each other. When location server 1230 is remotely located from base station 1220, location server 1230 and base station 1220 may transmit signal 1250 to each other.

[0154]

[0177] In some cases, at least some of the network devices can transmit and receive sensing signals (e.g., RF sensing signals and / or optical sensing signals such as using optical or sound-based sensors) for using one or more sensors to detect nearby UEs and / or objects. In some cases, the network device can detect nearby UEs and / or objects based on one or more images or frames captured using one or more cameras. In one or more examples, the network device may be able to transmit and receive certain sensing signals (e.g., cameras, RF sensing signals, optical sensing signals, etc.).

[0155]

[0178] In one or more examples, at least some of the UEs 1210a, 1210b may perform positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). Sidelink positioning utilizes reference signals (e.g., PRSs) to obtain the position of a UE relative to other objects such as other UEs. In particular, sidelink positioning utilizes round-trip time (RTT) measurements of positioning reference signals (PRSs). For example, when two UEs (e.g., UEs 1210a, 1210b) desire to position themselves relative to each other, each of the UEs can transmit a PRS, and each of the UEs can measure the RTT of their respective transmitted signals. From the measured RTTs, each of the UEs can determine the distances of these UEs from each other and accordingly position themselves.

[0156]

[0179] In some cases, during operation of the system 1200, some of the network devices (e.g., UE1210a, 1210b) may determine the positions of these network devices relative to other UEs and, accordingly, may decide to perform positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning) to position themselves accordingly. For example, UE1210a and 1210b may determine the distances between these UEs from each other to determine their own positions accordingly. In such a case, during operation, UE1210a (e.g., the first UE) may transmit a first positioning signal 1240 (e.g., including a first PRS resource) to UE1210b (e.g., the second UE). After UE1210b receives the first positioning signal 1240 from UE1210a, UE1210b may process the first PRS resource (e.g., by calculating the RTT of the first positioning signal 1240 based on the time when the first positioning signal 1240 was transmitted by UE1210a and the time when the first positioning reference signal 1240 was received by UE1210b) to generate a first positioning measurement estimate that may include channel estimation, time of arrival (TOA) estimate, and / or angle of arrival (AOA) estimate. Then, UE1210b may generate a first measurement report that may include the first positioning measurement estimate. Then, UE1210b may transmit the first measurement report to UE1210a.

[0157]

[0180] Also, during operation, UE1210b (e.g., the second UE) may transmit a second positioning signal 1240 (e.g., including a second PRS resource) to UE1210a (e.g., the first UE). After UE1210a receives the second positioning signal 1240 from UE1210b, UE1210a may process the second PRS resource (e.g., by calculating the RTT of the second positioning signal 1240 based on the time the second positioning signal 1240 was transmitted by UE1210b and the time the second positioning reference signal 1240 was received by UE1210a) to generate a second positioning measurement estimate that may include a channel estimate value, a TOA estimate value, and / or an AOA estimate value. Then, UE1210a may generate a second measurement report that may include the second positioning measurement estimate. Then, UE1210a may transmit the second measurement report to UE1210b.

[0158]

[0181] After UE1210a receives the first measurement report from UE1210b and UE1210b receives the second measurement report from UE1210a, UE1210a and 1210b may utilize the information in the measurement reports (e.g., the first measurement report and the second measurement report) accordingly to position themselves.

[0159]

[0182] In some aspects, the positioning resources (e.g., of the first and second positioning signals 1240) may adopt a self - contained positioning resource slot structure as described herein. Examples of self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605 that may be adopted for the positioning resources are shown in FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14, 15, 16A, and 16B, which are described in more detail below.

[0160]

[0183] Therefore, FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14, 15, 16A, and 16B are diagrams showing examples of self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605 that can be utilized by the disclosed system (e.g., system 1200 of FIG. 12) for sidelink positioning. The self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605 can enable low - latency applications for sidelink positioning. By arranging a transmission positioning resource (Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource (Rx PRS resource) close to each other within a slot, it is possible to reduce end - to - end positioning latency and enable single / common triggering and scheduling of both types of positioning resources (e.g., Tx PRS resource and Rx PRS resource).

[0161]

[0184] In some aspects, each of the self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500 of FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14, and 15 may include minislots. In one or more examples, a plurality of reserved minislots within a slot structure (e.g., slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500) may be in the same - order locations within their respective slots (e.g., all of the reserved minislots may be in the first minislot within the slot structure to which they belong).

[0162]

[0185] In particular, FIGS. 13A and 13B show self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305 of a first option, where both the Tx positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and the received positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource) can be transmitted within the same mini - slot (e.g., within mini - slots 1310, 1320a, 1320b, etc.). FIG. 14 shows a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1400 of a second option, where the Tx positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and the received positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource) can be provided in different mini - slots of the slot structure 1400 (e.g., within mini - slots 1410a and 1410b). FIG. 15 shows a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1500 of a third option, where the Tx positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource), the received positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information (e.g., measurement results and reports) can be provided in different mini - slots of the slot structure 1500 (e.g., within mini - slot 1510a, within mini - slot 1510b, and within mini - slot 1510c), which can enable the reports and positioning resources (e.g., Tx PRS resource, Rx PRS resource) to be jointly triggered and scheduled together.

[0163]

[0186] The self - contained positioning resource slot structures 1600, 1605 of FIGS. 16A and 16B may each include only a single slot. For example, FIG. 16A shows a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1600 for a second UE (e.g., UE1210b of FIG. 12), where the transmitted positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource), the received positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information can be provided within the slot structure 1600. FIG. 16B shows a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1605 for a first UE (e.g., UE1210a of FIG. 12), where the transmitted positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource), the received positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information can be provided within the slot structure 1605.

[0164]

[0187] In some aspects, the SCI formats (e.g., SCI-1 and SCI-2) discussed with respect to FIG. 9 can be used for sidelink resource allocation for the self-contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605. In one or more examples, the SCI (which can be used, for example, for configuring the positioning resources) can include an additional field for specifying whether positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource and / or Rx PRS resource) reservation is applicable at the minislot level (as opposed to, for example, the slot level). In one or more examples, an SCI such as the SCI-2 format can include an additional field for specifying whether positioning resource (e.g., PRS resource) reservation is applicable at the slot level or at the minislot level.

[0165]

[0188] Details of the various different self-contained positioning resource slot structures 1300, 1305, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1605 of FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14, 15, 16A, and 16B that can be employed by the disclosed system (e.g., system 1200 of FIG. 12) are discussed below.

[0166]

[0189] FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1300 of a single mini - slot 1310 that includes both a transmission positioning resource 1316b (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource 1316a (e.g., Rx PRS resource) according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In FIG. 13A, the slot structure 1300 has a time domain arranged along the horizontal (or x -) axis and a frequency domain arranged along the vertical (or y -) axis. The slot structure 1300 can be 1 slot length (e.g., 1 ms in time) in the time domain. In one or more examples, the slot structure 1300 can be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). In FIG. 13A, the slot structure 1300 is shown to include a single mini - slot 1310. In one or more examples, the slot structure 1300 of FIG. 13A may include more mini - slots than shown in FIG. 13A.

[0167]

[0190] As shown in FIG. 13A, the mini-slot 1310 of the slot structure 1300 may include a gain control resource (e.g., AGC resource) 1312 and a plurality of positioning resources 1316a, 1316b (e.g., PRS resources that may include Tx PRS resources and Rx PRS resources for sidelink positioning). As shown in FIG. 13A, although only one positioning resource 1316a, 1316b (for each of the Rx PRS resource and the Tx PRS resource, for example) is labeled with a reference number for simplicity for each of the different types of positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resources and Tx PRS resources), each of the different types of positioning resources for the mini-slot 1310 of the slot structure 1300 may include four positioning resources (one resource in each symbol) among four symbols of the mini-slot 1310. In particular, the mini-slot 1310 includes four positioning resources that are Rx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1316a) and four positioning resources that are Tx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1316b). In one or more examples, the mini-slot 1310 of the slot structure 1300 in FIG. 13A may include more or fewer positioning resources than those shown in FIG. 13A, and / or may include more or fewer different types of resources for symbols than those shown in FIG. 13A.

[0168]

[0191] In one or more examples, in FIG. 13A, the mini-slot 1310 may include the Rx PRS resource 1316a of the comb 4 / symbol 4 format (e.g., the comb structure 712 of FIG. 7) starting from symbol 2 of the slot structure 1300, and may include the Tx PRS resource 1316b of the comb 4 / symbol 4 format starting from symbol 10 of the slot structure 1300. Thus, the same mini-slot 1310 may be used for both the Tx PRS resource 1316b and the Rx PRS resource 1316a from the same UE (e.g., the UEs 1210a, 1210b of FIG. 12).

[0169]

[0192] FIG. 13B is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1305 including mini - slots 1320a, 1320b according to some aspects of the present disclosure, in which both transmission positioning resources 1326b, 1326d (e.g., Tx PRS resources) and reception positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resources) 1326a, 1326c are included in the same mini - slots 1320a, 1320b. In particular, the slot structure 1305 may include two mini - slots 1320a, 1320b, each including both transmission positioning resources 1326b, 1326d (e.g., Tx PRS resources) and reception positioning resources 1326a, 1326c (e.g., Rx PRS resources). For example, the first mini - slot (e.g., mini - slot 1320a) may include a transmission positioning resource 1326b (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource 1326a (e.g., Rx PRS resource). The second mini - slot (e.g., mini - slot 1320b) may include a transmission positioning resource 1326d (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource 1326c (e.g., Rx PRS resource).

[0170]

[0193] In FIG. 13B, the slot structure 1305 is arranged with the time domain on the horizontal (or x -) axis and the frequency domain on the vertical (or y -) axis. The slot structure 1305 may be 1 slot length (e.g., 1 ms in time) in the time domain. In one or more examples, the slot structure 1305 may be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). In FIG. 13B, the slot structure 1305 is shown to include two mini - slots 1320a, 1320b. In one or more examples, the slot structure 1305 of FIG. 13B may include more or fewer mini - slots than shown in FIG. 13B.

[0171]

[0194] As shown in FIG. 13B, each of the mini-slots 1320a, 1320b of the slot structure 1305 includes an automatic gain control (AGC) resource 1322a, 1322b, a plurality of positioning resources 1326a, 1326b, 1326c, 1326d (e.g., PRS resources that can include Tx PRS resources and Rx PRS resources for sidelink positioning), and gaps 1328a, 1328b. The gaps 1328a, 1328b may be without any data (e.g., the gaps 1328a, 1328b may not include any data and thus may include empty symbols). In one or more examples, the slot structure 1305 may include more or fewer gaps 1328a, 1328b than shown in FIG. 13B.

[0172]

[0195] In FIG. 13B, for each of the different types of positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resources and Tx PRS resources) within each of the mini-slots 1320a, 1320b, for simplicity, only one positioning resource 1326a, 1326b, 1326c, 1326d (for each of the Rx PRS resources and Tx PRS resources, respectively) is labeled with a reference number, but each of the different types of positioning resources for the mini-slots 1320a, 1320b of the slot structure 1305 may include two positioning resources (one resource in each of two symbols) within two of the symbols of the corresponding mini-slots 1320a, 1320b. In particular, mini-slot 1320a may include two positioning resources that are Rx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1326a), and may include two positioning resources that are Tx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1326b). Mini-slot 1320b may include two positioning resources that are Rx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1326c), and may include two positioning resources that are Tx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1326d). In one or more examples, the mini-slots 1320a, 1320b of the slot structure 1305 in FIG. 13B may include more or fewer positioning resources than those shown in FIG. 13B, and / or may include more or fewer different types of resources for symbols than those shown in FIG. 13B.

[0173]

[0196] In one or more examples, in FIG. 13B, the mini-slot 1320a of the slot structure 1305 may include the Rx PRS resource 1326a of a comb 2 / symbol 2 format (e.g., the comb structure 710 of FIG. 7) starting with symbol 2 of the slot structure 1305, and may include the Tx PRS resource 1326b of a comb 2 / symbol 2 format starting with symbol 4 of the slot structure 1305. This same structure may be repeated in each of the subsequent mini-slots (e.g., mini-slot 1320b) for the repetition across the mini-slots 1320a, 1320b of the slot structure 1305.

[0174]

[0197] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1400 including mini - slots 1410a, 1410b according to some aspects of the present disclosure. A transmission positioning resource 1416b (e.g., Tx PRS resource) and a reception positioning resource 1416a (e.g., Rx PRS resource) are provided in different mini - slots 1410a, 1410b. In particular, the slot structure 1400 may include two mini - slots 1410a, 1410b, each including a single type of positioning resource (e.g., either a transmission positioning resource or a reception positioning resource). For example, the first mini - slot (e.g., mini - slot 1410a) may include a reception positioning resource 1416a (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and the second mini - slot (e.g., mini - slot 1410b) may include a transmission positioning resource 1416b (e.g., Tx PRS resource).

[0175]

[0198] In FIG. 14, the slot structure 1400 has the time domain arranged along the horizontal (or x -) axis and the frequency domain arranged along the vertical (or y -) axis. The slot structure 1400 may be 1 slot long in the time domain (e.g., 1 ms in time). In one or more examples, the slot structure 1400 may be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). In FIG. 14, the slot structure 1400 is shown to include two mini - slots 1410a, 1410b. The slot structure 1400 of FIG. 14 may include more or fewer mini - slots than shown in FIG. 13B.

[0176]

[0199] As shown in FIG. 14, each of the mini-slots 1410a, 1410b of the slot structure 1400 may include an automatic gain control (AGC) resource 1412a, 1412b, a plurality of positioning resources 1416a, 1416b (e.g., a PRS resource that can include a Tx PRS resource or an Rx PRS resource for sidelink positioning), and gaps 1418a, 1418b. The gaps 1418a, 1418b may have no data (e.g., the gaps 1418a, 1418b may not include any data and thus may include empty symbols). The slot structure 1400 may include more or fewer gaps 1418a, 1418b than shown in FIG. 14.

[0177]

[0200] In FIG. 14, for each of the different types of positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resources and Tx PRS resources) within each of the mini-slots 1410a, 1410b, for simplicity, only one positioning resource 1416a, 1416b (for each of the Rx PRS resources and Tx PRS resources, respectively) is labeled with a reference number. However, each of the different types of positioning resources for the mini-slots 1410a, 1410b of the slot structure 1400 may include four positioning resources (one resource in each symbol) among four of the symbols of the corresponding mini-slots 1410a, 1410b. In particular, the mini-slot 1410a may include four positioning resources (including the positioning resource 1416a) that are Rx PRS resources. The mini-slot 1410b may include four positioning resources (including the positioning resource 1416b) that are Tx PRS resources. In one or more examples, the mini-slots 1410a, 1410b of the slot structure 1400 in FIG. 14 may include more or fewer positioning resources than shown in FIG. 14 and / or may include more or fewer different types of resources for symbols than shown in FIG. 14.

[0178]

[0201] In one or more examples, in FIG. 14, the mini-slot 1410a of the slot structure 1400 may include an Rx PRS resource 1416a of a comb 4 / symbol 4 format (e.g., the comb structure 712 of FIG. 7) starting with symbol 2 of the slot structure 1400. The mini-slot 1410b of the slot structure 1400 may include a Tx PRS resource 1416b of a comb 4 / symbol 4 format starting with symbol 10 of the slot structure 1400.

[0179]

[0202] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a self-contained positioning resource slot structure 1500 including mini-slots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c according to some aspects of the present disclosure, where a transmission positioning resource 1510b (e.g., a Tx PRS resource), a reception positioning resource 1516a (e.g., an Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information (e.g., a measurement report transmitted on one or more shared sidelink channel resources such as a PSSCH resource 1514) are provided in different mini-slots 1516a, 1510b, 1510c. In particular, the slot structure 1500 may include three mini-slots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c each including a single type of positioning resource (e.g., either a transmission positioning resource or a reception positioning resource) or data transfer information. For example, the first mini-slot (e.g., mini-slot 1510a) may include a reception positioning resource 1516a (e.g., an Rx PRS resource), the second mini-slot (e.g., mini-slot 1510b) may include a transmission positioning resource 1516b (e.g., a Tx PRS resource), and the third mini-slot (e.g., mini-slot 1510c) may include one or more shared sidelink channel resources such as a PSSCH resource 1514.

[0180]

[0203] In FIG. 15, the slot structure 1500 has the time domain arranged along the horizontal (or x-) axis and the frequency domain arranged along the vertical (or y-) axis. The slot structure 1500 can be 1 slot length in the time domain (e.g., 1 ms in time). In one or more examples, the slot structure 1500 can be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). In FIG. 15, the slot structure 1500 is shown to include three minislots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c. The slot structure 1500 of FIG. 15 may include more or fewer minislots than shown in FIG. 15.

[0181]

[0204] As shown in FIG. 15, the first minislot of the slot structure 1500 (e.g., minislot 1510a) may include an automatic gain control (AGC) resource 1512. The first minislot (e.g., minislot 1510a) and the second minislot (e.g., minislot 1510b) may include a plurality of positioning resources 1516a, 1516b (e.g., PRS resources that can include Tx PRS resources or Rx PRS resources for sidelink positioning), and gaps 1518a, 1518b. There is no data in the gaps 1518a, 1518b. The slot structure 1500 may include more or fewer gaps 1518a, 1518b than shown in FIG. 15. The third minislot of the slot structure 1500 (e.g., minislot 1510c) may include one or more shared sidelink channel resources (e.g., PSSCH resource 1514) that can be used to transmit data such as a measurement report generated from sidelink positioning.

[0182]

[0205] In FIG. 15, for each of the different types of positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resource or Tx PRS resource) within each of the first two minislots 1510a, 1510b, for simplicity, only one positioning resource 1516a, 1516b (e.g., for each of the Rx PRS resource and the Tx PRS resource) is labeled with a reference number. However, each of the different types of positioning resources for the minislots 1510a, 1510b of the slot structure 1500 may include two positioning resources (one resource in each of two symbols) among the symbols of the corresponding minislots 1510a, 1510b. In particular, minislot 1510a may include two positioning resources, which are Rx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1516a). Minislot 1510b may include two positioning resources, which are Tx PRS resources (including positioning resource 1516b).

[0183]

[0206] As shown in FIG. 15, for the shared sidelink channel resource within the third minislot 1510c, for simplicity, only one shared sidelink channel resource (e.g., PSSCH 1514) is labeled with a reference number. However, the shared sidelink channel resource for the minislot 1510c of the slot structure 1500 may include three shared sidelink channel resources (one resource in each of three symbols) among the symbols of the minislot 1510c. In particular, minislot 1510c may include three shared sidelink channel resources, each of which may be a PSSCH resource (including, for example, PSSCH 1514). In one or more examples, the minislots 1510a, 1510c of the slot structure 1500 in FIG. 15 may include more or fewer positioning resources than those shown in FIG. 15, and / or may include more or fewer different types of resources for symbols than those shown in FIG. 15.

[0184]

[0207] In one or more examples, in FIG. 15, the minislot 1510a of the slot structure 1500 may include an Rx PRS resource 1516a of a comb 2 / symbol 2 format (e.g., the comb structure 710 of FIG. 7) starting from symbol 2 of the minislot 1510a of the slot structure 1500. The minislot 1510b of the slot structure 1500 may include a Tx PRS resource 1516b of a comb 2 / symbol 2 format starting from symbol 2 of the minislot 1510b of the slot structure 1500.

[0185]

[0208] As described above, in the case of sidelink positioning, a UE (e.g., UE1210a in FIG. 12) would need to transmit and receive PRS (e.g., Tx PRS resources and Rx PRS resources) to perform an RTT for the sidelink positioning method. In one or more examples, the symbols of the minislots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c of slot 1500 are configured using resources that comply with the capabilities of a UE (e.g., UE1210a in FIG. 12) for sidelink positioning. In one or more examples, the capabilities of a UE for sidelink positioning may include the amount of time it takes for the UE to process PRS symbols inside the minislots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c of the slot structure 1500 (e.g., to generate positioning measurement estimates such as channel estimation values), and / or may include the minimum number of symbols required between two PRS resources (e.g., Tx PRS resources and / or Rx PRS resources) within different minislots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c of the slot structure 1500. For example, a gap (e.g., gap 1518a) may be placed at the end of a minislot (e.g., minislot 1510a) such that the gap (e.g., gap 1518a) is placed between adjacent minislots (e.g., minislots 1510a, 1510b) to prevent any possible interference caused by a switch 1530 between different positioning resources (e.g., a switch 1530 between Rx PRS resource 1516a and Tx PRS resource 1516b).

[0186]

[0209] In one or more examples, the symbols of the mini-slots 1510a, 1510b, 1510c of the slot 1500 are composed of resources that conform to the capabilities of a UE (e.g., UE 1210a in FIG. 12) for generating and reporting positioning measurement results. In one or more examples, the capabilities of the UE for generating and reporting positioning measurement results may include the minimum amount of time it takes for the UE to process PRS symbols (e.g., generate positioning measurement estimates such as channel estimates) and send measurement reports back to another UE (e.g., UE 1210b) or LMF (e.g., LMF 1230 in FIG. 12), and / or may include the minimum amount of time between PRS scheduling and measurement reporting scheduling. For example, the duration 1520 (e.g., number of symbols) required between the end of the reception of the Rx PRS resource 1516a by the UE and the start of the transmission of the measurement report by the UE depends on the capabilities of the UE regarding the speed required by the UE to generate positioning measurement estimates (e.g., channel estimates) from the PRS resource and generate positioning measurement reports. Therefore, the duration 1520 needs to be longer than the time required by the UE to generate positioning measurement estimates and positioning measurement reports.

[0187]

[0210] FIG. 16A shows an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1600 for a second UE (e.g., UE 1210b in FIG. 12) according to some aspects of the present disclosure, in which a transmission positioning resource 1616b (e.g., Tx PRS resource), a reception positioning resource 1616a (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information (e.g., a measurement report transmitted in a shared sidelink channel resource 1614 such as PSSCH) are provided within a slot structure 1600. FIG. 16B shows an example of a self - contained positioning resource slot structure 1605 for a first UE (e.g., UE 1210a in FIG. 12), where a transmission positioning resource (e.g., Tx PRS resource), a reception positioning resource (e.g., Rx PRS resource), and data transfer information (e.g., a measurement report transmitted in a shared sidelink channel resource 1624 such as PSSCH) are provided within a slot structure 1605.

[0188]

[0211] In FIGS. 16A and 16B, slot structures 1600 and 1650 each have the time domain arranged along the horizontal (or x-) axis and the frequency domain arranged along the vertical (or y-) axis. The slot structures 1600 and 1650 can each be 1 slot length (e.g., 1 ms in time) in the time domain. In one or more examples, the slot structures 1600 and 1605 can each be employed for positioning (e.g., sidelink positioning). In FIGS. 16A and 16B, the slot structures 1600 and 1605 are each shown as including a single slot 1600 and 1605, respectively.

[0189]

[0212] As shown in FIG. 16A, slot structure 1600 can include an automatic gain control (AGC) resource 1612, SCIs 1613 and 1615, a plurality of positioning resources 1616a and 1616b (e.g., PRS resources that can include Tx PRS resources or Rx PRS resources for sidelink positioning), a shared sidelink channel resource 1614 (e.g., PSSCH), and gaps 1618a, 1618b, 1618c, and 1618d. There is no data in gaps 1618a, 1618b, 1618c, and 1618d. Slot structure 1600 may include more or fewer gaps 1618a, 1618b, 1618c, and 1618d than those shown in FIG. 16A. The shared sidelink channel resource 1614 (e.g., PSSCH) can be utilized for transmitting measurement reports generated from sidelink positioning. The SCI can include SCI-1 1613 and SCI-2 1615 frequency division multiplexed with each other.

[0190]

[0213] In FIG. 16A, there is only one positioning resource 1616a, 1616b (for each of, for example, the Rx PRS resource and the Tx PRS resource), and each of the different types of positioning resources (for example, the Rx PRS resource or the Tx PRS resource) is labeled with a reference number. However, each of the different types of positioning resources in the slot structure 1600 may include two or three positioning resources (one resource in each symbol) among two or three of the symbols of the slot structure 1600. In particular, the slot structure 1600 may include two positioning resources that are Rx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1616a) and three positioning resources that are Tx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1616b).

[0191]

[0214] As shown in FIG. 16B, the slot structure 1605 may include automatic gain control (AGC) resources 1622a, 1622b, SCI 1623, 1625, a plurality of positioning resources 1626a, 1626b (for example, PRS resources that can include Tx PRS resources or Rx PRS resources for sidelink positioning), a shared sidelink channel resource 1624 (for example, PSSCH), and gaps 1628a, 1628b, 1628c, 1628d. There is no data in the gaps 1628a, 1628b, 1628c, 1628d. The slot structure 1605 may include more or fewer gaps 1628a, 1628b, 1628c, 1628d than those shown in FIG. 16B. The shared sidelink channel resource 1624 (for example, PSSCH) may be used to transmit measurement reports generated from sidelink positioning. The SCI may include SCI-1 1623 and SCI-2 1625 frequency division multiplexed with each other.

[0192]

[0215] In FIG. 16B, for the sake of simplicity for each of different types of positioning resources (e.g., Rx PRS resources or Tx PRS resources), only one positioning resource 1626a, 1626b (for each of the Rx PRS resource and the Tx PRS resource, respectively) is labeled with a reference number. However, each of the different types of positioning resources in the slot structure 1605 may include two positioning resources (one resource in each symbol) among two of the symbols of the slot structure 1605. In particular, the slot structure 1605 may include two positioning resources that are Rx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1626b) and two positioning resources that are Tx PRS resources (including the positioning resource 1626a).

[0193]

[0216] The slot structures 1600, 1605 in FIGS. 16A and 16B can be viewed together for a sidelink positioning procedure implemented between two UEs (e.g., UEs 1210a and 1210b in FIG. 12). In some aspects, each of the slot structures 1600, 1605 includes different positioning resources (e.g., Tx PRS resources or Rx PRS resources) compared to each other during at least some of the same time (e.g., during at least some of the same symbols within corresponding slots). For example, in the case of symbols 5 and 6 (where the first symbol corresponds to symbol 0, from the left of the slot structures 1600, 1605), the slot structure 1600 includes a reception positioning resource 1616a (e.g., an Rx PRS resource), and conversely, the slot structure 1605 includes a transmission positioning resource 1626a (e.g., a Tx PRS resource). For symbols 9 and 10, the slot structure 1600 includes a transmission positioning resource 1616b (e.g., a Tx PRS resource), and conversely, the slot structure 1605 includes a reception positioning resource 1626b (e.g., an Rx PRS resource).

[0194]

[0217] In one or more examples, the slot structures 1600, 1605 of FIGS. 16A and 16B provide a co-trigger within a single slot. During operation of the sidelink positioning procedure, a first UE (e.g., UE 1210a of FIG. 12) may transmit a first PRS (e.g., a transmission positioning resource 1626a such as a Tx PRS resource) to a second UE (e.g., UE 1210b of FIG. 12). The second UE may then receive the first PRS (e.g., a reception positioning resource 1616a such as an Rx PRS resource) from the first UE.

[0195]

[0218] Also during operation, a second UE (e.g., UE 1210b of FIG. 12) may transmit a second PRS (e.g., a transmission positioning resource 1616b such as a Tx PRS resource) to the first UE (e.g., UE 1210a of FIG. 12). The first UE may then receive the second PRS (e.g., a reception positioning resource 1626b such as an Rx PRS resource) from the second UE.

[0196]

[0219] In one or more examples, the UE (e.g., the second UE) that receives the first PRS may use one or more symbols in the slot structure 1600 (e.g., within the shared channel 1614 that may include a PSSCH resource as referred to herein) to report a measurement report to another UE (e.g., the first UE). In some aspects, the duration 1617 in the slot structure 1600 between the end of the last symbol of the reception positioning resource 1616a and the start of the first symbol for the shared sidelink channel resource 1614 (e.g., PSSCH) needs to be longer than the time required by the UE (e.g., the second UE) to generate a positioning measurement estimate and a positioning measurement report (e.g., the amount of time required depends on the processing capabilities of the UE). In some cases, the latency constraints in the slot structures 1600, 1605 may depend on the capabilities of the first receiving UE (e.g., the second UE).

[0197]

[0220] FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process 1700 for wireless communication, such as for performing sidelink positioning. Process 1700 may be performed by a UE (e.g., a network-connected wearable device such as a mobile device, a smartwatch, augmented reality glasses, a vehicle, etc.), or by a component or system of the UE (e.g., a chipset). The operations of process 1700 may be executed on one or more processors (e.g., the control system 352 of FIG. 3, the processor 484 of FIG. 4, the DSP 482 of FIG. 4, the processor 1910 of FIG. 19, or other processors) and implemented as software components that operate. Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the wireless communication device in process 1700 may be enabled by, for example, one or more antennas (e.g., one or more antennas of the vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, the antenna 487 of FIG. 4, one or more antennas of the computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other antennas), one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more wireless transceivers of the vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, the wireless transceiver 478 of FIG. 4, one or more wireless transceivers of the computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other wireless transceivers), one or more modems (e.g., one or more modems of the vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, the modem 476 of FIG. 4, one or more modems of the computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other modems), and / or other receiving and / or transmitting components.

[0198]

[0221] In block 1702, the UE (or its component) may receive a resource block having a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. The resource block includes a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols. In some cases, the shared sidelink channel resource is a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). As described above, FIG. 15 is one exemplary example of a resource block having a slot structure 1500 including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink PRS resource (e.g., received positioning resource 1516a), a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource (e.g., transmitted positioning resource 1516b), and a third symbol having a sidelink shared sidelink channel resource (e.g., PSSCH1514 resource).

[0199]

[0222] In some aspects, a slot includes a plurality of slot portions (also referred to herein as minislots). For example, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions may include a first symbol having at least a first sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second slot portion of the plurality of slot portions may include a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third slot portion of the plurality of slot portions may include a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols. For example, referring again to FIG. 15 as an example for illustration, minislot 1510a includes a reception positioning resource 1516a, minislot 1510b includes a transmission positioning resource 1516b, and minislot 1510c includes a shared sidelink channel resource 1514. In some examples, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions further includes a fourth symbol having a gain control resource (e.g., AGC resource 1512 in minislot 1510a of FIG. 15) among the plurality of sidelink symbols.

[0200]

[0223] In some cases, the slot further includes a fourth symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols, the fourth symbol having at least a gap that does not contain data. In one example, the fourth symbol may be located within the slot between the first symbol and the second symbol. For example, referring to FIG. 15 as an example for illustration, the gap 1518a is located between a symbol having a reception positioning resource 1516a and a symbol having a transmission positioning resource 1516b. In another example, the fourth symbol may be located within the slot between the second symbol and the third symbol. Referring to FIG. 15 again as an example for illustration, the gap 1518b is located between a symbol having a transmission positioning resource 1516b and a symbol having a PSSCH 1514 resource. In some cases, the fourth symbol having a gap depends on the time required for the UE to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report. For example, as described above, the gap 1518a may be arranged at the end of the mini-slot 1510a so that 1518a is arranged between the adjacent mini-slots 1510a and 1510b to prevent any possible interference caused by the switching 1530 of different positioning resources (for example, the switching 1530 between the Rx PRS resource 1516a and the Tx PRS resource 1516b). In some examples, the duration between the first symbol and the third symbol is longer than the time required for the UE to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report.

[0201]

[0224] In some aspects, the slot further includes a symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols that has a gain control resource. For example, the gain control resource may be an automatic gain control (AGC) resource (for example, AGC 1512 in FIG. 15).

[0202]

[0225] In block 1704, the UE (or a component thereof) may process at least one resource in each symbol of a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. In some aspects, the UE (or a component thereof) may receive a first sidelink PRS resource that may include a received sidelink PRS resource (e.g., received positioning resource 1516a). The UE (or a component thereof) may transmit a second sidelink PRS resource that may be a transmitted sidelink PRS resource (e.g., transmitted positioning resource 1516b). The UE (or a component thereof) may process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates. The UE (or a component thereof) may generate an additional sidelink positioning measurement report based on the one or more positioning measurement estimates. In some cases, the UE (or a component thereof) may transmit the additional sidelink positioning measurement report to an additional UE. In some examples, the time period between receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and transmitting the additional sidelink positioning measurement report is based on one or more capabilities of the UE. For example, as described herein, one or more capabilities of the UE may include the amount of time for the UE to process symbols of one slot portion of a plurality of slot portions of a slot, the minimum number of symbols required between two PRS resources from at least two of the plurality of slot portions, the minimum amount of time required by the UE to process a particular sidelink PRS resource and transmit an additional sidelink positioning measurement report to an additional UE, the minimum amount of time between PRS scheduling and positioning measurement report scheduling, the rate at which the UE is configured to generate positioning measurement estimates, the minimum amount of time for the UE to switch between a transmit operation and a receive operation, any combination thereof, and / or other capabilities.

[0203]

[0226] In some cases, a UE (or a component thereof) may generate one or more positioning measurement estimates based at least in part on a round-trip time (RTT) determined based at least on the time to receive a first sidelink PRS resource and the time to transmit a second sidelink PRS resource (as shown, for example, in FIGS. 15, 16A, and 16B). In some aspects, the one or more positioning measurement estimates include channel estimates, time of arrival (TOA) estimates, angle of arrival (AOA) estimates, any combination thereof, or other positioning measurement estimates.

[0204]

[0227] FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process 1800 for wireless communication, such as for performing sidelink positioning. Process 1800 may be performed by a UE (e.g., a network-connected wearable device such as a mobile device, a wristwatch, augmented reality glasses, a vehicle, etc.) or by a component or system of the UE (e.g., a chipset). The operations of process 1800 may be executed on one or more processors (e.g., control system 352 of FIG. 3, processor 484 of FIG. 4, DSP 482 of FIG. 4, processor 1910 of FIG. 19, or other processors) and implemented as software components that operate. Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the wireless communication device in process 1800 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., one or more antennas of vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, antenna 487 of FIG. 4, one or more antennas of computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other antennas), one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more wireless transceivers of vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, wireless transceiver 478 of FIG. 4, one or more wireless transceivers of computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other wireless transceivers), one or more modems (e.g., one or more modems of vehicle computing system 350 of FIG. 3, modem 476 of FIG. 4, one or more modems of computing system 1900 of FIG. 19, or other modems), and / or other receiving and / or transmitting components.

[0205]

[0228] In block 1802, the UE (or its component) may receive a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot. The resource block includes a plurality of slot portions (or minislots). For example, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions may include a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols. In one exemplary example, the first sidelink PRS resource is a received sidelink PRS resource, and the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource. For example, referring to FIG. 13B as one exemplary example, a resource block having a slot structure 1305 including a minislot 1320a having a first sidelink symbol including a first sidelink PRS resource (e.g., received positioning resource 1326a) and a second sidelink symbol including a second sidelink PRS resource (e.g., transmitted positioning resource 1326b) is shown. In another example, the first sidelink PRS resource is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource, and the second sidelink PRS resource is a received sidelink PRS resource.

[0206]

[0229] In some aspects, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a third symbol having at least a gain control resource (e.g., an automatic gain control (AGC) resource such as the AGC resource 1322a in FIG. 13B) among the plurality of sidelink symbols. In some cases, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a third sidelink symbol having at least a gap (e.g., gap 1328a in FIG. 13B) that does not include data among the plurality of sidelink symbols.

[0207]

[0230] In block 1804, the UE (or a component thereof) may process at least one resource in each of a plurality of slot portions of a slot. In some examples, the UE (or a component thereof) may receive a first sidelink PRS resource that may include a received sidelink PRS resource (e.g., received positioning resource 1326a). The UE (or a component thereof) may transmit a second sidelink PRS resource that may be a transmitted sidelink PRS resource (e.g., transmitted positioning resource 1326b).

[0208]

[0231] FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for implementing a particular aspect of the present technology. In particular, FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a computing system 1900 that can be any computing device that makes up an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any component thereof where the components of the system communicate with each other using connection 1905. Connection 1905 can be a physical connection using a bus or a direct connection to processor 1910 in a chipset architecture, etc. Connection 1905 can also be a virtual connection, a network connection, or a logical connection.

[0209]

[0232] In some aspects, computing system 1900 is a distributed system where the functions described in this disclosure can be distributed among a data center, multiple data centers, a peer network, etc. In some aspects, one or more of the system components described represent many such components each implementing some or all of the functions of the component being described. In some aspects, these components can be physical devices or virtual devices.

[0210]

[0233] Exemplary system 1900 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1910 and a connection 1905 that couples various system components including system memory 1915 such as read only memory (ROM) 1920 and random access memory (RAM) 1925 to processor 1910. Computing system 1900 can include a cache 1911 of high speed memory that is directly connected to, proximate to, or integrated as part of processor 1910.

[0211]

[0234] Processor 1910 can include any general-purpose processor and hardware or software services such as services 1932, 1934, and 1936 stored in storage device 1930 configured to control processor 1910, and a dedicated processor in which software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1910 can essentially be a fully self - contained computing system including multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. The multi - core processor can be symmetric or asymmetric. In one or more examples, processor 1910 can implement each of the blocks of the algorithms in the above - mentioned flowcharts of FIGS. 17 and 18.

[0212]

[0235] Computing system 1900 can include additional components that implement each of the blocks of the algorithms in the above - mentioned flowcharts of FIGS. 17 and 18. Thus, each block in the above - mentioned flowcharts of FIGS. 17 and 18 can be implemented by a component, and computing system 1900 can include one or more of those components. Those components can be one or more hardware components specifically configured to execute the described process / algorithm, implemented by a processor (e.g., processor 1910) configured to implement the described process / algorithm, stored in a computer - readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0213]

[0236] To enable user interaction, computing system 1900 includes an input device 1945 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computing system 1900 can also include an output device 1935, which can be one or more of several output mechanisms. In some cases, a multimodal system can be enabled to provide multiple types of input / output for a user to communicate with computing system 1900. Computing system 1900 can include a communication interface 1940, which can generally control and manage user input and system output.

[0214]

[0237] The communication interface can perform or facilitate reception and / or transmission of wired communication or wireless communication using a wired and / or wireless transceiver, including those that utilize an audio jack / plug, a microphone jack / plug, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port / plug, an Apple® Lightning® port / plug, an Ethernet port / plug, an optical fiber port / plug, a proprietary wired port / plug, BLUETOOTH® wireless signal transfer, BLUETOOTH® Low Energy (BLE) wireless signal transfer, iBeacon® wireless signal transfer, radio-frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transfer, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transfer, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transfer, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transfer, WLAN signal transfer, Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transfer, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transfer, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transfer, 3G / 4G / 5G / Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular data network wireless signal transfer, ad hoc network signal transfer, radio signal transfer, microwave signal transfer, infrared signal transfer, visible light signal transfer, ultraviolet light signal transfer, wireless signal transfer along the electromagnetic spectrum, or any combination thereof.

[0215]

[0238] Communication interface 1940 may also include one or more GNSS receivers or transceivers used to determine the location of computing system 1900 based on the reception of one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the European Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction on operating with any particular hardware configuration, and thus the basic features here may be easily replaced for improved hardware or firmware configurations as they are developed.

[0216]

[0239] The memory device 1930 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device, such as a magnetic cassette, flash memory card, solid-state memory device, digital versatile disk, cartridge, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magnetic strip / stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disc, rewritable compact disc (CD) optical disc, digital video disc (DVD) optical disc, Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disc, holographic optical disc, another optical medium, secure digital (SD) card, micro secure digital (microSD) card, Memory Stick (registered trademark) card, smart card chip, Europay Mastercard and Visa (EMV) chip, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, RAM, static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash EPROM (flash EPROM, FLASHEPROM), cache memory (L1 / L2 / L3 / L4 / L5 / L#), resistive random-access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin transfer torque RAM (spinA hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium that can store data accessible by a computer, such as a transfer torque RAM, STT-RAM, another memory chip or cartridge, and / or combinations thereof, may be used.

[0217]

[0240] The storage device 1930 can include software services, servers, services, etc., and when the code defining such software is executed by the processor 1910, it causes the system to perform functions. In some embodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function can include software components stored in a computer-readable medium in association with the necessary hardware components such as the processor 1910, the connection 1905, the output device 1935, etc. for executing that function. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media that can store, hold, or carry instructions and / or data. The computer-readable medium may include non-transitory media in which data can be stored and that do not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals that propagate wirelessly or via a wired connection.

[0218]

[0241] As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" includes, without limitation, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or carrying instructions and / or data. The computer-readable medium may include non-transitory media that do not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals that are capable of storing data and propagating wirelessly or via a wired connection. Examples of non-transitory media include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or tapes, optical storage media such as CDs or DVDs, flash memory, memory or memory devices. The computer-readable medium may have code and / or machine-executable instructions stored thereon that can represent any combination of procedures, functions, subprograms, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes, or instructions, data structures, or program statements. Code segments may be coupled to another code segment or hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, transferred, or transmitted using any suitable means including, but not limited to, memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

[0219]

[0242] In some embodiments, a computer-readable storage device, medium, and memory can include a cable or wireless signal including a bitstream, etc. However, when referring to non-transitory computer-readable storage media, media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves are expressly excluded.

[0220]

[0243] To provide a complete understanding of the aspects and examples provided in this specification, specific details are provided in the above description. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the aspects can be practiced without these specific details. For the sake of clarity, in some instances, the present technology may be presented as including individual functional blocks, which may include devices, device components, steps or routines in methods implemented in software, or functional blocks comprising a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those shown in the figures and / or described in this specification may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in the form of block diagrams so as not to obscure the aspects in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail so as to avoid obscuring the aspects.

[0221]

[0244] Individual aspects may be described above as a process or method shown as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structural diagram, or a block diagram. A flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, but many of the operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Additionally, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process ends when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its end may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or the main function.

[0222]

[0245] The processes and methods according to the examples described above can be implemented using computer-executable instructions stored on or otherwise available from a computer-readable medium. Such instructions can include, for example, instructions and data that cause a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform some functions or groups of functions, or in some cases, configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform some functions or groups of functions. Portions of the computer resources used can be accessible via a network. The computer-executable instructions can be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code, etc. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used to store the instructions, the information used, and / or the information created during the methods according to the examples described include magnetic or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, network-connected storage devices, and the like.

[0223]

[0246] Devices implementing the processes and methods in accordance with these disclosures can include hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, a hardware description language, or any combination thereof, and can take any of various form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the program code or code segments (e.g., a computer program product) for performing the required tasks may be stored in a computer-readable medium or a machine-readable medium. A processor may perform the required tasks. Typical examples of form factors include laptops, smartphones, mobile phones, tablet devices or other small-space personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, stand-alone devices, and the like. The functions described herein may also be embodied in a peripheral device or an add-in card. Such functions may also, as a further example, be implemented on a circuit board among different chips, or on different processes executed in a single device.

[0224]

[0247] Instructions, media for propagating such instructions, computing resources for executing the instructions, and other structures supporting such computing resources are exemplary means for providing the functions described in this disclosure.

[0225]

[0248] In the above description, although the aspects of the present application have been described with reference to those specific aspects, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present application is not limited thereto. Therefore, although exemplary aspects of the present application have been described in detail herein, it should be understood that the concepts of the present invention can be embodied and adopted in various other ways, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except as limited by the prior art. It should be understood that the various features and aspects of the present application described above can be used individually or jointly. Furthermore, the aspects can be utilized in any number of environments and applications other than those described herein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of this specification. Accordingly, this specification and the drawings are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. For purposes of illustration, the method has been described in a particular order. In alternative aspects, it should be understood that the method can be implemented in an order different from the order described.

[0226]

[0249] Those skilled in the art will understand that the symbols or terms "less than" ("<") and "greater than" (">") as used herein can be replaced, without departing from the scope of this specification, by the symbols "less than or equal to" ("≦") and "greater than or equal to" ("≧"), respectively.

[0227]

[0250] When a component is described as being "configured to" perform a certain operation, such a configuration can be achieved, for example, by designing an electronic circuit or other hardware to perform the operation, by programming a programmable electronic circuit (e.g., a microprocessor, or other suitable electronic circuit) to perform the operation, or by any combination thereof.

[0228]

[0251] The phrase "coupled to" refers to any component that is physically connected, either directly or indirectly, to another component, and / or that communicates, either directly or indirectly, with another component (e.g., is connected to another component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0229]

[0252] The language of a claim or other language that recites a set "of at least one" and / or "one or more" of the set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members (in any combination) of the set satisfy the claim. For example, the language of a claim that recites "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, the language of a claim that recites "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A and B and C. The language "of at least one" and / or "one or more" of a set does not limit the set to the items listed within the set. For example, the language of a claim that recites "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" can mean A, B, or A and B, and can additionally include items not listed within the set of A and B.

[0230]

[0253] With respect to the aspects disclosed in this specification, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementations should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

[0231]

[0254] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, including integrated circuit devices having multiple applications, such as general purpose computers, wireless communication device handsets, or wireless communication device handsets and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together within an integrated logic device, or separately but interactively as separate interoperable logic devices. When implemented in software, the techniques may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium comprising program code that, when executed, includes instructions to perform one or more of the methods described above. The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging material. The computer-readable medium may include memory or data storage media, such as RAM, ROM, non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), EEPROM, flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The techniques may also be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium, such as a propagated signal or wave that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer.

[0232]

[0255] The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors such as one or more DSPs, general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such a processor may be configured to implement any of the techniques described in this disclosure. Instead of being a microprocessor, the general-purpose processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may 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 cooperation with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Thus, the term "processor" as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementation of the techniques described herein.

[0233]

[0256] Exemplary examples of the present disclosure include the following.

[0234]

[0257] Aspect 1. An apparatus for performing sidelink positioning, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a first symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and to process at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols in the slot.

[0235]

[0258] Aspect 2. The slot includes a plurality of slot portions, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a first symbol having at least a first sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, a second slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a second symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and a third slot portion of the plurality of slot portions includes a third symbol having at least a shared sidelink channel resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols. The apparatus according to aspect 1.

[0236]

[0259] Aspect 3. The first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions further includes a fourth symbol having a gain control resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols. The apparatus according to aspect 1.

[0237]

[0260] Aspect 4. The gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource. The apparatus according to aspect 3.

[0238]

[0261] Aspect 5. At least one processor receives a first sidelink PRS resource that is a received sidelink PRS resource, outputs a second sidelink PRS resource that is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource for transmission, processes the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates, and generates an additional sidelink positioning measurement report based on the positioning measurement estimates. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, configured as such.

[0239]

[0262] Aspect 6. At least one processor is configured to output an additional sidelink positioning measurement report for transmission to a UE, and a period between receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and outputting the additional sidelink positioning measurement report for transmission is based on one or more capabilities of the apparatus. The apparatus according to aspect 5.

[0240]

[0263] Aspect 7. The apparatus according to aspect 6, wherein one or more capabilities of the apparatus include at least one of: an amount of time for the apparatus to process symbols of one slot portion among a plurality of slot portions of a slot; a minimum number of symbols required between two PRS resources from at least two slot portions among the plurality of slot portions; a minimum amount of time required for the apparatus to process a specific sidelink PRS resource and transmit an additional sidelink positioning measurement report to the UE; a minimum amount of time between PRS scheduling and positioning measurement report scheduling; a speed at which the apparatus is configured to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates; or a minimum amount of time for the apparatus to switch between a transmission operation and a reception operation.

[0241]

[0264] Aspect 8. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 5 to 7, wherein at least one processor is configured to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates based at least in part on a round-trip time (RTT) determined based at least on a time to receive a first sidelink PRS resource and a time to transmit a second sidelink PRS resource.

[0242]

[0265] Aspect 9. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 5 to 8, wherein one or more positioning measurement estimates include at least one of a channel estimate, a time of arrival (TOA) estimate, or an angle of arrival (AOA) estimate.

[0243]

[0266] Aspect 10. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the shared sidelink channel resource is a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0244]

[0267] Aspect 11. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 10, wherein the slot further includes a fourth symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols, the fourth symbol having at least a gap and the gap not containing data, and the fourth symbol is located within a slot between a first symbol and a second symbol.

[0245]

[0268] Aspect 12. The slot is the fourth symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols, further including the fourth symbol having at least a gap and the gap not containing data, and the fourth symbol is located within the slot between the second symbol and the third symbol, and the apparatus according to any one of Aspects 1 to 11.

[0246]

[0269] Aspect 13. The apparatus according to Aspect 12, wherein the fourth symbol depends on the time required for the apparatus to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report.

[0247]

[0270] Aspect 14. The apparatus according to Aspect 12 or 13, wherein the duration between the first symbol and the third symbol is longer than the time required for the apparatus to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report.

[0248]

[0271] Aspect 15. The apparatus according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein the slot further includes a fourth symbol having a gain control resource among a plurality of sidelink symbols.

[0249]

[0272] Aspect 16. The apparatus according to Aspect 15, wherein the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

[0250]

[0273] Aspect 17. The apparatus according to any one of Aspects 1 to 16, wherein the apparatus is configured as a user equipment (UE) and further includes at least one transceiver configured to receive a resource block.

[0251]

[0274] Aspect 18. A method for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, at the UE, a resource block that includes a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including: a first symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource; a second symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a second sidelink PRS resource; and a third symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a shared sidelink channel resource including a sidelink positioning measurement report; and processing, at the UE, at least one resource in each symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot.

[0252]

[0275] Aspect 19. The method according to aspect 18, wherein the slot includes a plurality of slot parts, a first slot part among the plurality of slot parts includes a first symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a first sidelink PRS resource, a second slot part among the plurality of slot parts includes a second symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a second sidelink PRS resource, and a third slot part among the plurality of slot parts includes a third symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has at least a shared sidelink channel resource.

[0253]

[0276] Aspect 20. The method according to aspect 19, wherein the first slot part among the plurality of slot parts further includes a fourth symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols that has a gain control resource.

[0254]

[0277] Aspect 21. The method according to aspect 20, wherein the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

[0255]

[0278] Aspect 22. Further including receiving, at a UE, a first sidelink PRS resource that is a received sidelink PRS resource, transmitting, by the UE, a second sidelink PRS resource that is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource, processing, by the UE, the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates, and generating, by the UE, an additional sidelink positioning measurement report based on the one or more positioning measurement estimates, the method according to any one of Aspects 18 to 21.

[0256]

[0279] Aspect 23. Further including transmitting an additional sidelink positioning measurement report to an additional UE, the method according to Aspect 22, wherein a period between receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and transmitting the additional sidelink positioning measurement report is based on one or more capabilities of the UE.

[0257]

[0280] Aspect 24. The method according to Aspect 23, wherein the one or more capabilities of the UE include at least one of an amount of time for the UE to process symbols of one slot part out of a plurality of slot parts of a slot, a minimum number of symbols required between two PRS resources from at least two slot parts out of the plurality of slot parts, a minimum amount of time required by the UE to process a specific sidelink PRS resource and transmit an additional sidelink positioning measurement report to an additional UE, a minimum amount of time between PRS scheduling and positioning measurement report scheduling, a speed at which the UE is configured to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates, or a minimum amount of time for the UE to switch between a transmission operation and a reception operation.

[0258]

[0281] Aspect 25. Further including generating, at the UE, one or more positioning measurement estimates based at least in part on a round-trip time (RTT) determined at least based on a time for receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and a time for transmitting the second sidelink PRS resource, the method according to any one of Aspects 22 to 24.

[0259]

[0282] Aspect 26. The method according to any one of Aspects 22 to 25, wherein one or more positioning measurement estimates include at least one of a channel estimate, a time of arrival (TOA) estimate, or an angle of arrival (AOA) estimate.

[0260]

[0283] Aspect 27. The method according to any one of Aspects 18 to 26, wherein the shared sidelink channel resource is a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0261]

[0284] Aspect 28. The method according to any one of Aspects 18 to 27, wherein the slot is the fourth symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols, further includes a fourth symbol having at least a gap and the gap not including data, and the fourth symbol is located in a slot between the first symbol and the second symbol.

[0262]

[0285] Aspect 29. The method according to any one of Aspects 18 to 28, wherein the slot is the fourth symbol among a plurality of sidelink symbols, further includes a fourth symbol having at least a gap and the gap not including data, and the fourth symbol is located in a slot between the second symbol and the third symbol.

[0263]

[0286] Aspect 30. The method according to Aspect 29, wherein the fourth symbol depends on the time required for the UE to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report.

[0264]

[0287] Aspect 31. The method according to Aspect 29 or 30, wherein the duration between the first symbol and the third symbol is longer than the time required for the UE to process the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource and generate a positioning measurement report.

[0265]

[0288] Aspect 32. The method according to any one of Aspects 18 to 31, wherein the slot further includes a fourth symbol having a gain control resource among a plurality of sidelink symbols.

[0266]

[0289] Aspect 33. The method according to Aspect 32, wherein the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

[0267]

[0290] An apparatus for performing sidelink positioning, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor receives a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block including a plurality of slot portions, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions including a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols, and is configured to process at least one resource in each slot portion of the plurality of slot portions of the slot.

[0268]

[0291] Aspect 35. The apparatus according to Aspect 34, wherein the first sidelink PRS resource is a received sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource.

[0269]

[0292] Aspect 36. The apparatus according to Aspect 34 or 35, wherein the first sidelink PRS resource is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource is a received sidelink PRS resource.

[0270]

[0293] Aspect 37. The apparatus according to any one of Aspects 34 to 36, wherein the first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions further includes a third symbol having at least a gain control resource among the plurality of sidelink symbols.

[0271]

[0294] Aspect 38. The apparatus according to aspect 37, wherein the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

[0272]

[0295] Aspect 39. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 34 to 38, wherein a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions is a third sidelink symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols, the third sidelink symbol having at least a gap and the gap not containing data.

[0273]

[0296] Aspect 40. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 34 to 39, wherein the apparatus is configured as a user equipment (UE) and further includes at least one transceiver configured to receive a resource block.

[0274]

[0297] Aspect 41. A method for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE), the method including receiving, at the UE, a resource block including a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block including a plurality of slot portions, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions including a first sidelink symbol having at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource of the plurality of sidelink symbols and a second sidelink symbol having at least a second sidelink PRS resource of the plurality of sidelink symbols, and processing, by the UE, at least one resource in each of the plurality of slot portions of the slot.

[0275]

[0298] Aspect 42. The method according to aspect 41, wherein the first sidelink PRS resource is a received sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmitted sidelink PRS resource.

[0276]

[0299] Aspect 43. The method according to aspect 41 or 42, wherein the first sidelink PRS resource is a transmission sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource is a reception sidelink PRS resource.

[0277]

[0300] Aspect 44. The method according to any one of aspects 41 to 43, wherein the first slot portion among the plurality of slot portions further includes a third symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols, the third symbol having at least a gain control resource.

[0278]

[0301] Aspect 45. The method according to aspect 44, wherein the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

[0279]

[0302] Aspect 46. The method according to any one of aspects 41 to 45, wherein the first slot portion among the plurality of slot portions further includes a third sidelink symbol among the plurality of sidelink symbols, the third sidelink symbol having at least a gap and the gap not including data.

[0280]

[0303] Aspect 47: At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 33.

[0281]

[0304] Aspect 48: An apparatus comprising means for performing the operations according to any one of aspects 1 to 33.

[0282]

[0305] Aspect 47: At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of aspects 34 to 46.

[0283]

[0306] Aspect 48: An apparatus comprising means for performing the operations according to any one of aspects 34 to 46.

[0284]

[0307] Aspect 49: An apparatus for performing sidelink positioning, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured for the operations described in any one of Aspects 1 to 33 and Aspects 34 to 46.

[0285]

[0308] Aspect 50: A method for performing sidelink positioning, including the operations described in any one of Aspects 1 to 33 and Aspects 34 to 46.

[0286]

[0309] Aspect 51: At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method described in any one of Aspects 1 to 33 and Aspects 34 to 46.

[0287]

[0310] Aspect 52: An apparatus comprising means for performing the operations described in any one of Aspects 1 to 33 and Aspects 34 to 46.

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus for performing sidelink positioning, comprising: at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory; wherein the at least one processor: receiving a resource block comprising a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block comprising: a first symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource, where the first sidelink PRS resource is a receive (Rx) sidelink PRS resource; a second symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a second sidelink PRS resource, where the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmit (Tx) PRS resource; and a third symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a shared sidelink channel resource containing a sidelink positioning measurement report; processing at least one resource in each symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols within the slot; The apparatus is configured to:

2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slot comprises a plurality of slot portions, a first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions comprising the first symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols having at least the first sidelink PRS resource, a second slot portion of the plurality of slot portions comprising the second symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols having at least the second sidelink PRS resource, and a third slot portion of the plurality of slot portions comprising the third symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols having at least the shared sidelink channel resource.

3. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first slot portion of the plurality of slot portions further comprises a fourth symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols having a gain control resource, and optionally the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

4. the at least one processor: receiving the first sidelink PRS resource; outputting the second sidelink PRS resource for transmission; processing the first sidelink PRS resource and the second sidelink PRS resource to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates; generating an additional sidelink positioning measurement report based on the one or more positioning measurement estimates. The device of claim 1 , configured to:

5. the at least one processor:

5. The apparatus of claim 4, configured to output the additional sidelink positioning measurement report for transmission to a UE, wherein a period between receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and outputting the additional sidelink positioning measurement report for transmission is based on one or more capabilities of the apparatus.

6. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more capabilities of the apparatus comprise at least one of: an amount of time for the apparatus to process symbols of one slot portion of the slot; a minimum number of symbols needed between two PRS resources from at least two slot portions of the slot; a minimum amount of time needed by the apparatus to process a particular sidelink PRS resource and transmit the additional sidelink positioning measurement report to the UE; a minimum amount of time between PRS scheduling and positioning measurement report scheduling; a rate at which the apparatus is configured to generate one or more positioning measurement estimates; or a minimum amount of time for the apparatus to switch between transmitting and receiving operations.

7. the at least one processor:

5. The apparatus of claim 4, configured to generate the one or more positioning measurement estimates based at least in part on a round trip time (RTT) determined based on at least a time of receiving the first sidelink PRS resource and a time of transmitting the second sidelink PRS resource.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the one or more positioning measurement estimates include at least one of a channel estimate, a time of arrival (TOA) estimate, or an angle of arrival (AOA) estimate.

9. the shared sidelink channel resource is a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), or 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slot further comprises a fourth symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols, the fourth symbol having at least a gap, the gap containing no data, the fourth symbol being located in the slot between the first symbol and the second symbol.

10. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slot further comprises a fourth symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols, the fourth symbol having at least a gap, the gap containing no data, the fourth symbol being located in the slot between the second symbol and the third symbol.

11. the fourth symbol depends on the time required for the device to process the first and second sidelink PRS resources and generate a positioning measurement report, or 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a duration between the first symbol and the third symbol is longer than a time required by the apparatus to process the first and second sidelink PRS resources and to generate a positioning measurement report.

12. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slot further comprises a fourth symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols having a gain control resource, and optionally the gain control resource is an automatic gain control (AGC) resource.

13. the device being configured as a user equipment (UE); The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one transceiver configured to receive the resource blocks.

14. 1. A method for performing sidelink positioning in a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving at the UE a resource block comprising a plurality of sidelink symbols within a slot, the resource block comprising: a first symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource, where the first sidelink PRS resource is a receive (Rx) sidelink PRS resource; a second symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a second sidelink PRS resource, where the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmit (Tx) PRS resource; and a third symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a shared sidelink channel resource containing a sidelink positioning measurement report; processing at the UE at least one resource in each symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols in the slot; A method comprising:

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the one or more processors to: receiving a resource block comprising a plurality of sidelink symbols in a slot, the resource block comprising: a first symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a first sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) resource, where the first sidelink PRS resource is a receive (Rx) sidelink PRS resource; a second symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a second sidelink PRS resource, where the second sidelink PRS resource is a transmit (Tx) PRS resource; and a third symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols comprising at least a shared sidelink channel resource containing a sidelink positioning measurement report; processing at least one resource in each symbol of the plurality of sidelink symbols in the slot; A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing

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